Welcome to the world of Gisele Bündchen, as the supermodel tells Chioma Nnadi what makes it spin in the June 2022 issue of Britis
In The Kitchen Of Her Tribeca Apartment In New York City, One Rainy Afternoon In Spring, Gisele B ndchen Is Completely Domestic Goddess Mode With Mandolin Slicer In One Hand, Freshly Peeled Carrot In The Other. Her Stranded Waves Splash Over A Grey Cashmere Sweater. Spending its nights at home in pristine marble countertops, minimalist oak-floored floor-to-ceiling cabinets, and her broad view of the Wall Street area, she’ll only spend several nights per year in her Manhattan home, but it is instantly evident I’ve drifted into supermodel territory.
What kind of tea can I have you? she exclaims, flinging open her pantry. Boxes of herbal tea are systematically grouped by plant type, fennel, chamomile, peppermint. Since she hasn’t had a cup of coffee in years, her energy level wouldn’t seem to be affected. Bndchen is full of beans, speaking non-stop in delighted exclamation points and positive affirmations, bouncing around the room like she feeds on a few double espressos.
It’s always reassuring to hear individuals in natural landscapes talk about their health, so I constantly say it again—our pharmacy is the nature. If the kids are unwell, I’ll make a fresh ginger tea with lemon and a clay pot full of manuka honey. There’s nothing like drinking it! Because I’m only human, she suggests I try lemon raspberry tea to help with my hormone issues and soothe my emotions. Preterm births are kind of a good thing, so I believe, after which she has another opinion about need for dates Well, we all know we need them, don’t we? Thanks to a friend, I received them from Qatar they’re all iron.
Established fashion icon Gisele Bündchen is now in her late 40s, certified fashion designer, a world-renowned superstar who persuaded the masses to stop using heroin in the late nineties and later went on to become the highest-paid model in the world for 15 straight years. She is now venturing into a new realm: cookbook author. She’s been working on a collection of her personal recipe books, with hopes of providing a fascinating glimpse into what fuels her famously fit family.
Accordingly, she invited me to come over to sample her tasty special vegetable spring rolls in a gingery cashew-nut sauce. Before leaving for the main course, I ask her if I’d like to have a peek in the refrigerator (id. if you must know, she frequently eats these things). The foodstuffs within it are naturally virtuous, no surprises: no bottles of bubbly, no leftover pizza. Containers of hummus and cartons of coconut milk are chilled side by side on a top shelf, along with various packets of organic seeds (flax, hemp, chia) that are lined up in neat rows. The one item that’s not as in keeping with the theme? A vat of muscle-building protein powder. Oh, that Bndchen, referring, of course, to her husband, Tom Brady, 44, the legendary American football player, exclaims as she slams the fridge door shut, by Tom.
The kitchen scene is not a midlife crisis. Before the idea of self care and wellbeing became popular, the management of B ndchen knew the value of a holistic mind-body connection. She has never ceased to be attentive to the value of an inward-focused life. It was a lesson she earned years into her career path, when it seemed as if the whole world was openly displaying its adoration for her style. Inwardly, her world was in chaos.
After she moved to London in 1998, it was the beginning of the new millennium (even if 42 prior failed attempts preceded it). From Horizontina, in Brazil, it proceeded straight on to London. From there, she rocketed. By the early decades of the Nuits Dansées she was a mononym, hamming it up on catwalks, dating Leonardo DiCaprio, and a fixture on the set of each billboard and invitation list. From the outside, things appeared to flourish and I was only 22 years old. I had three cigarettes accompanying my mocha Frappuccino and a cup of whipped cream, then raising a bottle of wine to my lips every night. Imagine what it would be like for my mind if I had been doing that all the time!
On the basis of a tip from a particular individual, she sought out assistance from a naturopath, who immediately prescribed a full-body detoxification that was specifically designed to exclude all items and sweets. She was able to eat such things as vegetables, nuts, and small quantities of lean meat. Needless to say, the withdrawal side effects were significant. I think those were the hardest headaches I’ve ever taken. The physician, he was French, called me Adrenalina, says Lindsay B@nchen, a reference to his nervous system that had gone haywire. Fighting with that regimen was going to be tough, but nonetheless, the choice was even worse. I remember him saying, Well, do you want to live? At 3 months after her initial symptoms had disappeared, it was only that simple for her to get out of bed in the morning. Crossing the important habits onto an ordinary basis has had a great influence on her.
Her return to her country of origin would broaden her understanding of the food culture she had acquired as a child in an area of rural Brazil. Before she was whisked away to a modelling career in Tokyo at the age of 14, B ndchen enjoyed a comparatively uncomplicated rural life. After her mother had prepared breakfast smoothies with avocados she had picked up from the tree in her backyard, and her five sisters had eaten rice and beans five times throughout the week, her mother’s bank clerk went to work each morning.
Gisele Bündchen traces her innate interest in natural remedies and holistic approaches to wellness back to her grandmother, who was a “medicine woman”. She would say that we only had to look at the sky to find our own shining star,” says Bündchen; the tiny star that’s tattooed on her wrist is a tribute to her cosmically inclined, natural remedy-loving grandma, who “had a tea for everything”. It’s why the supermodel takes a holistic approach to wellbeing where conventional medicine often falls short. “The idea that taking one pill can solve my problems has always felt wrong to me, because that was never my experience,” she explains. “If you put a Band-Aid on a cut, it doesn’t mean that it will go away.”
While it might seem like Band-Aids are only useful for scrapes and cuts, they can be lifesavers in other situations as well. Such as when we are cooking and accidentally cut ourselves. Comedian Jeanette Winterson once joked about cooking mishaps: “Cooking and talking at the same time—it’s an occupational hazard.” Thankfully, the most hazardous parts of the food prep are now behind us. Finely chopped carrots, apples, cucumbers and cabbage are stacked in tidy piles; these vegetables will soon be wrapped in brown rice paper to create delicious spring rolls. The food processor is locked and loaded with cashew nuts, ginger, garlic, and a dash of yuzu juice. “So this is our sauce. Smell it,” says our chef. I take a whiff of the nutty, spicy paste and quickly understand why these spring rolls have been such a crowd-pleaser—so far! I love to share recipes that make me happy, as well as tips for other mothers who want to make healthy meals for their children.
