Setting a Healthy Table

Serving a healthy meal isn't entirely focused on the foods that are prepared. It is important to set the mood of your table so that everyone feels relaxed and comfortable. Make mealtimes a daily ritual that bring family members together in a loving space. A healthy and appealing table setting will ease stresses, awaken the appetite, and aid digestion. Loving meals provide memories that will last a lifetime.

Recycle: Mix and Match

You don't need fine china to dress a pleasant and healthy table. It's okay to be frugal when choosing your dinner plates and cups. Feel free to mix and match your dinnerware. If you see three antique tea cups at a flea market that you love - buy them, never mind that you think you need four to set a proper table. Setting a "proper" table has nothing to do with setting a "healthy table." A healthy table design utilizes items that you love in a creative way. Also, if you are keeping your grandmother's china put away for safe keeping -- then are you really enjoying it? I started using my "good" flatware everyday several years ago. I wish I had started doing that sooner because I quickly learned that using "good things" makes a person feel good.

Appetizing Color Schemes

When choosing the colors for your table setting you will never go wrong if you choose hues that mimic actual foods. Choose berry and tomato reds, eggplant and red-grape purples, apricot and tangerine oranges, banana and grapefruit yellows, artichoke and zucchini greens, blueberry blue, etc.

Candlelight

Any meal, even Mac'nCheese, will taste better in an intimate candlelit setting. Candlelight soothes and will help calm the surrounding energies so that the food being eaten is digested better.

Earth-Friendly Napkins and Place Mats

Use cloth napkins, place mats, and tablecloths sewn from organic fibers (cottons, hemp, etc.) rather than disposable paper products. Have several sets on hand so that you can alternate colors and fabrics to create different moods.

Natural Design

Choose environmental pleasing objects for your centerpieces. A cluster of pine cones or seashells are warming choices. A bowl full of river stones, a small potted fern, or fresh cut flowers are simple table-setting designs to implement. In the autumn you could use bittersweet vines to enwrap each napkin to give a personal touch. In the spring place a green mint leaf in the center of each dinner plate.