| Hi beautiful,
When I was 7 years old I was rushed to the hospital to have my appendix removed. I had been regularly presenting my debilitating, excruciating pains in my lower left stomach to my family doctor for 2 years. This medical professional would tell little 5 year old me that I was lying, as "it was not possible to have pains in my lower intestine". I would relay to him that I didn’t know what was inside me, all I knew was that that’s where my pains were attacking me.
Luckily, my appendix was not removed and the surgeon recommended that I go for food allergy tests, as he believed my pains could be an indiction of my inability to digest certain foods. What a revelation!! Today, food allergies are as commonplace as “today’s special” on a menu, but discovering, 30+ years ago, in rural Ireland, that I was allergic to gluten, I became an outcast & an alien.
For the first decade I found the transition incredibly challenging. I would often lie & choose to “suffer through the pains” just so I could feel that I was “normal” & eat like everyone else. But the consequence of my social anxiety made matters worse, my digestive system was shut down, consistently inflamed & swung like a pendulum between diarrhoea & severe constipation.
The gift of being a coeliac that I didn’t understand then, but that I’m so grateful for today, is that it opened me up to alternative health food & holistic health. I began my own journey of discovery & knowledge:
- learning about food nutrition,
- researching nutritional supplements,
- studying the affects of food on the body
- new techniques to rebuild my digestion system
- how to cook from scratch.
Fast forward to today & I eat local, fresh, nutritious produce for every meal. Food is my medicine, preparing food is how I relax, cooking for my friends & family one of the things I love to do the most. Along with not eating gluten, I have been vegan since august 2019 (& in 2018 I only ate meat 3 times). I also don’t eat or drink processed sugar or salt. I don’t buy or eat any confectionery chocolate from nestle or milka or cadbury, or any mainstream confectionary company. In fact, because I hate the waste, the plastic, the farming of cocoa, the factory wage, the ingredients, the dairy & sugar used, I haven’t eaten a mainstream chocolate bar since 2014. I ‘m also allergic to corn & celery. I don't eat tomatoes or peppers. Packaged & processed foods, salad dressings, pre-made sauces, even mustard & soya sauce contain gluten, therefore I makes sauces & use spices and seasoning to elevate my meals.
I often get asked for my recipes & tips on how I put food together . How I eat has become an unwavering extension of me. I would like to start to share more of my food philosophy, recipes & sneaky tips n’ tricks with you… keep an eye in your inbox tomorrow for 3 delicious, highly nutritious, inexpensive recipes (with directions) that could bring in new inspiration into your cooking this festive season!
I'll email the tasty, highly nutritious easy-to-try recipes to you tomorrow!
|
