KerryAnn Foster - Cooking Traditonal Foods

[Pat Robinson]

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From Kerry AnnFoster:

• What circumstances led you to your current health and wellness mission?
  
  

Funny enough, it all started with a cat. We adopted a wonderful cat, named Blue, that we eventually found out had an 'incurable' disease. He had to be put on expensive, difficult to administer medications. It required twice-monthly trips to the veterinary ophthalmologist that was over 50 miles away. We had to pick up frozen meds and get them home and into the safety of our deep freezer before they could thaw. We were told he'd have to have them the rest of his life and he likely wouldn't live a long time.


While out shopping one day, we met a woman who told us that if we changed his diet to human-grade, species appropriate food, he could very well recover and beat it. We figured it was worth a shot and we moved him to human-grade cat food immediately, along with some supplements she recommended. Within a couple of months, he was off the horrible medication. He went on to live another eight years with no other health problems.

At the time, we were dealing with infertility and a diagnosis of PCOS. A light bulb went off for us- if it had worked for the cat, surely it would work for me? So we immediately began moving away from packaged and processed food and I lowered my carbs. Within 6 months we were expecting. I found the real food movement while pregnant with my oldest child and we never looked back. By 2005, I was blogging and running multiple e-mail lists for real food and children's health.

 

In 2006, I was diagnosed with celiac disease and intolerances to dairy, egg, soy, corn, apple and cashew. We discovered my children had celiac and were also dairy intolerant. My reaction to even the smallest trace of gluten was violent, leaving me flat on my back for weeks. I dropped 60 pounds in the first ten weeks after becoming ill. At the time, there were few websites dealing with food intolerances. Most of the few that existed were loaded with packaged and processed replacements or nutritionally void baked goods. I launched the Cooking Traditional Foods Classic Menu Mailer in 2007 to develop recipes for people who wanted real food that was kid happy, husband friendly, allergen optional and easy to make.

 

• How does your work address needs that you see in today’s health care system?
  
  

The lack of knowledge about food intolerances among doctors and dietitians is astounding. Most doctors dismiss food intolerances, and most dietitians who are supposed to advise patients how to eat with celiac disease are handing out incorrect or outdated advice. Because I've lived through these intolerances, I'm well familiar with how to handle them and how to make flavorful, enticing meals that are naturally free of the difficult allergens.

Family Friendly Allergen-Free is written for people who have only 30 minutes of hands-on time or less per meal, and all of the recipes are free of gluten, dairy, egg and soy. All of the recipes are made using easily found ingredients, and each week has a dinner that is suitable for dinner guests.


Freezing instructions for batch cooking are included for every recipe that can be made ahead to save you time, and sanity. Cooking three meals a day for months on end can be tiring; I understand, I've cooked 98% of the meals I've eaten from scratch since my diagnosis in 2006. I don't like to spend any more time in the kitchen that I have to in order to get a solid meal on the table and I know that you don't want to, either.

 

• What do you wish more people knew about health?
  
  

Intolerances are very real, and they aren't minor. If there are signs of inflammation or a disease on the outside of the body, the inside of the body is likely in worse shape. When I became ill and my children and I went gluten-free, I had many people denigrate my decision for my children, because they weren't nearly as sick as I was.


I heard statements such as "it's just a little redness" for bright red anal rings and "it's just a little eczema" for severe, weeping eczema over 75% of one child's body. I was accused of being controlling and depriving my children because I refused to feed them bread and pasta. Much like the ridicule you face when you go to real food and stop eating processed foods, only ratcheted up many notches.

As a result of 'depriving' my children of gluten, they caught up to their peers in physical growth and weight, stopped wetting the bed, their behavior problems stopped and much more. They both had their eczema disappear. My son's speech delay and speech impediment disappeared. Those aren't little things.

 

• What three health concerns could individuals avoid to improve their personal health?
  
  

Gluten is a major health issue for a rapidly growing number of people, adults and children alike. Because the outdated testing methods in the US have a high rate of false negatives and there's an average of 20 years between onset of symptoms until diagnosis, trying a gluten-free diet despite a negative blood test or biopsy is a good idea. And not everyone bothered by gluten is celiac.


You can have all of those tests accurately register negative and still have a gluten intolerance that will respond to a gluten-free diet.


Gluten today is the not the gluten that our ancestors consumed. Even just 100 years ago, wheat had far less gluten in it. Hybridization and cross-breeding drastically increased the amount of gluten in wheat in order to be able to make the soft, spongy white breads that are now on the market. Ancient varieties of gluten grains did not have the stretch or the loft of today's breads; the wheat was composed of fewer genes, contained far less gluten and created a dense loaf.


Wheat is not the food of your ancestors, it is a modern invention due to breeding. If you aren't getting answers from the medical community, try a 6-week trial of a strictly gluten-free diet to see if you respond. Three months of strictly gluten-free will give you a good picture of how much your health will improve if you are intolerant or have celiac disease.

Packaged and processed foods almost always contain chemicals, additives and other products that you would not choose to consume if you knew where they came from. Many petroleum-based products are in foods now. MSG can be hidden under 35 different ingredient names and still proudly display 'MSG free' on the label. Ingredients such as beaver anal sac glands can be made into 'natural flavors' and added to your food.

Animals can be held in filthy, horrible conditions and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones before they land on your dinner plate. When you consume real food and opt out of the factory farmed and packaged foods, you can largely avoid the issues and many, many more. As the old saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. If the food isn't nutritious and is lacking in the necessary nutrients, you won't be getting them, either, and your health will suffer.

Soy is not a health food. In addition to its highly allergenic potential, soy contains anti-nutrients and phytoestrogens that can have a devastating impact on health. Most women today are estrogen dominant thanks to xenoestrogen exposure through plastics, pesticides and more in our everyday environment. Adding more estrogen into your body is a recipe for disaster, especially for developing children or women of childbearing age. Soy has high amounts of protease inhibitors, phytates, lectins, saponins and oxalates that prevent you from absorbing the nutrition that is present in the legume. Even though I am no longer intolerant to soy, I choose to avoid it because I believe it will be detrimental to my health.

 

• What could individuals add to their life to improve their personal health?
  
  

When dealing with children, hidden nutrient-dense foods can be a boon to convincing them that strongly flavored foods are a normal part of their diet. I hid liver, kale, beans and many other powerhouse foods in our meals for years before my children discovered them. It has been a wonderful vehicle for my children, because once they got over the surprise, the shrugged and accepted the item as a normal part of their diets. I have learned to hide these foods in main dishes, breakfasts and even baked goods without their knowledge.

Some of my children's favorite meals contain hidden foods, and I include those recipes in this eBook. It works with picky kids and picky husbands. ;)

 

 

KerryAnn Foster blogs at CookingTF.com She writes real food, gluten and dairy-free recipes that are kid-happy and husband-friendly. She lives in Asheville, NC with her husband, Jeff, and their two children. KerryAnn has written multiple books, eCourses and eBooks, as well as the longest running traditional foods Menu Mailer available, now in its sixth year. She founded Nourished Living Network, a network for real food bloggers, in 2011. She has eleven years of traditional foods experience and is a former Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader. Read about KerryAnn's journey to health through celiac disease, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

KerryAnn Foster + 49 additional contributors participate in our digital "Health Library" bundle for $39.97.

 

EXTREME digital "Health Library" bundle. 53 products for $39.97.