The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN

 This book I think is a MUST to add to your cookbook library especially if you have to go without any or all of these three ingredients. While many books will look at removing one of them, few are actually Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Egg-Free simultaneously. Many medical diets will ask you to eliminate these since they tend to be some the most reactive foods in our diets, often causing food allergies or intolerances and in turn inflammation.

Most of us who have been told to implement these types of diets find it really hard to cope at first. That’s because we are never given enough tools to deal with the shock of …What am I going to eat? I know, I have been there!  This book will arm you the tools to be able to eliminate these foods painlessly and forever if necessary.

The “Whole Life Nutrition” part of the book is about whole foods and how a whole foods diet is much more beneficial than the diets we are used to. As a population, almost all of us are carb addicted, dependent on processed foods of one kind or another and probably not feeling as good as we think we should.

“Whole foods contain all of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals we need to prevent and reverse disease and aging.”

They list and discuss seven good reasons to eat whole foods: “To Promote Intestinal Function, To Decrease Cellular Damage, To Decrease Systemic Inflammation, To Support Optimal Organ Function, To Assist with Hormonal Balance, To Regulate the Immune System and To Maintain a Healthy Weight”.

From my recent health experience, I was told that I had to work on all of these aspects of my health. Also that I wouldn’t recover if I didn’t, so this made perfect sense to me, and this book was a great tool in my re-education about eating and cooking. I just got lucky and the book found me one day when I was waiting for an appointment. Don’t let this book find you, seek to find it. They make it easy, no matter what type of cook you are, to be able to eliminate these foods from your diet. If your the type that likes to start with a sample menu, you’ll find it here. You will also be given lists of good foods used to create the recipes in the book, so you can stock your pantry and create anything spontaneously.

I like how the recipes are divided. There are sections for Breakfast, Gluten and Egg Free Breads and Muffins, Soups, Salads and Vegetables, Whole Grains (gluten free), Vegetarian Main dishes, Fish, Poultry and Meat, Dressings, Dips & Sauces ( the most valuable section in my opinion), Nutritious Desserts, Snacks and even Drinks. The recipes are good and my book is really full of flags marking the ones that look interesting.

Another thing I liked about the books were some of the appendixes. Some of my favorites include: Food Allergy Substitution Charts, Hidden Sources of Gluten, 28-day Elimination & Detoxification Diet, and also How to Introduce Solid Foods to Infants.

Like I said, don’t be like me and wait for this book to find you. There are a couple different ways to acquire it that I have found. The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook can be found on Amazon or through their own website. I also recommend visiting http://wholelifenutrition.net where there is even more information about doing an elimination diet and also on their new upcoming book Nourishing Meals that will contain 300 more Gluten Free, Dairy-Free and now Soy-Free recipes. It will also including a guide to raising healthy children and is due to release in August.  If you pre-order direct you’ll get a FREE eBook sampler!

Dawn