Lisa Roukin went from suffering an eating disorder to becoming a successful chef, glowing with health, and she credits a gluten-free diet for her transformation.
“I’ve always been a lover of a food,” Lisa says. “But I had an issue with being a lover of food too. My whole book is about my relationship with food.,. The story is about being over weight and losing weight. My whole story is based around that.
“Throughout my life I’ve always loved food but had a pretty bad relationship with food but as I got older I dealt with it.”
Though Lisa struggled with her diet and staying healthy growing up and throughout her 20s, she decided not to let this put her off forging a genuine, healthy relationship with food.
“I discovered that just because I had a bad relationship with food it didn’t mean I couldn’t be involved with food,” she explains. “I went to Le Cordon Bleu, which is a culinary school in London, and I did a course there. I then set up a business where I can show people how to prepare good, healthy food in their own home.”
Lisa soon discovered that her relationship with food was at it’s best when she opted for a gluten-free diet.
“I self-diagnosed myself by eliminating gluten from my diet. It was irritating my skin and making me bloated, it was making me moody. I found that eliminating gluten from recipes I devised left me more energised and much happier, not so sluggish. My relationship with food is now in a great place.”
Lisa says that going gluten-free is simply a matter of making food swaps.
“If I have rice I always have wholegrain rice. I’ll have buckwheat or sweet potatoes. It’s knowing that these products are there.
“People think it’s scary, it’s not. It’s far easier than people think.”
Lisa continues: “We are spoilt for choice when it comes to gluten free choices. There are gluten free sections in super markets. It’s about retraining your mind when you’re buying and preparing food.
It’s less about weaning yourself off something and more about introducing something new to your diet.”
She does, however, understand that it can initially be daunting to switch to gluten-free.
“You are going to have that freak out mode. It’s about slowly experimenting with alternatives and seeing how you feel. If it works for you then you can take it further.”
Check out some of Lisa’s recipes below
Lisa Roukin gluten free recipes
1 of 5Baked asparagus in parmesan and almond crust
If you're planning on going gluten-free this delicious asparagus recipe will help you slip into better habits.(Recipe: Lisa Roukin, Image: David Munns)
2 of 5Coconut porridge
Get off to a good start with this yummy gluten-free porridge
3 of 5Oven baked cod with peppers and olives
Feed the entire family with this delicious fish dish
4 of 5Quinoa sushi salad
Gluten-free sushi for all those sushi lovers!
5 of 5Gluten-free lemon and almond cake
Try your hand at gluten-free baking with this delicious cake recipe.
Read more about Lisa at www.myrelationshipwithfood.com
(Images: David Munns)