I first became inspired by food watching my grandmother Minnie produce the most satisfying traditional Eastern European cuisine in her New York City restaurant in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Unbeknownst to me, a childhood fascination would take me on a journey of food exploration.
When I began life on my own, I engaged more deeply with food and food preparation. Initially I was interested in cooking gourmet cuisine, and wanted to create beautiful tasty dishes and experiment with foods of other cultures.
When the early health food stores opened, I was exposed to whole grains, which I had never seen before. The “gourmet” was a lot of white products — white sugar, white flour, cornstarch, and other processed foods. The object of cooking was more about gaining a certain effect without regard for the nutritional value or the potential danger of the ingredients.
Once I understood the difference between gourmet and organic nutritious food, I wanted to blend the two. I experimented and would tweak the ingredients to use more wholesome ones.
My real experience with nutrient-dense traditional foods came after my second child.It was the gift of having a special needs child that opened the door to yet another level of thinking about food.
I learned about the wisdom of the Weston A. Price Foundation and the GAPS protocol -gut and psychology/physiology syndrome from a friend who changed her diet and had recovered from cancer. After searching many years for solutions for my child, a door was finally opened that would lead to positive results.I also began to understand cooking as an expression of love and caring for whoever you are cooking for. I have continued to use the nutrient-dense foods in my family’s diet and I educate my patients in this protocol as well. The commonality of “food as medicine” and “all disease begins in the gut” is embraced by both Oriental Medicine and Nutritional Therapy.
After private practice in Santa Barbara County for over 30 years, I now practice in the San Francisco Bay Area at Oceanside Healing (https://www.
As new research unfolds, I continue to take courses to stay abreast of the current research.