Hello, my name is La Mariposa, given by a good friend and mentor in the baking industry. I figured it might be a good idea to introduce myself and my journey with food. I hope you find this blog to be a place of recipes, challenges, discoveries and learning as we uncover the vast knowledge of nutrition. As a baker, I will also be including recipes and photos of cakes that I make for friends and family but with time I hope to experiment with other ingredients and try to find alternatives based on my reader's needs. So, feel free to comment with questions or request ingredient alternatives and I'll do my best to help as we learn together.
Since childhood I have struggled off and on with food problems. Supposedly, I was colicky as a baby and I remember multiple periods of dairy intolerance along with the occasional reaction to strawberries, tomatoes and various other foods. Still to this day I am not a fan of meat, especially red meat, and have spent most of my life unable to enjoy or digest animal proteins. My mom tells me stories from my toddler years when we would go out to eat, everyone had hamburgers and I was a content little 3 year old with a big salad....can't say I've changed much really.
Due to my "allergies'" tendencies to disappear and reappear without warning, we just avoided antagonistic foods when problems flared up. It wasn't until puberty that I decided there had to be a deeper problem.
I was determined to find the source of my pain so I researched a little and consulted a local natural health store owner with great hope. After describing some symptoms and going over my diet, she suggested that either I was gluten intolerant, sugar intolerant, or had a Candida Albicans overgrowth....all of which could be ruled out by doing a Candida Cleanse. My whole family decided to support me and revive their own health in my quest for answers...in the end I discovered I was gluten intolerant.
Until 2012, I was feeling as though my new gluten free diet was satisfactory, however, other problems were arising and I was no longer comfortable with my struggles. Since the Candida cleanse, I had a new desire to learn as much as possible about natural diets and supplements. I took to the internet concluding that I must struggle with low HCl and enzyme production. After ordering some supplements online I slowly was able to enjoy animal protein with lessened pain but long term supplements didn't satisfy my determination to fix what I believed was a failing digestive system. As can be expected, my digestive issues led to deficiencies despite my clean diet, my body just wasn't absorbing the nutrients in my food.
August of 2012 I enrolled in correspondence courses through Trinity School of Natural Health as a Holistic Nutritional Counselling student in hopes of learning more about my body as well as offering answers to others with health problems. Through my studies I learned a lot but what I came to understand was that my problems required a more experienced nutritionist with the access to tests and stronger treatments.
Meanwhile, I got a job in a local bakery as a baker's assistant. I had always loved cooking and baking and thought it might be a good opportunity to learn even more. Since it was a small family owned bakery, I got to work one on one with the owner who was also our head baker. He taught me everything he knew, encouraged me to be creative and challenge my new knowledge. Due to my allergies, I volunteered to head up our gluten free and special request orders which included anything from dairy free to all out vegan. People tell me its naive of me to think a person should seek a job where they wake up happy to work and sad to leave but this was exactly that job. Time only allowed me to work there for 10 months before having to move back home but that fire never did die.
June of 2013, I went through a liver and gallbladder cleanse where it became clear to me that my body was becoming increasingly toxic, my immune and adrenal systems were weak and it was time to surrender to conventional medicine to rule out further issues. After 3 rounds of blood test over a 4 month period, I was referred to an Oncologist where it was decided I needed to move back home and make my health a priority. I looked for another natural doctor in my "new" area and he discovered I'm unable to handle: gluten, tapioca, buckwheat, amaranth, oats eggs, dairy, pork, and almonds. Confirming my suspicions we are working to restore my digestive system and in turn, my immune system but it's a work in progress...which means flexibility.
During my years of guessing, trials, and diet re-hauls, I have relied on other bloggers to help me cope as I trained my palette to enjoy foods in a different light. I've always loved foreign food and exotic flavors so that never was an issue but giving up foods that were showcased all around me took willpower and the occasional internal break down as I came to terms with my change in diet. Bloggers provided me encouragement and delicious recipes for my days of weakness. Schooling has given me a clearer view of food as medicine and an open mindedness as I recognize my body's needs. Baking has brought a challenge and avenue for creativity, a way for me to bring a smile to someone's face, especially when their diet normally would make it difficult to find enjoyment in food.
Feel free to contact me at allingoodmeasure@gmail.com with questions or concerns as you follow me through my journey with food and health. I won't pretend to have all the answers but together we will find something to make your journey enjoyable.
