Telpner - The UnDiet Cookbook

COPYRIGHT 2015 MEGHAN TELPNER
Food Photography Copyright 2015 Maya Visnyei Photography
Lifestyle Photography Copyright 2015 Catherine Farquharson

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisheror in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agencyis an infringement of the copyright law.

Appetite by Random House is a registered trademark of Random House LLC.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication is available upon request.

Print ISBN: 978-0-449-01669-5
e-book ISBN: 978-0-449-01670-1

Published in Canada by Appetite by Random House,
A division of Random House of Canada Limited,
A Penguin Random House Company
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca

v3.1

For Josh, my forever partner on this vibrant life adventure.

I t would be inhospitable of me to have you come into this sweet world of mine without a great big welcome to my kitchen. If you and I are longtime friends, you will know my story. I was not born a vibrant living cheerleader. UnDiet cooking, healthy living, and a commitment to cultivating happiness were not what I ever expected would be the focus of my life or my career. I am self-taught in the kitchen, and my healthy-living adventures were inspired by years of stress and distress that resulted in a fairly terrifying intestinal implosion.

I came to this way of eating and living, and subsequently this career, when, at the age of twenty-six, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition: Crohns disease. My doctors offered little hope, explaining the disease was incurable and that my only option was treatment and management of symptoms with medication and potentially surgery. I believed there had to be another option. I wanted great health.

Following my gut (literally!), I started doing loads of research, avoiding any studies or articles that said that a cure was impossible. There was no room for that. I immediately began putting into practice new lifestyle habits that included what I ate, and how I moved, breathed, slept, and thought. Within a few months, Crohns and I parted ways. By the end of 2006, I was symptom-free, and have remained so, without the need for medication or surgical intervention. Through UnDiet living, I effectively healed a disease that I was told would be with me for life. The doctors refer to the disease as in remission; I like to refer to it as gone. I was able to do what I had been told (and what many sufferers are still told) was impossible: I cured the incurable.

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!

Learn more about my journey to health at

undiet.me/impossiblecure

Following my experience, I went back to school to study holistic nutrition. This formal education gave me a solid foundation in the science of nutrition. Being a very young science, studies are not always the final word. Science changes its mind often, usually when the next big study either proves or disproves the effectiveness of the current standard of care. I make my UnDiet recommendations not because of the latest breaking story in health-related media (a topic that is increasingly and confusingly swayed by trends and fads), but because it makes sense from a foundational understanding of how the body works, how we metabolize and absorb nutrients from our foods, and how that metabolism and digestion are affected by our age, sex, stage in the life cycle, time of the month, stress levels, and overall personal health history. Theres a lot to this, you know.

In the last several years, my understanding of personal dietary needs has further developed (ahem, matured) through my extensive professional experience. I have established a global network of students through my Culinary Nutrition Expert Program with the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. These students are a power tribe who keep me on my toes. Through working with my students, responding to comments from the UnDiet Community group, and continuing to distill the wacky things we hear about with weekly posts on my website (MeghanTelpner.com), I work to ensure that you know whether the latest health news is something you need to jump out of your skin over or something you can simmer down about. My commitment to helping you achieve your optimal health (and my own!) keeps me reading and practicing every single day.

I have learned that different health conditions and personal health needs are more important than following any general health guidelines, and each requires customized dietary protocols. In the last decade, there has been a massive increase in patient-empowered testing (facilitated by your natural healthcare practitioners) that you can access. These tests include everything from allergy and food sensitivity testing, genetic testing, iodine testing, and heavy-metal testing, to name but a few. All the information that youas an individual with an interest in improving your own healthcan now access prepares you to better understand how you can affect your current and future health with your diet and lifestyle choices. That is pretty ridiculously empowering. If this much advancement can happen in a few short years, theres no telling where this will go. Customized care is the future of healthcare, but we have the capacity to start doing that for ourselves right now! A little bit mind-blowing and a whole lot of AwesomeTown.

My professional training taught me the fundamental importance of bio-individuality when it comes to diet, and as a nutritionist, it is my job to provide the information as honestly as I can, with evidence to support it, and in a way that makes sense to you. Then its up to you to decide what youre going to rock and what simply isnt right for you just yetor at all. There is no one diet for all of us, and it is up to each of us, as individuals, to gather as much information as we can, and then decide for ourselves what we can sustain and what makes us feel our most awesome.

In this cookbook, and the companion book, UnDiet, I share with you all that I know, understanding that my professional advice is part of your journey. I want to give you the