Danielle Walker - Food Saved Me: My Journey of Finding Health and Hope Through the Power of Food

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Food Saved Me: My Journey of Finding Health and Hope through the Power of Food

Copyright 2021 by Danielle Walker. All rights reserved.

Cover photographs of Danielle Walker copyright 2021 by Aubrie Pick Photography. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of leaf shadow copyright Nuchylee/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.

Interior photographs of family from Celebrations release copyright Shannon Paras. All rights reserved and used with permission.

Interior photographs of Danielle Walkers wedding copyright Jennifer Skog Photography, and used with permission.

All other interior photographs are from the personal collection of the author and used with permission.

Designed by Libby Dykstra

Published in association with Yates & Yates (www.yates2.com).

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The names and identifying details of the physicians and some of the other people who appear in this book have been changed to protect their privacy.

Source information for quotations, statistics, and resources is listed by page number in the endnotes section at the back of the book.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4964-4474-5

ISBN 978-1-4964-6132-2 SPEC

Build: 2021-08-26 09:58:07 EPUB 3.0

For my grandma Marge.

You instilled an appreciation for family and community in me from an early age; and you taught me what it looks like to show affection through the food we make and the conversations around our tables with the ones we love.

This book is the story of how food saved my life. Its also a love storyabout loving food, loving family, loving friends, and loving myself enough to take an active role in managing my own health. I have experienced a decade-long cycle of diagnosis, disease, remission, setbacks, recovery, and loss, but one thing has held true: Food continues to save me. And my mission is to help you understand all the different ways food can help save you, too.

If you have used my cookbooks or followed my blog or Instagram page for a while, youve probably read snippets of my story here and there, but until now, Ive never done a deep dive. If you dont know me, let me introduce myself: Im Danielle. Im a wife, mom, and self-taught grain-free, gluten-free, and mostly dairy-free cook and baker from the San Francisco Bay Area.

When I was twenty-two, I was diagnosed with an extreme form of ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease that viciously attacks an otherwise healthy colon, resulting in severeand in my case, life-threateningmalabsorption, malnutrition, and anemia.

In the first few years following my diagnosis, I was so sick I had to be hospitalized multiple times, and on more than one occasion, I required emergency blood transfusions and iron infusions just to stay alive. With each flare-up, my weight would fluctuate drastically. It wasnt unusual for me to lose as many as twenty to twenty-five pounds within a matter of weeks. That rapid weight loss would often lead to arthritis-like pain in all my joints, a ridiculously rapid heart rate, hair loss, energy loss, and a host of other problems.

Much to my dismay, my husband, Ryan, and I spent the better part of our first year as husband and wife in and out of emergency rooms and doctors offices. We were unable to travel, stray too far from home, or even enjoy an evening out with friends and family for fear of what might happen if I had another flare-up.

In an attempt to manage my symptoms, my doctors prescribed high doses of steroids and other medications, the side effects of which were often as bad as, if not worse than, the disease itself. When I asked them whether food might affect my condition, each physician told me the same thing: Diet didnt cause it, diet cant help it, and diet cant cure it. But as I continued relying solely on the prescriptions, my symptoms only worsened. My sickness controlled my life until I decided to take matters into my own hands and drastically change my diet.

After doing some research, I decided to stick to unrefined whole foodsthe way people ate before the agricultural revolution changed the way food is grown and processed. I like to say its the way humans were designed to eat before mass production ruined food and before convenience and immediate gratification largely displaced fresh, healthy, and real foods. My diet centers on grass-fed or pasture-raised proteins, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds, nuts, and healthy fats. It eliminates dairy, legumes, grain products, sugar, gluten, and all processed food.

Almost immediately after I changed my diet, my symptoms began to subside, which was the sign of hope I needed to press forward. But virtually every dish I loved, growing up, had at least one if not multiple ingredients on my cant have list. That triggered a whole new list of fears and concerns:

Does this mean Ill never again be able to enjoy all the rich, creamy, sumptuous foods of my childhood?

Whos going to want to come to our house for a meal or a holiday celebration, knowing Ill only be serving grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free food?

Will people even feel comfortable inviting me to their homes and special events, knowing I probably cant eat what theyre serving?

How will I eat when Im traveling?

When I have children of my own, how will I pass down all of the food traditions and memories I grew up with?

My guess is that you have many of the same questions. And believe me, I get it. When youre forced to alter your diet drastically for the sake of your health, its natural to worry that much of what makes life worth living will be lost along with your newly eliminated food groups. Its understandable to worry that you will miss out on special occasions with family and friends or be unable to provide homemade cookies for a childs party. And if youre anything like me, youre probably also worried that youll never again be able to experience the joy that comes from lovingly preparing and serving food to the people you care about.

Well... over ten years, thousands of recipes, and three New York Times bestselling cookbooks later, I promise you, you can effectively manage your symptoms while still enjoying truly amazing food! The process may not be perfectly smooth, and you may hit bumps and setbacks like I have, but your entire life can change for the better.

When I embarked on this new food journey, I assumed it could only help those like me with digestive diseases. But since that day, I have received hundreds of thousands of emails and listened to personal accounts during my book tours from people all over the world who have experienced relief from everything from Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, Hashimotos disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and psoriasis to autism, infertility, migraines, and food allergies. Ive also received positive feedback from people without specific diagnoses whose brain fog, restless sleep, and everyday aches and pains cleared up after altering their diet. Theyre all managing their health while enjoying nutritious, great-tasting meals that even their friends and families love to eat.