I am a holistic nutrition consultant and educator.
I decided to pursue nutrition professionally after making specialized meals for over a decade. When it comes to food allergies my daughter, like Pokémon, caught them all. Well maybe not all of them, but 6 out of the top 8. After a severe reaction at a year old she was diagnosed with multiple severe food allergies.
I remember feeling overwhelmed and wondering what I was going to feed her. Many of the foods she is allergic to I thought of as dietary staples at the time.
At first, I focused on making sure she was getting enough calories and that she had balanced macronutrients. Overtime I learned to focus on nutrients to nourish her growth and development.
In those early years, I would make her own special meals. My husband and I would eat foods that were part of the Standard American Diet.
As she grew, making her separate meals felt exclusionary and not fair that she could not eat many of the foods we did. So, I began making meals for all of us that catered to her food allergies which primarily consisted of whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and animal proteins.
As my husband and I ate the meals I made catered for her, we noticed an overall improvement in our health, mood, and energy levels. With these positive changes my interest in nutrition grew.
Once my daughter reached elementary school-aged, we began a 4-year journey of weekly allergy treatments to prevent anaphylaxis if she consumed an allergen. She can now consume small amounts of her allergens without experiencing a deadly reaction.
In holistic nutrition, we are taught to eliminate allergenic foods to reduce gut inflammation. However, in cases like my daughter that is not possible. She needs to consume small amounts of her allergens daily to maintain desensitization. I aim to develop the resiliency of the gut, so that when irritating foods are consumed, it has the strength and integrity to cope without ill effects.
My hopes as a nutrition consultant are to empower others with the skills they need to best support their health needs.
In Health,
Karen Gwerder, BCHN®(Candidate)
