Grain-Free Diets: When Crisis Compels Transformation

As the rate of chronic illness skyrockets, more and more parents are faced with the sobering reality of restrictive diets. And because everyone is busy, many families come to rely on store-bought “healthy” products to make life simpler, but many of these are loaded with sugar and hidden toxins.

When faced with her own family health crisis, mother and health coach Leah Webb realized that in order to consistently provide high-quality food for her family, nearly 100 percent of their meals would need to be homemade.

But when she looked for a resource to guide her, most cookbooks that offered recipes “free” of allergenic foods were also high in processed starches, flours, and sugar.

Webb, like so many parents, was looking for a cookbook that offered deeply nutritious, kid-friendly, whole foods recipes that were also easy, but there wasn’t one—so she wrote it herself.

The following excerpt is from The Grain-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Family Cookbook by Leah Webb. It has been adapted for the web.

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A grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet has been hugely beneficial for my family.

We’ve experienced major improvements in medical conditions for my son and husband, I’ve drastically improved my mood by eliminating sugar, and my daughter has experienced limited digestive issues related to CF.

My daughter’s success is partially attributed to her genetic makeup (she has a class V mutation meaning that she maintains residual function of CFTR proteins and is pancreas sufficient—does not require digestive enzymes with every meal—unlike the majority of people with CF and the luck of the draw, but I’m comforted by the fact that we’ve included diet as one part of a multifaceted preventative approach to health.

How much of her success is due to diet? I’ll likely never know, but why would I stop doing something if it seems to be working?

We’re certainly not your typical family when it comes to health and medical needs, but it’s not uncommon for families to seek a similar type diet to help improve their own unique situation, whatever that may be.

Our story is our own, but I know we’re not alone. I want others to be inspired in knowing that a diagnosis doesn’t mean the end. It means that you just have to work that much harder and with that much more passion to achieve the results you want.

In fact, a diagnosis can sometimes mean the beginning of something you never thought possible. I’m not sure who said it originally, but I’ll say it too: Not all storms come to disrupt your life; some come to clear your path.

I also want people to remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

If you stumbled upon this book as a perfectly healthy individual, but you are interested in improving your diet, I say go for it! I’ll be one of the first to tell you that managing disease is a path that’s best to be avoided.

And most of the foods available to us in grocery stores and restaurants will eventually make us sick. Changing your diet now can save you time, heartache, and money in the future. Don’t settle for mediocrity when it comes to diet when the alternative is so much better.

I never imagined I’d be sharing my story and food wisdom in a book, especially a cookbook. Like most of us, I assumed my life would be different. Writing about food obstacles and solutions in the treatment of my children’s unique medical issues never occurred to me as an imaginable future.

As a young woman reflecting on my hopes of becoming a mother, I didn’t ever consider the possibility that life with children would mean having medical equipment piled in a corner of the living room, medications scattered throughout the house, frequent doctor visits with multiple specialists, an hour of daily treatments and therapies (more when sick), epinephrine and Benadryl, lists of restrictions and rules (each kid has their own), and living with stress of this magnitude.

However, I can say with 100 percent certainty that I wouldn’t appreciate life and health in the same way had I not been gifted these two special children who are a daily reminder that without health you have nothing. And for that reason, achieving optimal health is worth putting in a damn good effort.

The opportunity to write this book fell into my lap, which I’ve been told almost never happens. When I was in the early stages of grieving my daughter’s disease, a friend wrote to me saying that she hoped I would someday find the gifts that come from the darkness.

I believe this book is one of such gifts, and my hope is to offer parents like me a tool and platform to help improve their family’s quality of life.

I chose a grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet because of its benefits for gut health and its associated reduction in inflammation, an extremely desirable response in the treatment of any disease or condition.

But as we began our journey, I quickly discovered that many of the recipes I found were attempts at mimicking traditional foods like mac ’n’ cheese, a food that I’m sorry to say is impossible to re-create without grains and dairy.

Store-bought Paleo Diet products proved equally as disappointing for their inclusion of varying starches—potato, tapioca, arrowroot, and the like. Many grain-free recipes featured similar issues. The presence of sugar in recipes and packaged foods was, in my opinion, the worst of the ingredients.

It was the number one food that I wanted to avoid. Marketers would have you believe that because their processed foods are gluten-free, all-natural, heart healthy, low fat, or sugar-free that you’re buying a healthy product. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

When we learned that my son had a wheat allergy I remember being so disappointed to find that not only did store-bought gluten-free breads have the worst texture of any bread I had ever tasted, but this terrible texture was achieved using chemicals, fillers, starches, and other food-like substances that aren’t worth eating.

(Note that this microscopic loaf of a health hazard cost around $8.) Believe me when I say that many gluten-free products are some of the least healthy and least affordable options in the grocery store.

And while I certainly have a handful of gluten-free products in my pantry that our family enjoys, the majority of them should be avoided. Attempts to re-create traditional grain-based foods without grains equates to a product full of chemicals and inscrutable ingredients.

The bottom line is that we couldn’t improve our diet simply by changing from grains to highly processed grain-free foods. We had to instead make some major upgrades and learn to cook more meals from real, whole ingredients—a skill that is mostly lost in today’s busy world.

I realized what we needed was more than just a new diet, we needed an entirely new way of looking at food and cooking.

As the fervently dedicated mother that I am, I started cooking more than I ever had. I was determined to supply my family with real, whole foods to support their health in the best way possible.

Quality breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks soon began flying out of the kitchen. But there was a downside: I was never leaving the kitchen. Our diet had turned me into the household cook and my other interests and responsibilities were being pushed to the wayside.

I’m a firm believer that joy and happiness are two of the most important contributors to health. Although our diet was drastically helping us to reduce inflammation, it was also taking away precious time from other health-promoting activities such as spending quality time with family, exercise, and even sleep.

If we were to continue life on this diet I knew I had to find a more sustainable, balanced approach to meal preparation.

So I started buying and cooking in bulk, meal planning, eating more leftovers, freezing leftovers, multitasking in the kitchen, asking for more help, and implementing numerous other tactics that slowly made this diet feel more sustainable.

And now it’s just a part of life! And although we stick with the diet for the most part, we occasionally cheat and eat convenience foods that aren’t necessarily part of the diet. I occasionally buy a gluten-and dairy-free frozen pizza for my kids to share, and my husband and I share a grain-free version that’s loaded with cheese.

We always stay within the important boundaries necessary to maintain each individual’s health, but a convenience food night allows us to enjoy a relaxing evening that requires little prep or cleanup. I’ve even cut the pizza boxes into “plates” so that I have zero dishes to clean.

Everyone eats a salad while the pizzas bake and we enjoy our packaged Friday night dinner in front of the television. This book is not about turning you into a superhero, but about making it work for you. And making life enjoyable.

One of the takeaways I hope you get from reading through the following chapters is that life is about progress, not perfection.

Sometimes that means letting go in one area so that you can gain some peace in another. Hopefully this book will help you achieve your own version of balance, one with less sugar, grains, and dairy, and more home-cooked meals.

I’ll also say that this diet doesn’t necessarily feel restrictive most of the time. I genuinely enjoy eating a grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet and all of the nourishing foods that come along with it. I can’t imagine going back to eating any other way now that we’ve grown accustomed to such a high standard of quality.

Likewise, I’m quick to observe the negative way in which my body responds to unhealthy foods when we do break our own food “rules.” There’s a great deal of reward that comes with following a healthy diet and my body clearly appreciates my efforts.

My hope is that you don’t just treat this book like any other cookbook.

This book is more about the process of food and how we can achieve healing when we commit to a better way of eating and living, and less about the perfect combination of herbs and spices.

Tasty food doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, sometimes kids enjoy simple foods more than a complex mix of unfamiliar ingredients and flavors. Besides, this book is written to simplify the process of everyday food prep for a family. Why would I include a plethora of complicated recipes?

I want someone to read this book, implement my strategies, use the menus, and prepare the recipes as everyday solutions to health and longevity. I want my readers (you!) to have success.

I hope you enjoy reading about my family, our tragedies, our solutions, and our celebrations. And most of all, I hope you enjoy the simple yet delicious and healthy recipes that I’ve shared with you and your family.

A grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet has been a true gift to my own family in more ways than I can explain, and I am certain that other families will experience similar bene ts. This book is one of my gifts from the darkness that I have the joy and pleasure of sharing with you all.

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