You can be following the healthiest diet out there, but did you know that it might not be the healthiest diet for YOU? I’m joined by Cristina Curp, creator of The Castaway Kitchen, to talk about how you can heal from autoimmune disease using food as medicine. About Christina Curp Cristina Curp is the creator of The Castaway Kitchen, a popular food blog and online community dedicated to delicious, healing recipes. Author of best-selling cookbook Made Whole and recently released Made Whole Made Simple. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Florida International University and is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. Cristina in on a mission to educate people about the healing power of real food!  Cristina shares her story of growing up and living with Hidradenitis Suppurativa. This is an autoimmune disease that manifests in painful boils in sensitive parts of the body, such as the armpits and groin. Cristina explains how her doctor kept trying to get her on different types of medication and creams that just weren’t working. But after Cristina had her baby, the boils moved under her breasts which caused immense pain and more discomfort. She was researching the condition one day when she came across another woman who turned the autoimmune disease around by changing her diet. Because of Cristina’s background as a chef, she decided to try it herself. Food is the ultimate medicine and Cristina is living proof of that. She reversed her Hidradenitis Suppurative by changing what food she was eating and finding what worked for her. Cristina explains how following the autoimmune protocol worked, and didn’t work, for her and how she adapted it. Cristina eats a Keto-centric diet where her focus is on meats and vegetables. She doesn’t consume dairy as part of her nutrition as she knows it has a detrimental impact on her health. But Cristina isn’t totally against eating carbohydrates, in fact, she encourages eating carbs when it’s appropriate and to fuel your energy. The American diet, however, is bountiful with food that is not optimized for health. Foods high in saturated fat as well as seed-based oils can be lethal to you. But that doesn’t mean all oils are off the table, Cristina explains how you can include olive, coconut, and MCT oil in your regular diet. For many of us, food doesn’t show up in a sensitivity test. But consuming vast quantities of the same food is always going to be detrimental to our overall health and could cause a reaction. Cristina encourages you to eat a variety of food every day and to switch up what you’re eating to keep in your ultimate health. Do you find that you’re sensitive to a particular type of food? Have you tried removing it from your diet to see if it helps? I’d love to know your experiences trying to identify food sensitivities and what works for your health! As always, you can ask me anything and let me hear your thoughts in the comments on the episode page. If you have questions, email team@drannacabeca.com.   In This Episode: What Hidradenitis Suppurativa is How food can be medicine What autoimmune protocol is How changing your diet can have a positive impact on your autoimmune disease How you can consume carbohydrates for energy Why the American diet is so lethal (highly processed oils) What the best way to consume coconut or MCT oil is Why you should eat a variety of foods daily   Quotes: “You can eat healthy, but you might not be eating healthy for you.” (5:30) “If you are not over-consuming carbohydrates and eating them to your activity level, they’re not all stored as fat automatically.  You can use them as fuel.” (24:04) “Elimination protocols don’t address the root cause always. They give your body a break to heal, but there are oftentimes underlying causes.” (35:01)   Resources Mentioned Buy Made Whole and Made Whole, Made Simple Online Listen to the Body Wise Podcast Find Christina and The Castaway Kitchen Online Find The Castaway Kitchen on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTub