Emily Turner, the blond behind the brand Gluten Free with Emily, is on the show to teach you everything you need to know about ditching gluten. Think gluten free living has to be boring and tasteless? Think again – Emily shows us how you can enjoy a delicious diet and improve your health with gluten free cooking.

Motivated by a desire to prove that going gluten free can be both fun and easy, Emily founded Gluten Free with Emily to provide people with resources and recipes to help them remove this ingredient from their diet. She started making YouTube videos only two years ago, and is also working on a book. Emily is passionate about her business and works on it day by day to grow it into a success. "I know it will be really rewarding in the end."

"If your digestion is off, everything is off," and the increase in people going gluten-free points to many people not feeling good. Even in tiny quantities, gluten can have a reactionary effect on the gut. "Sometimes more than people realize," says Emily.

Gluten is only found in modern grains—ancient grains like rice, quinoa, amaranth, do not contain any. Wheat has been modified so drastically since the industrial revolution that the human body hasn't evolved to cope with it. Add to that GMO practices and you've got a substance that is impossible to digest. Wheat causes gut inflammation in everyone, not only those suffering from celiac or gluten allergy. This eventually leads to autoimmune diseases and other health issues. In fact, food has changed a lot in the last couple of decades, just look at the size of vegetables in shops these days! The way we've changed food has had a massive impact on people's health.

Emily has celiac, which is an autoimmune disease triggered by eating gluten. Celiac isn't the same as a gluten allergy, though both share many symptoms and are managed by avoiding gluten. But thankfully, going gluten free doesn't have to mean a lifetime of boring food!

"I wanted to make gluten free baked goods that actually taste amazing." Emily knows the baking element is really important to people and her recipes reflect this—we sampled some of her coconut chocolate caramel cookies during the show and OMG—AMAZING! When she became gluten free 14 years ago, Emily started to experiment with different flours – she has 15 different ones in her kitchen!

Gluten free has become a bit of a buzz word of late—everyone seems to be doing it. But it's important to keep checking labels, because some of the ingredients used to replace gluten are far from healthy! A lot of gluten free options in the shops are really processed, so you might have a whole host of other issues to deal with. Emily encourages people to go back to whole foods—it doesn't have to be difficult, there are so many amazing recipes out there.

The burning question for anyone thinking of going gluten free: how do I eat gluten free bread? Unfortunately, the bread situation is pretty sad. Emily has gluten free and grain free bread recipes on her website, but tries to steer people away from bread dependency. Many of the breads you can buy in the store are really processed, some even contain corn syrup! Lettuce wraps, leaf wraps, and nori rolls are all great alternatives to a wheat sandwich.

Emily tells us all about why it's important to buy the best, freshest, highest quality produce possible, and why cooking in your own kitchen is better for your gut health. She also shares her favorite date spots for vegan, plant based and delicious food. Plus, find out how to make vegan, gluten-free strawberry pesto in just 5 minutes using only 6 ingredients!

Check out all the Show Notes at www.FoodHealsNation.com!

Being hailed as "Sex and the City for Food," The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!

The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!

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