Ending Body Burnout Show

9. "Quirky Cooking", Food Intolerances, Gut-Brain Health & Healing Foods with Jo Whitton

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Filly is joined by Jo Whitton from Quirky Cooking on today’s podcast episode. Such a great convo! Filly has been cooking along with Jo ever since Filly started her own healing journey back in 2013. So it was a true pleasure to meet Jo in person and pick her brains about her “Quirky Cooking” journey. 

 

About Jo Whitton

Jo Whitton lives in Far North Queensland where she runs her business, Quirky Cooking, from home and enjoys the country life. Due to food intolerances in her family (herself and her four children), Jo began researching ways to improve their health through diet from the time her kids were very young. In 2008 she began a blog, Quirky Cooking, to share what she was learning and the recipes she was developing for her family. In 2014, Jo’s son Isaac was diagnosed with severe OCD and anxiety, which resulted in a deep dive into gut health and food as medicine. Not only did Isaac’s mental health stabilise, but her whole family saw massive improvements in their overall health. Jo has since helped thousands of families to heal with food, sharing the principles she used to heal her own family. 

Jo runs health seminars, cooking workshops, retreats and other events both in Australia and overseas, sharing how to transition to a healing, whole food diet in a doable and sustainable way. She also shares podcasts and videos and facilitates gut health programs to support people working through healing with food, regularly develops new recipes for her audience, and shares daily cooking videos from her kitchen on social media. Jo is the author of three best-selling cookbooks: “Quirky Cooking”, “Life-Changing Food” and “Simple Healing Food”.

 

In today’s episode, Jo Whitton talks to Filly about:

 

  • Jo shares how she was struggling with her own “body burnout”, taking us right back to when she was young, when she struggled with putting on weight, being sick all the time, food intolerances, histamine issues, and then later on hormonal imbalances & fatigue. Things got worse after Jo had kids and she was juggling all the things. 
  • After connecting many of her health issues to food intolerances, Jo tried seeking help from doctors and dieticians, but found their advice around food wasn’t helpful. Eventually she saw a naturopath and chiropractor who introduces her to wholefood eating and healing foods, and her Quirky Cooking journey began!
  • Jo shares how her Quirky Cooking business evolved, from starting a blog with recipes and meal plans, and connecting with others struggling with food intolerances and health issues, to writing her first cookbook and evolving her business to what it is now.
  • Jo’s health improved with her change of diet, but she had a feeling that she was still only “managing” underlying health issues. In 2014, her son Isaac developed severe anxiety and OCD, which led to a deeper dive into the GAPs diet and gut health. Jo shares what this looked like for Isaac and the whole family, and the incredible healing that came from addressing gut health (Isaac went from severe OCD, anxiety and paranoia, to returning back to a “normal kid” within weeks!).
  • Filly and Jo chat about deeper root-causes of Jo’s food intolerances and poor gut health. Jo talks about her genetic mutation that makes it harder for her body to detoxify, as well as early chronic exposure to mould and farming pesticides. They also dig into Jo’s inner patterns of emotional sensitivity as a kid, body image as a teenage and adult, and over-doing and people pleasing tendencies as a younger mother and business owner. Jo shares how she has navigated this side of her healing journey, to now being a healthy, confident and more balanced 50 year old (beautiful!) woman.
  • We dive into Jo’s 8-Week Gut Health Program that is helping so many people heal their guts with wholefoods and healthy living, as well as creating a supportive and nourishing space to reconnect back to healing foods and connecting. She also talks about her upcoming health retreats in Italy and Far North QLD.
  • Filly hand-picked three listener’s questions for Jo, and we finish off the convo with Jo answering the questions:
    • “Do you ever get sick of cooking?? What do you do to give yourself a break from it occasionally? Or do you just enjoy it so much that you never stop?!” ~ Sarah Scrimegeur
    • “Do you have any tricks to get my 7yo to try food that isn’t pasta or rice? If so you are my new hero” ~ Andrew Wheatley
    • “Time poor, mum with special needs kids. What first steps I should take to help my exhausted body?” ~ @Natural.learning.life

      •  

      A very big thank you again to the super inspiring and big-hearted Jo for coming on the Ending Body Burnout Show!

       

      Show Note Links: 

       

      Jo’s Gut Health Program

       

      Jo’s Luxury Health Retreat in Italy

       

      Jos’ Quirky Cooking in Far North QLD

       

      Jo’s Quirky Cooking Cookbook

       

      Jo’s Life-Changing Food Cookbook

       

      Jo’s Simple, Healing Food Cookbook

       

      Sign up for Filly’s “Root Cause of Emotional Eating” Masterclass on 22 May 2023, held for Natural Medicine Week

       

      Take Chris & Filly’s Ending Body Burnout Assessment here

       

      Check out how you can work with Chris & Filly Functional Medicine here



      Disclaimer: This Ending Body Burnout Show podcast and any information, advice, opinions or statements within it do not constitute medical, health care or other professional advice, and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this Podcast. Chris & Filly Functional Medicine does not make any representations or give any warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose. This Podcast and any information, advice, opinions or statements within it are not to be used as a substitute for professional medical, psychology, psychiatric or other mental health care or natural medicine health care. Chris & Filly Functional Medicine recommends you seek  the advice of your doctor or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Inform your doctor of any changes you may make to your lifestyle and discuss these with your doctor. Do not disregard medical advice or delay visiting a medical professional because of something you hear in this Podcast. To the extent permissible by law Chris & Filly Functional Medicine and the Ending Body Burnout Show Podcast  will not be liable for any expenses, losses, damages (including indirect or consequential damages) or costs which might be incurred as a result of the information being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason. No part of this Podcast can be reproduced, redistributed, published, copied or duplicated in any form without the prior permission of Chris & Filly Functional Medicine.

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      Ending Body Burnout ShowBy Chris & Filipa Bellette