We can feel sick, and gradually we feel better. We kind of forget how sick we felt. So, we don’t connect what we’re eating to how we felt. – Maria Quintana-Pilling

On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Maria Quintana-Pilling, Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner. She’s a health coach who teaches live and online cooking classes, and she knows a lot about food, so this is going to be a fun conversation!

Health and how we feel in our bodies is a wake up call to a lot of my guests. That was my story as well. Maria started to dabble in nutrition after being diagnosed with fibroids, and after surgery to remove fibroids, she got really serious about it. She found that the changes she made were more nuanced than some people report, but still profound.

We dive into going gluten-free and dairy-free, including why you might want to try it and how to approach it. We look at the difference between gluten-free and grain-free and why to try one over the other.

We talk about:

• Things you might not have considered when you think about gluten-free (condiments, alcohol, makeup?)
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• How different foods work for different people, how what works for us may change at different stages of our lives, and the kinds of clues your body gives you about foods that may not work for you
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• Why soaking or sprouting grains is important
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• Using pesto and quinoa or rice bowl for more balanced meals
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• Ways of balancing protein, fats and carbs that don’t look like a traditional plate
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• Why detoxes are helpful
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BIO

Maria Quintana-Pilling is a certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner, certified nutrition consultant and natural chef, specializing in digestive and women’s health issues. She received nutrition training from Bauman College in Berkeley, CA, the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, AZ, and Holistic Nutrition Lab Full Body Systems. She runs short detoxes and in-person and online cooking classes. She’s is the mom to a 7-year-old son.

LINKS

Contact Maria

Maria’s Urban Spice Nutrition website with summer detox & quinoa bowl recipe

Mia’s Go to Rice bowls

Doable Changes from this episode:

• TRY QUINOA BOWLS. I’ve talked about how I use rice bowls as an easy, adaptable meal, and I love Maria’s suggestion of a quinoa version. Find links to both above. Grain bowls are very adaptable—you can use different grains, proteins, veggies and seasonings. And if you put the different components in separate bowls, it’s easy to adapt for different nutrition needs and tastes. 
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• UPGRADE YOUR SNACKS. Remember that we need a balance of proteins, fats, and carbs. Choose whole food snacks with an aim to include all three. One way to do this is to add some nut butter to a fruit snack.
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• DO A 5-DAY DETOX. A detox gives your liver a break from processed food and refined sugars and other things like caffeine and alcohol, allowing it to do its job better. The first couple of days can be really hard, so it can be usefu l to have the support of a group, but people usually start feeling better around day 3. If you aren’t...