My Personal Journey

“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food” (Hippocrates 460 B.C.)

Food and health are lifelong passions of mine. I grew up in Italy, the country that gave birth to the Slow Food movement. I was raised appreciating the gifts of the land; I was taught to savor every bite, to make every single meal a sensory experience.

When I moved to the United States in 2006, I started eating the standard American diet (the acronym of which is SAD, the irony...) and my health fell apart.

Fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, disturbing rapid weight loss suddenly kicked in. I started my quest towards health, and I probably knocked at the wrong door.

The number of specialists I contacted couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Thousand of dollars and many trips to the emergency room later, I was finally labeled as an IBS sufferer.

I was told that, unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done for me.

However I refused to accept that I had to live in pain, that there was no treatment to end my sufferings.

Nobody ever asked me about my diet or about the changes I had made since I moved from Italy... Until I stumbled across a very wise young man, who turned my life around.

He helped me take charge of my health, and he opened my eyes about the way food is processed in this country. And, slowly but surely, a return to my dietary roots meant a return to optimal health.

During the long months that it took to heal myself, I started reading more and more about nutrition.

As a translator in the medical field I had hardly stumbled across this topic. But now things were starting to make sense.

I decided to study, research, and join nutrition foundations. And, little by little, I started helping the people around me make better nutritional choices. Everywhere I looked, the changes were amazing. And friends and family were encouraging me to make a major career change.

I was unsatisfied with mainstream nutrition. It seems that nobody knows what real food is anymore. What happened to the traditional diets that had nourished humanity for thousands of years?

My journey was far from over. And, when it seemed I was heading towards a dead end, I found the Nutritional Therapy Association*, the Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, and the Weston A. Price Foundation. Through these these organizations I found the information I needed; I just had to roll up my sleeves and go back to school.

I graduated as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner in 2009, and I've been helping people get better ever since.

In 2011 I studied under Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, and became a Certified GAPS Practitioner.

I urge you to take charge of your life, and never take for granted the impact, positive or negative, that food can have on your health.

Whether you are struggling with weight issues, suffering from digestive problems, living in a state of sub-optimal health but you’ve been told there’s nothing wrong with you, or if disease is already afflicting you and compromising the quality of your life, please know that there is hope.

I am here to help you rethink nutrition and discover a world of pleasurable eating, fun cooking and experimenting. I will provide you with knowledge, useful resources, yummy recipes, and all the help you will need at every step of the way. You can unlearn what you’ve been taught [and if you are here, probably didn’t make you feel very good], and see that there’s another way.

*The Nutritional Therapy Association mission statement says that “the health problems of modern society are the result of poor nutritional foundations that do not support good health. The Nutritional Therapy Association is guided by a profound respect for the teaching of the nutritional pioneers; a commitment to the concept of biochemical individuality; and a belief that within each of us lies an innate intelligence that will guide us.”

- Francesca Orlando, NTP, CGP

Lead Instructor for Nutritional Therapy Association Inc.