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New York Timesbest-selling cookbook authorDanielle Walkeris living proof that you could take your hardships and give them purpose.
Eventually, her creations werepublished into four cookbooks, three of which made theNew York Timesbestseller list.
Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Walker
Over the past decade, Walker has become a veritable icon of grain- and gluten-free cooking.
And in the process, she’s transformed the lives of thousands of people also living with autoimmune conditions.
Given the severity of her illness, her doctors said that holistic treatments were off of the table.
Courtesy of Danielle Walker
But she also dives into the complex emotions that came with making such major lifestyle changes.
In particular, she talks about mourning the foods she once loved.
“First, you grieve your life before your illness,” says Walker.
“I was 22 when I was diagnosed.
I was recently married and had my whole life planned out.
Then I got sick.
You also grieve food itself, admits Walker.
“Food is such an important part of your life,” she says.
That’s honestly what pushed me into the kitchen to find a solution.”
Hermemoirtouches on how one of the biggest things her illness impacted was motherhood.
“I honestly could write a book about that in and of itself,” she laughs.
A year later, in 2011, she experienced a flare-up and was hospitalized for weeks.
Unfortunately, flare-ups are an inevitable casualty when you have ulcerative colitis.
That was honestly the biggest turning point for me.
Until then, I was just thinking about how food could help me.
Not being able to be there for my son is what pushed me to go all in."
Through the elimination diet, Walker had already found the foods that worked well for her.
Now, she just had to really stick to them.
“Eating clean wasn’t something I could dabble with here and there,” she says.
“I couldn’t just give in on Christmas.
I had to create recipes that were good stand-ins.
It’s taken me a while to realize that I can’t internalize that.
She had essentially completed the writing process in 2019 when she was unexpectedly hospitalized after suffering a life-threatening relapse.
For the past two years, however, she’s had to rely on prescription medications again.
“I felt like everything I had preached over the past 10 years was false and fake.”
“You are so much more than your illness,” says Walker.
That’s what she hopes is the biggest takeaway for anyone who reads her book.
