Part 2: Close-Up Talk Radio spotlights Dr. Phyllis Pacella

Santa Clarita, CA – Nutrition plays a significant role in our overall health, yet the ingredients found in most processed foods can wreak havoc on our bodies. For patients suffering from disorders like celiac disease, diabetes, autism and fibromyalgia, many doctors recommend patients severely alter their diets. But if you can’t have gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, corn, potatoes and fruit, what’s left?

Dr. Phyllis Pacella is the author of The Amazing “Almost Everything Free” Cookbook: Tasty Solutions to Highly Restricted Diets, a comprehensive cookbook featuring almost 100 recipes for people who simply can’t enjoy many of the foods we take for granted.

“It was remarkable to me how many health conditions can improve through a restrictive diet,” says Dr. Pacella. “What we put in our bodies has an enormous effect on our overall health. If I put together a cookbook, it could help a lot of people.”

Dr. Pacella’s grandson Joey was born with multiple disabilities including significant brain damage. At the age five, Joey developed a seizure disorder that caused him to suffer as many as 20 seizures an hour. Placed on anti-convulsive drugs, Joey’s doctors also recommended he be placed on a highly restricted diet.

“I remember thinking, ‘What are we going to feed this poor child?’” recalls Dr. Pacella. “But what’s a grandmother to do but to cook for her grandson? I turned my kitchen into a test kitchen and began experimenting without using any of those ingredients.”

With a little ingenuity and creativity, within a few months Joey’s seizures had subsided and he was gradually weaned off his medications.

“He’s the only 8-year-old with a personal chef,” says Dr. Pacella, “but what better way to show your love for your family than to cook for them.”