Photo Credit: Ditte Isager
“One sunny afternoon in London, in the spring of 2011, I thought –without sounding overly dramatic – that I was going to die.” That is how Gwyneth Paltrow begins her New York Times Bestselling book It’s All Good.
The migraine induced panic attack changed Paltrow’s life forever. After a check-up Paltrow discovered that she had a benign cyst on her ovary, a nodule on her parathyroid that caused fatigue, her thyroid wasn’t functioning properly and her doctor recommended that she adjust her hormones with more hormones. After undergoing more tests and having her family tested - Paltrow knew that she must change her entire lifestyle in order to be healthy.
The results determined that, “Everyone in my house is intolerant of gluten, dairy, and chickens’ eggs, among many other surprising foods that I had always thought were healthy,” Paltrow said.
“What do you feed kids who can’t eat gluten when pasta and bread are their favorite things on earth? What do you give a kid for dessert who is allergic to cow’s milk?”
The doctor advised Paltrow that she needed to say: "no coffee, no alcohol, no dairy, no eggs, no sugar, no shellfish, no deepwater fish, no potatoes, no tomatoes, no bell pepper, no eggplant, no corn, no wheat, no meat, no soy, nothing processed at all."
That is when Paltrow decided that she had to write a book for everyone that could be struggling with cooking healthy and delicious meals for their family. “Mealtimes should always feel happy. Not like a punishment,” Paltrow said.
With her cooking partner Julia Turshen, Paltrow began to create recipes that would appease her taste buds and her new eating regiment.
In the cookbook, there are no recipes that contain sugar. There are recipes with just trace amounts of gluten and she provides alternatives to prepare the dish gluten-free. Also, you won't find any dairy items mentioned on the pages, only a few recipes call goat's milk or sheep's milk yogurt. You will not find overly-processed ingredients, either.
As bookends to the recipes within the book, you'll find helpful guides for kitchen essentials, from what to stock in the fridge to spices and items to use to line your cupboards. There are also detailed weekly menu suggestions. The recipes and basic instructions that fall on the pages in between are for soups, salads, fish, some meat, drinks, sweets, and other such things.
However, Paltrow keeps it real. “Falling off your plan is part of it, not a reason to beat yourself up. It takes time to make these changes,” Paltrow said.
Academy-Award winning actress, mother, entrepreneur, author – is there anything that Gwyneth Paltrow can’t do? It’s All Good is crafted to help famalies live a happier and healthier life.
For more information on It's All Good click here.
