These four South African women are changing the way we view food with their health-conscious recipes and ideas. Follow them for inspirational gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free recipes.
Who…? Rooi Rose food editor and author Vickie de Beer
About… Vickie is an award-winning writer and food stylist, currently working as the food editor for Rooi Rose magazine. In 2008, her then eight-year-old son was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes and Vickie knew that her family would immediately have to change the way they ate. She began researching ways to keep blood sugar levels in diabetics stable, resulting in her low-carb recipes, which she has turned into a book.
Her book… The Low-Carb Solution for Diabetics, R335, Quivertree Publications. Vickie teamed up with paediatric dietitian Kath Megaw to help families like hers find a simple, nutritious solution to cooking for a special diet. Buy it now.
Try one of her recipes: Nachos Mexicana With Everything!
Follow Vickie on… Instagram at @vickiefantastic and Twitter at@Vickiefantastic.
Who…? Anti-sugar crusader Karen Thomson.
About… Karen, a recovering sugar addict, is passionate about living a low-carb high-fat lifestyle. She is the founder of the Harmony Eating and Lifestyle Program — the world’s first inpatient programme treating carbohydrate and sugar addiction. She has also started an online support network, called The Sugar Free Revolution, and believes that cutting sugar from your diet is, quite simply, life changing.
Her book… Sugar Free: 8 Weeks to Freedom From Sugar and Carb Addiction, R250, Jonathan Ball Publishers. If you’re struggling to cut sugar from your diet, this book may be the answer. Sugar Free by Karen Thomson and Kerry Hammerton helps you get over your sugar dependency with an eight-week programme, which includes an easy-to-follow eating programme and tasty sugar-free recipes, leading you to a lifestyle that will leave you feeling great. Buy it now.
Try one of her recipes: Portuguese Custard Tarts
Follow Karen on… Facebook at@sugarandcarbaddiction and Twitter at @HELPdietSA, or visit her website, thesugarfreerevolution.com.
Who…? Bernice Griffiths, the brains behind the Betty Bake blog
About… Betty and her husband went gluten-free due to their daughter Hannah being quite sick and going on a large amount of medicines. Betty got really frustrated as nothing seemed to be working, so she decided to look into Hannah’s diet and eliminated all foods except for vegetables and fruit. She got better and then they slowly added foods back in to see which ones were causing issues. Gluten was the number one culprit. Her husband encouraged her to start a blog as she loves to cook and bake, and it was a great space to store her recipes and share them with the people around her.
Her blog…The blog BettyBake features a wide range of original gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free and preservative-free recipes for the whole family. Bernice encourages the use of fresh, natural and organic ingredients where possible and refined foods and sugar are kept to an absolute minimum in her creations. Expect a delish array of breakfasts, starters, mains, desserts, sides and baking.
Try one of her recipes… Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Chocolate cake
Follow Bernice on… Instagram at @bettybake, Twitter at@BettyBakeBlog and Facebook @BettyBakeBlog, or visit her website, bettybake.co.za. You can also add her on Snapchat (BettyBake).
Who…? Author and dietitian Hilda Lategan
About… Hilda is a South African dietitian, registered with the HPCSA. Since 1975 she has worked in various fields of the profession, including as a hospital dietitian in government hospitals where she gained valuable experience regarding therapeutic nutrition, food service management, recipes development and student training. Currently she a private practice where she enjoys counselling people with health problems. She also gives advice as a consultant to small companies, does recipe development and write cookbooks for special needs such as food allergies and diabetes.
Her book… The South African Cookbook for Diabetes, R250, Tafelberg has over 100 tried and tested recipes that are all diabetes-friendly, easy to prepare, nutritious and affordable. Buy it now.
Try one of her recipes: Potato and Sweetcorn Soup
Follow Hilda on… her website www.hildalategan.co.za
If you want to go gluten, sugar or dairy free, but aren’t sure where to start, sign up to our #7Days #FreeFrom newsletters. For one week, we’ll send you all the recipes, tips and inspiration you need. Sign up for free here.
DISCLAIMER: Before starting any diet, you should speak to your doctor. You must not rely on the information on this website/newsletter as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.
