Keep it natural for a healthy diet

The Light interviews Real Food and Food Maze author Robert Elliot

- by RICHARD HOUSE

Richard House (RH): Tell us how you got interested in the question of real food, Robert.

Robert Elliott (RE): Coming from a family background where cooking raw was the norm, I didn't really have too much to worry about regarding my diet. However, when I first met my partner, Sally, she pronounced me "not very well', and insisted I be tested by kinesiology for food intolerances. My kinesiologist, Jayne, confirmed Sally's suspicions, presenting me with a long list of foods to be abandoned the first step in rebuilding my gut biome.

Subsequent kinesiology sessions gradually restored homeostasis, but a sticking point was dairy. In a flash of inspiration, Sally asked Jayne to test me on raw organic milk; so I was tested for organic pasteurised milk and then raw milk. I again failed on the pasteurised milk but was 100 per cent fine with the raw milk. That was my light-bulb moment. Understanding that there might be a problem with processed foods - even when 'organic' - set me on the road to researching the difference between unadulterated food and its commercial equivalent.

RH: Your two acclaimed books, The Food Maze (2008) and How to Eat Like There's No Tomorrow (2009), were well ahead of their time, setting out your personal journey around food. To what extent is it possible to generalise about good eating, or is everyone's situation and personal journey a unique one?