Elizabeth Yarnell, Author, Innovator, Naturopath, Speaker
Elizabeth Yarnell Amazon icon Audible icon Autographed icon Bluesky icon Book Bub icon Buffer icon Booksprout icon Buy Me a Coffee icon URL Copied! Copy URL Email icon Facebook icon Goodreads icon Headphones icon Home icon Instagram icon LinkedIn icon Linktree icon Mastodon icon Patreon icon Periscope icon Pinterest icon Reddit icon RSS icon Search icon Share icon Snapchat icon Threads icon TikTok icon Tumblr icon Twitter icon Vine icon Youtube icon Join a free Q/A Call!

The Value of Food Sensitivity Testing

When I came across your website I was so relieved to find that there may be hope for me, but then saw what you charge and I realised that you are just out to make a huge profit off of others pain and illness.  Who do you think can actually afford almost $1000 for a blood test?
~ Kate, New York

Hi Kate,

I’m glad to hear you are looking for non-medicinal ways to help alleviate your chronic physical distress. I’m happy that you found me and I hear your concerns about fees and why they might seem high. Let me assure you that even though it might seem like a lot of money up front, you get a lot for your money, including about four months of follow-up visits and an education in food sensitivities and your body. LEAP MRT FOOD SENSITIVITY TESTING

Here are why it costs a little bit of money to get this kind of health care and support:

1. The Mediator Release Test. The MRT is cutting-edge science that uses state-of-the-art machinery to perform exact calibrations and procedures. Developed by Oxford Biomedical Labs (formerly Signet Diagnostic), the MRT is at the forefront of the food sensitivities field with the highest rates of reproducibility and reliability and offering the most accurate identification of inflammatory markers in the blood. Only a few laboratories around the globe are equipped to perform this test as it is highly specialized. I receive a discount off the list price of $995 which I pass along to my clients.

2. Implementation. You don’t just receive your MRT results and be left wondering how to implement them effectively. Modern test results are technical and require some interpretation; simply receiving test results is a poor predictor for success. Certified LEAP (Lifestyle Eating and Performance) Therapists (CLTs) receive more than forty hours of training on understanding the physiology, interpreting the results, and designing modern, customized, anti-inflammatory dietary protocols based on science to facilitate positive outcomes. In other words, you’ll experience better results if you work with a CLT to interpret the results.

3. A Sustainable Diet. Not only will you receive your personalized “safe” diet designed to remove inflammation from your body quickly and to speed relief from symptoms, but you’ll also receive a week-by-week food re-introduction schedule to help get you to a comfortable place where you can have an easy lifestyle with a sustainable and enjoyable diet that doesn’t make you sick. You will get help with menu plans and food products as well as recipes that work with your allowed foods to help implement a new, balanced and nutritious eating style over the long haul.

4. Healing. The focus is on healing so that, as time goes on, some foods may be successfully re-integrated without inducing symptoms. Additional herbal, probiotic, or homeopathic remedies may be recommended, depending on your symptoms. Years of schooling and clinical practice have given me the knowledge to work holistically with your particular body.

5. Coaching. You receive coaching for how to recover quickly from mis-steps and keep control of your health for the long-haul. My goal is to send my clients out into the world symptom-free with the knowledge of how to stay there.

6. Expertise. Lastly, these are professional services. Not only do I have a doctorate in naturopathic medicine, and am a Certified Nutritional Consultant and a Certified LEAP Therapist, I’m also an award-winning, best-selling cookbook author and the director of the Fight MS with Food project. I get paid to speak around the country on health, nutrition, and autoimmune issues related to diet.

Please feel free to contact me for more information or to schedule a free consultation.

A New Danger In the Fish We Eat: Plastics

Drawing of a rainbow trout.
Ok, so this is a picture of a river-dwelling fish, a rainbow trout, not an ocean fish. But it a fish and was drawn by my 8-year old daughter – with a little coaching from her fisherman father.

We’ve been warned for years about rising mercury levels in predator fish such as tuna and mahi-mahi, but now they’re identifying a new danger in fish as the oceans become full of plastic debris. It turns out that the fish are eating the plastic garbage and the PCBs and chemicals in the plastics are integrating into the flesh of the fish. About one-third of the fish in the English Channel are now found to have ingested and integrated plastic.

Aaaaggghhh! I can’t stand it!

It makes me want to pull an ostrich move and bury my head in the sand and scream: “I just don’t want to know!”

Because, now that I know, it will haunt me.

And the only thing I can do about it is encourage people to recycle their plastics rather than toss them.

Girl Scout Cookies… Curse Them!

Like anyone else who grew up in America, I’ve looked forward to and enjoyed the annual appearance of Girl Scout Cookies. Heck, I even sold a bunch of boxes when I donned that green sash myself in elementary school. But, now that I am a label-reader, these cookies break my heart for what’s in them.Girl Scout Samoas cookies

In my favorites, the Samoas, “crisp cookies coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and striped with dark chocolaty coating,” not only is sugar the first ingredient, but trans-fats are the second (partially hydrogenated palm kernel and/or cotttonseed oil, soybean and palm oil), and then there is also corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk, and artificial colors. We know that most of the corn, cottonseed, and soy in this country are now GMOs, and since the box does not bear the Non-GMO Project seal, we must assume these cookies are full of GMOs, too.

Not that I should be surprised that 2 small cookies deliver 11 grams of sugar; I mean, after all, they are cookies. What can you expect? It’s just that I would have hoped the Girl Scouts would hold their cookie bakers to higher standards with their ingredients over higher profits, albeit much of these profits go to support Girl Scouting. It just makes me sad.

I didn’t get any other types of Girl Scout cookies this year because I remember thinking that the ingredients list for the Samoas was the most acceptable to me and I stopped getting the other kinds. My family is complaining; they want Thin Mints.

Not that this information going to keep me from eating just a couple of Samoas. For old times’ sake.

How to Stop A Dog From Itching

It seems as if more and more dogs are having sensitivities these days, just as it seems like more and more people are suffering from undiagnosed sensitivities. In dogs, sensitivities can manifest as excessive itching, often to the point where there are bald, raw, irritated spots. Constant chasing of his own tail, tremendous anxiety, and chewing on furniture can also be signs of food and chemical sensitivities in a pet.dog dermatitis treatment

Perhaps more dogs are suffering these days because we are feeding them the wrong foods such as grains, GMOs, and other fillers in our commercial dog foods? Just a theory.

Here are some things you can do to help relieve your doggy of his incessant itching and scratching.

Hypoallergenic Dog Food

If your dog is suffering, the first thing to try is a hypoallergenic dog food that is simple with only one carb and one protein, such as potato and lamb. Try a natural pet foods store for a good selection, or make your dog a Glorious One-Pot Meal! One friend prepares simple Glorious One-Pot Meals for her older dogs who have sensitive systems, and feeds them real foods without any processing.

Fish Oil

Depending on the size of your dog, pour a tablespoon or so of fish oil on his food every day (not in his water, as he will pee nonstop until it all comes out!). Fish oil and its omega 3 fatty acids is helpful not just for skin conditions, but also for doggy arthritis and mental clarity. If the fish oil makes your pup too loose in the stools, dial it back until you find the right amount that he can tolerate. The fish oil should also give him a shiny coat.

Probiotics

Yup, animals need to have a healthy population of gut bacteria just like we do. Check that same natural pet foods store, or often even the big pet supply stores will often have a pet probiotic. Instead of forcing a pet to take a pill (one of my least favorite activities!), I will open the capsule and mix it in with wet pet food that I know will be eaten immediately.

Often pets will respond to the same therapies and supplements that people will. After all, we’re all mammals with the same basic functional systems. A few years ago, I learned how to manage my cat’s feline chronic renal failure (CRF) with a dietary change and strategic supplements. Today, she’s a healthy and kicking 15-year old cat who pees only in her litter box and is vocal about her other needs (mostly for open doors and love and attention!). All I did was treat her as if she were a human patient, and she bounced back from the brink.

I am constantly amazed by the power of mammalian bodies to heal when given the opportunity.

“Meaty” Vegan Chili Recipe

In my family, finding a meal we can all eat can be tricky. Make-your-own-burritos can be a good choice, but I had an itch to make a pot of chili when my brother and one of my sisters came for dinner last week. I knew I wanted it to be a bean-based stew, but I also wanted that meatiness of meat, even though my brother doesn’t eat any meat or poultry. And, finally, I wanted it to be chock-full of vegetables and nutrition without adding any grains.Mycoprotein meat substitute

This was the first time I’ve cooked with Quorn TM Meatless & Soy-Free Grounds made with mycoprotein from mushrooms. The only other ingredients are egg white and malt, and they turned out to be a delicious wheat-free meat alternative in the chili!

I also had to accommodate my son, who will reject a meal if he sees an onion or a chunk of cooked tomato, so I pureed an onion into an unrecognizable pulp and only used pureed tomatoes.  If you use canned beans, be sure to rinse the beans well to remove the BPA from the can lining before adding them to the pot of chili.

And, my daughter, who doesn’t like things too spicy. I offered a bottle of Siracha red chili sauce to anyone who wanted more fire.

You might notice that I didn’t use garlic or whole chile peppers in this version; you, of course, are welcome to add whatever you want to your own pot!

[print-me target=”.recipe”]

Meaty Vegan Chili

Feeds 6-8 hearty eaters.Meaty vegan chili recipe

  • Olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • pureed or diced tomatoes
  • 8-10 Crimini mushrooms, trimmed, sliced
  • 4 carrots, scrubbed, trimmed and sliced into coins
  • 2 parsnips, scrubbed, trimmed, halved and sliced
  • 1 turnip, scrubbed, trimmed, quartered and sliced
  • 1 Tbsp. dried basil
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 2 Tbsp. mild chili powder
  • 2 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes (I like to use Aleppo red Pepper Flakes, Crushed)
  • 3/4 lb. kidney beans, soaked and drained
  • 3/4 lb. black beans, soaked and rinsed
  • 3/4 lb. pinto beans, soaked and rinsed
  • 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
  • 1 bunch spinach leaves, cleaned and roughly cut

Heat olive oil in a soup pot and saute the onions for 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes, vegetables and spices and reduce the heat. Simmer until the root vegetables are soft and the tomatoes lose their iron-y flavor. Taste and adjust seasonings, then add the beans to the pot. When heated through, add the balsamic vinegar to brighten the flavors and sugar if still too iron-y tasting, and stir in the spinach until wilted. Serve with rice, tortillas, or a crusty loaf of bread.

Check out my Book!

Glorious One-Pot Meals

Buy It Now! »

Effortless Topics

Recent Posts