Morristown Author Addresses Food Allergies in New Book

BY EVAN WECHMAN STAFF WRITER

AREA - Morristown resident

Kayla Cappiello has always enjoyed cooking up tasty meals in the kitchen since she was a child. She has always had a flair for designing recipes which would delight her friends and family.

However, as much as Cappiello loved eating her delicious creations, as a young adult she started to suffer many unhealthy reactions after eating some of these meals. She desperately wanted to know what was going on and how she could help herself.

“Food allergies and dietary restrictions can be tricky. It’s often confusing what doctors to go to. Everyone’s journeys are different. I started my journey with an allergist. They were able to test and diagnose for actual allergies and helped me navigate my tree nut allergy.

When I was still experiencing digestive issues, I saw a gastroenterologist for my celiac gene testing and my lactose intoler- ance testing. They specialize in disorders and diseases that affect the digestive system,” says Cappiello.

This long and difficult process of finding out why she was having such negative reactions to certain foods led Cappiello to be her best advocate. She found out she was gluten free, lactose intolerant and allergic to some tree nuts (pistachios, hazelnuts, and almonds).

Cappiello started looking for other people in the area who were going through similar issues. As a result, she started blogging about her food allergies and which foods did and didn’t work for her. In a short time, she created a large following of people with food allergies which provided a sense of community for both her and her several thousand followers.

She kept experimenting in the kitchen to find out what foods worked for her and how she could tweak otherwise unhealthy foods into good choices.

Her findings will be published in her new cookbook, «Easy Allergy-Free Cooking» which comes out in early April through Simon and Schuster. She hopes these recipes will allow readers to keep their allergies in check while enjoying such wonderful and yummy creations. Some of the offerings include sugar-free cinnamon bun French toast and one of the author’s personal favorites, a caramelized onion and pear pizza with a white balsamic dressing.

This cookbook caters to people with all kinds of allergies. It allows readers to select from a wide variety of milks, grain substitutes, and meat replacements that will work for them.

According to Cappiello,”gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and vegetarians, this book welcomes everyone.”

The Morristown author is hoping her book becomes part of a larger conversation regarding food allergies and how people can overcome them. She wants residents to not give up looking for answers and to stay strong.

“If you suspect you may have a food allergy or a food intolerance, reach out to your primary care doctor or an allergist and they can help you by finding you a specialist. My advice, and so many people told me this along the way, but be your own advocate. You have to speak up and be honest and continue talking to doctors and ask to be tested. Often if you have a food intolerance your symptoms may be written off, misdiagnosed, or just not prioritized. Make sure you ask for the tests and push for the care you want. If a doctor isn’t giving you the tests or the care you want, find another doctor who you connect with who can give you the answers you need.”

Cappiello works full time as a designer for the well-known undergarment company, Tommy John, but has always had a passion for writing. While studying the fashion industry at Marist College, she minored in creative writing and loved it. She has not ruled out writing a second cookbook in the near future where she concentrates on one idea such as allergy friendly pizzas.

But for now, according to Cappiello, “I’m hoping people see you can still live a normal, healthy life with whatever allergies or dietary restrictions they have. You don’t need to stop eating the foods you love; you just need to adjust them and I’m here to show them how.”

The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.