Hi! I'm Marinka, I'm 24 years old and from the Netherlands.
I work at a hospital as a respiratory technologist and in my spare time I love cooking, travelling, shopping, watching movies and browsing the web for recipes, knowledge, products and much more. I started doing CrossFit in February 2011, which I absolutely love doing, but I also love to go for a run.
At age 15 I got ME/CFS but wasn't diagnosed until 2006 when I went to a therapist who treated me with bioresonance therapy. My therapist discovered, among other 'ailments' some food intolerances and put me on a diet.
At first I only had to cut out dairy, beef and wheat, which was a challenge at first. During the first years of therapy the number of foods I was intolerant to kept increasing, but it finally seems to have stabilised.
For those who are curious, here's the list of stuff I'm intolerant to:
- most grains
- dairy products (cow's as well as goat's)
- sugar
- seafood
- tuna
- soy
- grapefruit
- mango
- nectarine
- potatoes
- peas
- veal (calf meat)
- pork
- hazelnuts
- brazil nuts
- black tea
- peppermint
- chamomile
In 2009, my therapist had just switched to the paleo diet herself, and she recommended it to me. I tried it for a few weeks and definitely felt better. Besides what's on my intolerance list, I also stopped having peanuts and vinegar, stopped adding salt and cut out grains completely.
Luckily my mom taught me how to cook during the first period of my illness and from then on my love of cooking has developed. Ever since, I've made up quite some recipes and ideas for new ones keep popping into my head.
My love for travelling greatly combines with my love of food; everywhere I travel, I shop for food and try out new dishes in restaurants. My favourite supermarket has to be the Whole Foods Market (too bad there isn't any in the Netherlands) but I love shopping at oriental supermarkets as well.
So whenever I make up a new recipe, find new products or have a great dining experience, I'll be sure to post it on my blog.
