Food for thought

Diagnosed with Colitis when she was 13, London-based recipe developer Nell Gordon-Hall is using her culinary skills to create exciting foods that suit her dietary requirements, after a decade-long journey of self-discovery with her body and diet.

After her diagnosis, Nell spoke with a nutritionist who recommended certain foods, but gave her little support or information to help her manage her condition.

“I had to work out myself how my condition was connected to what I ate,” explains Nell. “She didn’t give me much advice on what I should try and cut out or what could be good for me.”

At first, Nell tried to keep her Colitis under control by relying solely on the medication that she had been prescribed. However, it wasn’t long before she started to notice that certain foods, like gluten, appeared to trigger her flare ups. The IBD Standards recommends access to a dietitian and nutritional assessments throughout the journey so as she started to experiment with her diet, Nell consulted a private nutritionist, who had been recommended by a friend.

Nell says: “She was really good at working out what was good for me and what was bad for me and told me to make notes of what foods made me feel bad when they do. She had dealt a lot with people with Colitis, so she had a lot of knowledge of these kinds of things.”

Although informative, the advice Nell’s new nutritionist had given her meant that her diet became very bland, with sugar, red meat and most fruit and vegetables off the menu. This was a struggle for Nell, who had grown up with cooking and food being a central part of family life.

“I’m a huge foodie,” she laughs. “My mum’s side is Middle Eastern, and they all take food very seriously. I learnt a lot from my mum and being in that environment and watching. It’s just my passion.”

Now 23 years old, Nell has spent the past few years creating new and innovative recipes that are good for her stomach and for her taste buds. While no one diet will work for every person living with Crohn’s or Colitis, Nell believes that listening to her body, and being mindful of her condition and what works for her, is key to improving her health.

She says, “I think finding food that works for you is a journey you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time focusing on. It’s not a case of you stop eating something and immediately feel amazing – you have to slowly work it out.”

The recipes reproduced here have been developed by Nell Gordon-Hall, solely using ingredients that don’t trigger her own flare-ups. Different people’s bodies are affected by different foods so you may need to adapt them for your own diet. Click below for some of Nell's top recipes or find more recipes on Nell’s website.

Recipe 1 - Fancy Fish Fingers

Recipe 2 - Chicken shawarma pitta and a tahini sauce

Recipe 3: Aperol spritz cake