I Had A Crippling Thyroid Disease. This Is The Diet That Helped Me Heal

Laurel Gallucci was a normal 20-something woman, working a full-time job in education and teaching Pilates when she suddenly began rapidly losing weight and suffering from little to no energy. She stopped ovulating completely and eventually had to quit her job to focus on healing. Now, she's thriving—the mother of a new baby and one-half of the female team behind the Sweet Laurel Cookbook and the newly opened Sweet Laurel Cake Shop in Pacific Palisades, California. Here, she shares her diagnosis—and the food that helped her heal.

I was an athletic, busy lady. I had a full-time job in education, taught Pilates after work, and usually rounded out the evening with a jog on the beach. I ate relatively "healthy." Every morning for breakfast I had sprouted and organic whole wheat toast with peanut butter. I loved it because it kept me full. I refrained from heavy starches—I'd noticed in my college years my body wasn’t digesting starches; I always felt terribly bloated and constipated after eating potatoes, oats, and pasta. The doctors eventually diagnosed me with Hashimoto's disease (a disease that attacks the thyroid), secondary amenorrhea, and severe weight loss.

In my last year as a school teacher, my Hashimoto's began to manifest in a big way. I had little to no energy. I was rapidly losing weight, stopped ovulating, and could not digest food properly. After intervention by my loved ones, I took a year off of teaching to focus on my health. I began working with an integrative medical doctor who encouraged me to remove foods from my diet that were causing inflammation and having a negative impact on my health condition. Per my doctor's orders, I removed all grains, refined sugar, dairy, and legumes from my diet (editor's note: While some doctors think lectins and gluten can cause inflammation, always consult a doctor to see what's best for your individual body). I saw a huge difference in my health.

There was no cake or any sweets for that matter, for someone eating completely grain-free, refined-sugar-free, and dairy-free. I realized quickly that if I wanted to eat certain foods like cake, crackers, or doughnuts, I'd have to make it myself, which is how I began creating recipes for family and friends.

I start my day with collagen coffee, which I make with Swiss water process decaf coffee, collagen for protein, coconut cream for healthy fat, and cinnamon to help with inflammation. Other meals consist of lots of veggies and moderate protein. I am actually a vegetable fiend! Kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, sweet potatoes—I love it all. I eat egg scrambles and organic pastured chicken and fish. And it is very common to see me snacking on 100 percent cacao throughout the day.

Want to try out one of Laurel's creations for yourself? This Chocolate Cake That Changed Everything was the recipe that started Laurel's culinary career. "This was the cake that changed everything," Laurel says. "Our whole company, and point of view, is founded on this cake. Decadent, rich, beautiful, and intensely chocolaty, it flies in the face of people who don't think you can have your cake and be grain-free, too. This cake is a showstopper, so get ready—people will freak out over it."

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