On the 13th of June, I began the pleasure of hosting Julie, a dietetic student from France. She finished training with me, and my team at Shepherd Works in Melbourne on 15th July. I was impressed with this young woman’s story so much, I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to assist her training….. she was keen to fly half way around the world to train with me, as I had founded the Low FODMAP Diet.  In September last year, I received an email from Julie, telling me her story and explaining her request. Julie had suffered from IBS for most of her adult life and was debilitated by the chronic severe symptoms she experienced. She was employed in the French cosmetic and fragrances industry for many years, until she self-taught herself the Low FODMAP Diet, and was so impressed with the improvements in her symptoms, and how she was able to improve her quality of life, she decided to change her career, and become a dietitian. She fulfilled the early degree requirements in France and asked if she could join me and the Shepherd Works team for her final placement. And she did. It was fascinating for us to hear how the French dietetics degree teaches about nutrition, what the nutritional guidelines are in France (including how much cheese they eat!). She also informed us that   dietetic specialists are rare in France – most in private practice only work in the areas of diabetes and weight loss.  We showed Julie supermarkets, health food stores, cafes and specialty bakeries, showcasing the extensive range of food products we have available in Australia for people with food intolerances. She was overly impressed, as there was no such equivalent range in France.  Although France has a great range of gluten free products (she mentioned Schar products were the main gluten free brand there), Julie noted that there were not so many dairy or lactose free alternatives. She was impressed with the extensive range of soy, sheep and goat varieties of milk, yoghurts and cheeses, and also with the lactose free milks ranging from rice milks (and the many varieties within this style, such as those Vitasoy offers), right the way through to oat, almond, quinoa milks. I know that I absolutely adore the extensive range we have in Australia, making my task of explaining to people with food sensitivities/intolerances that there is an alternative for “just about everything” just so much easier.

To find out what Vitasoy products are gluten free, check out the product specification sheets: http://www.soy.com.au/hcp/tools/

Here’s a link to a recipe I created using Vitasoy Ricemilk Original – Pumpkin, Sage and Goat’s Cheese Frittata, let me know how you like it.

The Soy Milky range is great for people who want all the benefits of soy, without the soy taste being too strong. The Soy Milky range has grown from the original Soy Milky Regular and Lite….. and now available are kids, chocolate and vanilla varieties, which I’m sure you will find your clients and yourselves will enjoy. I would love to hear what’s your favourite.

Regards, Sue Shepherd

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