D.K. Girl & her RECIPE

Alexandra Casperso, Registered Dietitian, is the campus dietitian for University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.

She also owns a private practice, Delicious Knowledge in Stockton, CA Her speciality is in plant-based diets and treating IBS, Migraines, Fibromyalgia, and fatigue caused by food sensitivities.

I was impressed with Alexandra and her ideas so I decided to ask a few questions to share with my favorite Morselites:

Q. How did you get started in becoming an RD?

A. I have always been interested in nutrition, my first job was at a weight management camp for kids and I knew I wanted to help others improve their lives through exercise and nutrition.

In addition to being an RD, I have a master’s in exercise physiology and am a certified personal trainer, group exercise and yoga instructor.

Q. Wow. Very impressive. What are the top 3 reasons clients come to you?

A. Most of my clients have food allergies or food sensitivities. Food sensitivities are harder to diagnose and symptoms usually include gut issues and/or chronic migraines but they don’t stop there.

Using a mediator release test, I determine which foods are causing the inflammation and remove them with an elimination and rotation diet. I also see clients who are looking to clean up their current diet and adopt a more plant-based approach.

Q. How do you help your clients?

A. If I am seeing a food sensitivity patient, I use the LEAP protocol. A client I am seeing today initially came in with chronic daily headaches, after just 2 weeks on the LEAP program he hasn’t had a migraine since!

Knowing that most of your immune system is in your gut, it makes sense that food can make us sick! I help identify which foods are harmful and remove them. I also help clients switch to a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet.

There are a lot of questions and concerns out there and I help to answer them.

I am a firm believer that a plant-based diet is one of the healthiest changes you can make.

The first thing I do when I see a client with high BP or LDL/Triglycerides is put them on a plant-based diet. The results are incredible and they don’t have to turn to Rx drugs, which I think is the ultimate reward.

Q. Can you expand on LEAP?

LEAP stands for Lifestyle Eating and Performance, it is a protocol beneficial for a number of medical conditions and symptoms, most significantly for IBS with diarrhea, migraine, and other chronic headache, and fibromyalgia and arthralgias.

LEAP is done using Mediator Release Testing (MRT) against 150 common food chemicals and substances.

Using your personalized results, an elimination and rotation diet is used to rid and reduce the condition and/or symptoms.

Q. Will you share some healthy living & cooking tips for Morselist Readers?

A. 1. When cooking with oil, try substituting low-sodium vegetable broth. This is a great trick when making sauces, or cooking after you have seared the food in a non-stick skillet.

2. Practice intuitive eating: Before eating, check in with your hunger level- how hungry are you?

Are you really hungry or just bored? If you’re not hungry and you choose to eat, then you are not honoring your body. Practice eating only when you are truly hungry and really enjoying the food.

Taking the time to focus on eating helps distract you from outside cues that make you overeat.

3. Don’t focus on removing foods, instead think about what foods you can add to items you already love.

For example: love pasta? (Who doesn’t!?) Add whatever vegetables you like to your favorite pasta dish, extra points if you switch your noodles to whole wheat or brown rice.

Not only does adding extra vegetables increase your intake of important vitamins and minerals but it also adds fiber and bulk to the meal, two huge factors in increasing satiety.

This can be done with any meal.

When I cook the first question I ask myself is, what vegetables would taste good here?

4. Experiment with spices.

If you don’t love low-fat cooking, you are probably not doing it right. Spices are key for flavorful, healthy food!

Q. What are the biggest challenges you find and hear from your clients?

A. I think trying to change habits they have had for years or overcoming external cues are the biggest challenges.

Q. How do you help them overcome these?

A. I’m a huge believer that very few people are successful in re-hauling their lifestyle overnight. I focus on identifying two or three immediate goals to work on and work from there. External cues can wreak havoc on trying to eat healthier.

Little things, like the size of a bowl may force you to eat more than you may have wanted to.

Changing these cues is important, especially for maintaining long-term goals.

Q. These are FANTASTIC tips! Thank you for taking the time to share with my readers. One last request, would you be willing to share one of your favorite Summer Recipes?

A. This is my favorite, a hybrid of Caprese and Panzanella salad:

Grilled Panzanella Salad

Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes, cut into cubes
1 eggplant, thick sliced
1/2 loaf good-quality bread (day old is better), cubed* (Mo used Gluten-Free Bread)
1 recipe baked tofu croutons (below) 1 recipe dressing (below)

The key to this recipe is to try to make all of the cubes (bread, tomatoes, eggplant, and tofu) similar in size.

To start, I tossed 2 eggplant slices with sea salt and let them drain overnight.

I then rinsed the slices and patted them dry before grilling.

You don’t have to do this, but it makes the eggplant less soggy.

I used the grill for this recipe, but you can use a grill pan, panini press, or oven.

Season both sides of your eggplant with a little salt and pepper.

Lightly brush the slices of bread with olive oil.

Heat your grill to medium-high and place the slices of bread and eggplant on.

The eggplant will take longer than the bread, about 8-10 minutes per side until soft.

Cube the bread and eggplant and place in a bowl with cubed tomatoes.

Add the baked tofu croutons and toss with the dressing.

Baked Tofu Croutons