Using words to change lives overseas
A Hawera-born mum has written a book about a change that improved every aspect of her family’s lives.
Michele Lynch, who is now based on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, published The Clean Lunchbox in December 2016 after she spent three years documenting her family’s dietary change and the effects it had.
‘‘We definitely noticed changes,’’ Lynch said. ’’In my sons’ sweet patterns, in their behaviour, and the way that they enjoyed their food. There was less complaining, we did notice less tantrums, less ear infections, so everything improved really.’’
She said her and her husband noticed a change in themselves too.
The book contains recipes and is all about clean eating.
‘‘It’s about making things from scratch, and low sugar foods, so sweetening things with dates and fruit instead of refined sugars. It’s avoiding preservatives really, going back to whole foods, whole ingredients,’’ Lynch said.
Although the book is currently not for sale in New Zealand due to ‘‘ludicrous’’ postage prices, Lynch is working toward getting it here because she’d love to see it on shelves.
Lynch was born in Hawera and went to kindy and school here before moving to Australia when she was about five. Her father, Alan Stupples, was a plumber, and her mother, Aileen Stupples (nee Hall), was a draftsperson.
Lynch spent her 36th birthday in Hawera recently and brought her book over too.
Her dietary changes and decision to write the book came after one of her four sons was diagnosed with alopecia.
The auto immune condition then developed into alopecia universalis, which led to Lynch’s son losing all his body hair.
‘‘I just took it on board to look into dietary chances,’’ she said.
Lynch said although the change in diet didn’t immediately appear to help with the alopecia, it was making a difference.
‘‘Basically because it’s auto immune all the kind of isolated damage on the inside to his immune system had already happened so he went basically 12 months without hair and then after that it started growing back again,’’ she said.
‘‘Medically, it was highly unlikely that his hair was going to grow back, so I’ve seen proof that changes in diet can heal conditions that are auto immune.’’