Catch up with Karen Russell on a Monday morning and she is baking cookies. Delicious cookies. Cookies with chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut. You might think, “This is the kind of nutritionist I want coaching me on healthy cooking!”
“Here’s my whole philosophy,” she says. “When you eat a cookie, you should feel good after you eat it. It should taste good and you should feel good. With regular cookies, your energy goes down after awhile.”
Russell’s cookies are gluten free, low in sugar and high in fiber. She uses what she calls “powerful ingredients” including maca powder, organic coconut, chia seeds, almond flower and “good” chocolate.
“It would probably benefit most everybody to eat gluten-free because the wheat has changed in the last 50 years,” she said. “It’s not the same and it’s causing inflammation in a lot of people.”
Russell, the founder of Recipe 4 Wellness, moved to Sedona from Bolivar, Ohio two years ago. “I didn’t really like where I was living. I couldn’t think of anywhere in Ohio I wanted to move to and one night Sedona came into my mind, randomly.”
The dietician and health coach had visited Sedona 10 years ago. “I came here for about five days. I remember loving Sedona, of course the beauty, and also the way I felt. I had always had jobs so on vacation it would take a few days to unwind. I was instantly relaxed here. And from the first day I moved here, I have felt that way. It’s funny how Sedona can make some people feel.”
She also believed she could find health-minded people in Sedona. “I knew there would be healthy places to eat. People here actually understood what a health coach is.”
Russell has an extensive background in nutrition. She earned a degree in dietetics and has attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York. She has worked in hospitals, nursing homes and weight loss centers. But what really focused her attention on food and a whole different way of cooking and eating was her own trial and error journey on the road to good health.
“I grew up in a medical family. My dad was a doctor and he gave me medicine and antibiotics for a chronic infection that began in my 30s. By my 40s, I had fibromyalgia, no energy, I was tired all the time, had chronic sinus infections and a really severe intestinal infection. My father would say, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with your immune system.’ He would look at me like it was all in my head.”
Russell’s father died of cancer at age 58. “That really opened my eyes,” she said. “When I turned 50, I knew I needed to research and figure out how not to follow his path. I found out about food sensitivities and I had some of those. I was fighting an extra 15 pounds after menopause that I couldn’t get rid of even though I knew what to do as I had worked in diet counseling.”
She began researching everything she could to turn her health around. “Little by little, I figured it out. Immediately, I lost weight. And my insomnia that I had my whole life began to go away.”
She also got rid of her chronic infections. “Because of the way I eat and live, at age 58, I feel better than in my 40s, I have energy, no insomnia and I do not have fibromyalgia. I feel very fortunate and I feel like I was supposed to go through all of that to come out the other end and help other people.”
With Recipe 4 Wellness, Russell promotes ingredients for a healthy body, mind and soul. “Basically, most people who come to me are looking for more energy, looking to get rid of belly fat and sometimes just learn how to eat healthier and get help for digestive or sleep issues to help the body function better and prevent disease.”
Russell offers saliva testing to identify food sensitivities, uncover hidden infections, check out the digestive system, learn about hormonal imbalances and what the adrenal glands are doing. She also looks for parasites and all hidden sources of inflammation.
“People will come in and tell me they’ve tried everything. They exercise every day, they’re eating vegan, they’ve stopped drinking. Still, they can’t lose weight. If someone tells me what they’re eating, I can tell them what they are doing wrong. I help people step by step, in a quick easy way with food that tastes good.”
She says within three months on her program, the belly goes down and the energy goes up. Numbers like blood sugar and cholesterol levels improve. “Quality of life gets better. Sometimes people have rashes or psoriasis or eczema that will go away. I see all kinds of people, some who have more health issues, or maybe they’re a runner and they have low energy. Some people have weight to lose or weight to gain.”
Russell explains that there is a basic way of eating for most people, but she tailors plans to individual needs. “One lady from Russia loved bread. She said, ‘Please don’t take my bread away!’ So we might change how you’re eating bread. She’s been on the program for two months and says she doesn’t even crave bread and she had been surviving on it and eating very little protein. Your cravings start to go away. It’s not about willpower; it’s about changing how you’re eating. Certain foods are addictive and cause inflammation. You don’t have to have willpower.”
Besides individualized programs, Russell offers live-in health coaching. “If somebody wanted to fly in from somewhere, they could spend four days with me. I’d take them on a shopping tour to learn how to find healthy ingredients, and they’d learn how to cook differently in the time that they are here.”
Russell says everybody knows not to eat white flour and sugar and eat more fruits and vegetables. “But a lot of people think they are doing the right thing and they’re not. We’ve been taught that certain foods are good for us. They keep us addicted and sabotage us. We can all benefit by learning how to cook differently.”
Along with the physiological benefits of a changed diet come improved mental focus, better mood and less depression, she says. “There’s a gut/brain connection. I’ve worked with people who were able to go off their antidepressant. When people are able to go off their medication, that always makes me feel good.”
Recipe 4 Wellness offers cooking classes throughout Sedona. On Thursday, Aug. 21, Russell will be teaching a Fermentation Class using different recipes. The cost is $30. To register and get directions, call 928-282-8918.
She also is conducting a 13-week group weight-loss program, IN.FORM, from Sept. 16 to Dec. 16. “We’ll measure bone mass, body fat and visceral fat percent – fat around the organs – and determine an individual’s actual metabolic age. Participants will receive the support of the group and also individualized coaching.”
In the past two years since she moved to Sedona, Russell’s life has completely changed. On her quest to find new energy, she might find yours.
And, about those cookies. Russell’s Chocolate Chip Coconut Walnut De-lites can be found in farmers’ markets and stores like Rinzai’s Market and Java Love Cafe Coffee Roaster in Sedona, Indian Gardens Oak Creek Market in Oak Creek Canyon and Steep Leaf Lounge in Flagstaff. The recipe is in her cookbook, Gluten Free Living, sold on Amazon.com.
For more information about her programs or cooking classes, contact Russell at info@recipe4wellness.com or 928-282-8918.
By Bonnie Stevens, Flagstaff Business News