Bridging Foods – My body clearly told me to stop eating gluten and dairy

Fighting for her life put a stop to eating and drinking whatever she wanted.

Bridging Foods – My body clearly told me to stop eating gluten and dairy

Prior to June 2003 I would have said that my life was perfect, as would have many of my family and friends.

I was married to a loving, supportive and caring man, we had a gorgeous four-year-old daughter who we both adored, I worked in an industry which I enjoyed, we lived in a small house, perfect for us and only a short walk to beautiful Australian beaches, I enjoyed the company of friends and family, I had time to exercise, I indulged in fine food with a glass of wine, I didn’t smoke and I loved spending time at home with my family.

However, in June 2003 I got struck very suddenly with the flu (which was later diagnosed as pneumococcal pneumonia) and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Royal Perth Hospital. On the day I was admitted doctors told my family that I would not live through the night. I was unconscious and spent the next two weeks fighting for my life. In the end I did not die but, needless to say, on waking up I was extremely confused about what had happened. Nothing that anyone was saying made any sense to me and I very simply felt different.

Prior to this near death experience I would say my life was like many others where I ate whatever I liked, not having eliminated anything from my diet: I enjoyed fine cheeses, loved a good loaf of crusty white bread, would have a glass of wine with dinner and definitely looked forward to a sweet treat, often meeting friends or family to have coffee and cake.

But I got seriously sick; so sick that the doctors in the end could not save me but rather needed to wait to see if I would choose to live or die.

Was the way in which I was choosing to live my life a contributing factor to my getting sick? Could there be something amiss with my picture of perfect?

After the near death experience my view on life was different; I questioned everything, I wanted space to consider things and I wanted to understand or make sense of what had happened. A few months later I met Serge Benhayon, as a friend had organised for me to have a one on one session with him. We talked and he gave me a Sacred Esoteric Healing session. For the first time since being sick I understood what had happened, as in listening to Serge everything made sense.

The other thing that happened was that my body didn’t want certain foods. I was not interested in eating any bread or dairy. I wanted simple food, with nothing added to it – food like fresh vegetables and meat or fish. I continued to stay in touch with Serge Benhayon and attended a Universal Medicine workshop with my dear friend Nicole Sjardin in 2004. Nicole and I loved what Serge Benhayon was presenting about life and one of the things we came to understand was that we were not listening to our bodies’ intelligence – especially when it came to the food we were eating, and in relation to our health and wellbeing.

Serge Benhayon talks about the energy of food. He especially talks about gluten, dairy and sugar and the energetic effect they have on our physical body. He does not say what to or what not to eat, but rather to feel how food makes you feel.

"Is it worth the body losing energy in digesting one thing, when it could easily digest something much easier, faster and have more energy in the process?"

Serge Benhayon


Nicole and I understood that our food choices affect how our bodies feel and would often catch up to talk more about it.

The decision to go gluten and dairy free for me was a natural and fairly easy step to take as it seemed to be what my body was crying out for.

What to eat was something Nicole and I would look at as we wanted options that did not involve just corn thins and a tin of tuna. Thankfully we began meeting people who were also gluten and dairy free and we would talk with them about what they were eating and ask for recipes. The options in supermarkets back in 2004 were not that extensive. Finding good gluten free pasta took a while, let alone a gluten and dairy free bread that was edible.

We had young children and were introducing gluten and dairy free to our immediate and extended families. As we collected new and old recipes and experimented in our kitchens we realised that other people also wanted support with gluten and dairy-free dishes; as such there was a demand for a book. To assist people, Bridging Foods was conceived and birthed six years later.

I have to say that we had lots of fun playing with ingredients, listening to our bodies and often changing what it was we felt to eat. Bridging Foods is now salt free as well as gluten, dairy, yeast, vinegar, sugar and chocolate free.

One of the things to note is that Nicole and I have very different bodies and thus we eat different things, even though we are both gluten and dairy free. What feels great in my body may make someone else feel tired, nauseous, racy, bloated or headachy.

Bridging Foods is not a diet. It is a book full of amazing recipes that are gluten, dairy, yeast, salt and refined sugar free. It is a book that tells you the energetic impact certain foods will have on your body and then it asks you to note how different foods make you feel.

You are the expert when it comes to your body; if you listen to it you will know what to feed it.

"Feel what to eat, don’t eat what you feel"

Miranda Benhayon


The work of Bridging Foods continues to be inspired by Serge Benhayon, whose work forms the foundational basis and inspiration for the recipes and insights shared.

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DeathGluten freeDairy freeSugar Free

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