Episode 105: How Food Science And Holistic Nutrition Play A Role In Food Blogging With Giuliana Bernini

Intro:

Welcome to Eat Blog Talk, where food bloggers come to get their fill of the latest tips, tricks, and insights into the world of food blogging. If you feel that hunger for information, we’ll provide you with the tools you need to add value to your blog. And we’ll also ensure you’re taking care of yourself, because food blogging is a demanding job. Now, please welcome your host, Megan Porta.

Megan Porta:

Food bloggers. Don’t forget to check out the food blogging forum style community that we started over at forum.eatblogtalk.com. Finally, there’s one place that we can all convene and talk and that isn’t scattered all over Facebook. Here are the things that I am loving about it. It is free. It also allows for categorized discussions on all food blogging topics, and there’s a category for sharing successes, AKA self promotion. So no more holding back about discussing your big wins and things that you’re promoting. Also, everything is in one single spot, so no hopping around from group to group, and there’s an amazing opportunity to network and really get to know your fellow food bloggers in a single place. So come join the discussions that are going on over at forum.eatblogtalk.com. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Don’t forget. Forum.Eatblogtalk.Com.

Today, I will be having a chat with Giuliana Bernini from Giulianabernini.com. We will talk about food science and holistic nutrition. Giuliana is a food scientist who graduated from North Carolina State University, started her own vegan and gluten-free bakery shipping statewide and has a passion for holistic nutrition. She shares her experiences, recipes and tips on her blog and social media. Giuliana knows it is important to live a balanced lifestyle and promote a no diet lifestyle, but a lifestyle that will make you feel the best about yourself. She is passionate about helping people that need accommodations and allergen friendly foods, and that want to still be healthy, but enjoy these guilty pleasures as well. Giuliana, I am super excited to talk to you today, but first give us a fun fact about yourself.

Giuliana Bernini:

Hello. I am so excited to be here today. I think that a fun fact about myself is that I am actually Costa Rican. I was born and raised in Costa Rica and my family’s in the agriculture industry. So I’ve always been, even since I was born learning about food and just so passionate about it, because it’s always been part of who I am, even if it wasn’t necessarily the nutrition and the food science part. Growing in Costa Rica and the rice farms and the coffee farm. I seriously think food has become almost just part of me, part of the way I meditate, part of my love language. It’s really funny because it’s that way for my entire family.

Megan:

Oh, cool. That’s so cool. It’s ingrained in your DNA or something.

Giuliana:

Exactly. It’s a passion that my loved ones share with me in Costa Rica, which is really interesting because when people first come to my blog, they would never know that I am Costa Rica. I don’t really talk about that much. My dad’s Italian so I’m half Italian and half Costa Rican living in New York City, which is kind of fun.

Megan:

Crazy! Your name is very Italian, so that’s quite a combination. I love that. It makes you very authentic. The fact that you’ve grown up with food and it’s just ingrained in you and your family. So I think that speaks to your sincerity on this topic. Let’s just dive in. I love this topic because it does fit in so well with us as food bloggers, because we all have a passion for food on some level. It also helps us figure out what to serve to our audiences and how to speak to them using different languages of food. So can you start by talking about the term healthy food and maybe what some misconceptions are around that phrase?

Giuliana:

Definitely. So, because I am so into holistic nutrition. I believe that eating healthy is not just about what you’re eating, but about how you feel. It’s a mind, body, soul thing for me. So it’s really interesting to see how different people think different things about what’s healthy. So for example, with my food science career, what I learned the most is that organic food is not necessarily healthier, which is super interesting because there is so much controversy about it. I think, for example, even with my aunt, she spends so much more money on organic food because it’s healthier. It’s interesting to start a conversation about it because in reality, if you even Google it, you find a lot of answers about it that say different research that people have done, it shows that health differences between people that eat only organic food, and eat only non-organic foods, there’s actually not that many health differences. I don’t know how familiar you are with this, but it’s super, super interesting.

Megan:

Actually, it’s funny. I used to work for an animal nutrition company. I was in their marketing department. So I learned a lot about nutrition from them and they had top nutritionists in the world working for this company. And I asked them questions all the time. I would just pick their brains. Do I really need to buy organic eggs or do I need to buy organic whatever. 100%, all of them were like, no, you do not. I learned the same thing that really there is not a whole lot of difference and it’s mostly a marketing thing, right? People hype it up so much. You have to pay $6 for a carton of eggs and it’s so worth it. You’re going to feel so much better. But is that really true?

Giuliana:

Exactly. Even organic food has pesticides. So it’s just about the chemicals, which sometimes even makes it healthier because it could be cleaner or GMOs are not necessarily that bad because it actually feeds so many people. Without GMOs, there wouldn’t be enough corn for the world and things like that. So it’s definitely something that I think has changed my perspective and the way I eat because I eat what I need, not what I believe is better. Does that make sense?

Megan:

That does make sense. That’s such an interesting concept and I’ve always thought about that, which is why I would ask those nutritionists about these questions, because I don’t know. You see it everywhere in the store. There is “we are organic”. I don’t even know the right term, so I’m not going to speak on it, but you just wonder, is it worth all of that extra money? Then you touched on something you were talking about just defining healthy and how that is different for everybody. Then you said the words, mind, body, soul. Will you talk about that more? Because I love that.

Giuliana:

Definitely. So basically I have good days. I have bad days like everybody else. So I try to always focus on my food as a meditation source but not necessarily as a dependency. So to give you a little bit of background on this and how this started for me. So I originally wanted to go to culinary arts school and after much consideration, I ended up being a food scientist. But I’ve always just had a love for food. I love good food. So I always hated diets and the strict you can’t eat pasta, you can eat ground beef. I found it did not work with me. Actually my weight was fluctuating so much when I was doing that because I was not happy. I was not comfortable. So my mind wasn’t in the right place. My body wasn’t reacting well to the food. Then my soul was rejecting it and I honestly was depressed. So I truly believe that what you are eating and how your body is responding to it, how you want it actually affects your daily mental state. I can say that it does from my personal experience. To give you an example, when I first moved to New York, I was struggling. You know, it’s a new place. It’s a different place. It’s really hard. I was in a new job and I started getting really bad stomach pain and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I gained about 10 pounds in a matter of four months. And you like every other girl, I like to keep a consistent weight. I definitely don’t like feeling bad about my body. That’s one of my main focuses. I don’t necessarily try to focus on the scale or anything like that, but I do like to be consistent and feel good about myself and that is my main priority. So I was just paying attention to it. What am I eating that my body’s rejecting? Why am I not happy? Then I decided to do a cleanse and buy a cleanse. I don’t mean green smoothies or anything like that. I decided for a whole month I wasn’t drinking any alcohol. I was only eating non refined starches and non refined sugar. So for example, fruits and things like that rather than a cake with sugar and chocolate and things like that. For carbohydrates, I would try to focus my diet on whole brown rice or whole wheat pasta and sweet potatoes. I felt so good. I think it’s because my body realized that I was A, listening to my body. B, I’m trying to help my body. I’m listening and I’m doing something about it. I’m constantly testing what my body reacts well to. I started a food diary where I would write everything that I reacted well to and reacted bad to. So if I ate for breakfast eggs, which eggs are actually really heavy on my stomach and I would’ve never thought. So it was the hardest thing to realize because you would never think so. Eggs are such a common thing to eat and it’s healthy. It was just so part of my diet that I was just eating them so much. I never eliminated them until one day I was, oh my God. I think it might be the eggs. I was eliminating everything else. So I started reconstructing my diet like that. I finally feel like I am at a place where not only do I feel good about putting jeans on and like not feeling self-conscious or anything like that, but I also feel not bloated and happy and just comfortable. It’s really interesting to see the reactions your body has when you are happy where you are with your body and listening to your body and your mind, and not really following stereotypes or diets or things like that because I used to fall for those.

Megan:

Yeah. I think we all get that right. Where we hear that a certain diet is quote good and healthy for us. So we do it 100% and then maybe we just don’t feel good, but I love what you do. You just test and you really lean in and you listen to what your body is telling you. I think by testing with those foods, you’re actually clearing your mental state or just getting in tune with yourself and really paying attention. So I think that’s really smart. Not every diet is going to kill it. I did Whole30 a couple of years ago and it was okay. I mean, I made it through the 30 days and I felt okay. I mean, I wasn’t like, yes, I feel amazing. It was just like you mentioned a little bit ago. I felt like crap because I couldn’t have my occasional indulgences and that weighed on me mentally because I just occasionally like to have sweets and sugar and I don’t overindulge in any of them. But it just bummed me out. I like to have an occasional glass of wine. So I think that you have to weigh all of those things when you’re considering what healthy is.

Giuliana:

Exactly. It’s funny that you brought up the sweet situation about it because I tend to have some moments where I just have so much anxiety and pressure and my mind gets really powerful and very overwhelming. Chocolate is such an amazing, powerful thing. I know it sounds crazy, but I buy just pure cocoa powder and I put it underneath my tongue and it doesn’t only just take away that craving, that need, but it brings me down. So yes, it helps so much. Which is interesting because I didn’t even learn this in my major in food science. I learned this from a psychologist. Food is amazing and food can be such an incredible tool. You have to be able to balance it very well. What I mean by this is, if I’m sad, I don’t sit down and eat a whole Snickers bar. I’m conscious about it, but in a very healthy way. If I need a bite of snickers, I will eat it. If I need to eat the whole bar, I will eat it. But if I know I ate a whole bar yesterday, I’m like cacao helps me. So I’m going to go that way. My body thanks me because I’m looking for an alternative. I’m always responding through different alternatives.

Megan:

That’s interesting. The cocoa powder under the tongue. That’s crazy. I’m going to try that next time because I definitely crave chocolate and sugar in general. But I too am really careful. I never, I shouldn’t say never, but I rarely indulge mindlessly. I’m very mindful about my indulgences and I’ve gotten to the point where I have pretty good willpower too. I can make an amazing cake and say, no, thank you if I’m just not feeling it. Or if I know I shouldn’t have it that day. But mindful eating is really important. I think having a bite of Snickers or a couple bites of Snickers is okay, 100%, if you are conscious about it.

Giuliana:

Exactly. Your mind is so powerful. I’m always mindful about it. If I know I shouldn’t have it. I don’t need it. Your mind will convince you. It definitely takes practice. If my mind’s telling me, Hey, you don’t need this. I know you feel like you do, but you don’t need it. I pour a glass of water and just let it go through. It totally just works. Not only this, but then you also feel that reward because you didn’t fall for it. I definitely took some time to feel what I thought I needed. Took a step back, reflected on it and then moved forward from there. Does that make sense?

Megan:

It does. I love that so much. I think our minds are so powerful, not just with food, but with everything. I think that we don’t give our minds enough credit, the credit that should have. Because it all comes down to mindset with everything. So if you just sit with yourself and listen and really tap into it, you can do so much. So I 100% love that. I think that’s great. First of all, before we move on, can you talk a little bit about just accepting where we’re at? Maybe I’m feeling like I have a good relationship with food and I’m in a good place with that, but I’m not loving my body. Can you talk to us about that? How do we love our body a little bit more?

Giuliana:

So I think this is a really sensitive topic for me specifically, because like I said, I fluctuate so much in college and I definitely was an emotional eater. So that’s why it’s taken so much practice. I think the most important thing about your body is that you need to understand that you are the way you are, because you want to be that way. So if you don’t like your body, the way it looks today, you have everything in your power to look the way you want to look. That’s what has saved me so many times, because I might not be super happy with the way these jeans fit me, but I’m not going to destroy myself for it. I’m going to embrace them that day. Then I’m going to do something to change that. Does that make sense?

Megan:

It does. Everything is in your power and like we were saying before, it kind of comes all back to mindset. Right?

Giuliana:

Exactly. So it’s not about sitting there pouting, not going out or whatever because your jeans didn’t fit you the way you wanted them. Or you don’t look the way you want to look in a bathing suit. It’s about the next day. It’s about waking up feeling motivated and empowered because of that. Your body and your soul are precious. But if you are not extremely happy about the way they look, then all you have to do is change it because you can.

Megan:

Yeah. And it goes back to what you said at the very beginning; mind, body and soul are all connected. If you just look at it that way, you can change yourself if you want to, but you do have to feel good. I think about the skin that you’re in., You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to feel good. I think if you go back to that mind, body, soul connection, there’s always a chance to do that.

Giuliana:

Exactly. We have to understand that we are the way we are for a reason. We have to love that reason regardless of whether we understand it or not. There is a reason for that and we will slowly realize it. Even the imperfections are there for a reason even though we might hate them, somebody loves them, you know? I think that’s something that has really saved me in hard times.

Megan:

Aw, I love that too. That’s a great thought. Let’s change the tide a little bit. I want to talk about the term food science, because I think this is such an interesting phrase because typically food and science seem like such different things. So can you first of all define what food science is and then talk to us about the different ways that we can dive into that as a career.

Giuliana:

This actually stuck with me for my entire career, because in my first food science class, my professors said, Hey, welcome. First thing I’m going to say is that in this major, what you are going to learn is food to every level. You’re going to have learned food to the chemistry level, biological level, mentally, because we actually target everything. Food science is not just about, this is what you put in this food to make it more red, because that’s a very common thought for people, that is just the chemistry behind it. But food science is about how to make the perfect cupcake and what you need to add to make the consistency taste just like a regular cupcake. It is about all those nutrition classes that we took, where they would teach us about the chemical reaction with your body on what you eat. It’s about all those psychology classes that we took about how food can affect you emotionally. So it’s really just food to another level. It’s diving into every detail on what is in food and how it reacts to existence. I know that’s ridiculous, but not just how it reacts with your body, but how it changes your mind, how you can perfect a specific food, how you can feed thousands of people. So I think that’s like the best definition I can give because it is a little bit of everything.

Megan:

I like that. I love how you explained that. It just gave me a new perspective on it. But even though food and science don’t necessarily go together, really a lot of components of food and recipes and baking and cooking is science and it is scientific. It’s an experiment. I always say this when I’m baking; it’s a miracle that this cake batter turns into this huge moist fluffy cake. I mean, that in itself is like the coolest experiment ever. Then like you mentioned, Giuliana, putting food into our bodies, it’s almost this science like, wow, what’s going to happen. How is it chemically going to interact with our stomach? If you really think about it, it’s really cool.

Giuliana:

Exactly. So it’s definitely so detailed and so interesting, because for example, in one of the classes I learned about lactation and how babies react and grow differently if they have breast milk and then just non-breast milk. How there’s pros and cons to everything. So it really changed my perspective on food because I definitely came in thinking organic food is better. I definitely came in thinking I’m only gonna breastfeed and things like that, but it definitely opens your mind to this world of different realities. There’s a good thing about everything. So I think that’s the coolest part about food science, because in the end, I think I was very, I don’t want to say misinformed at the beginning, but I just didn’t ever question things and it made me just start thinking, oh, wow. That’s interesting. That’s different. I never thought of that.

Megan:

That’s really cool. I want to take a class and dive into that a little more. I mentioned working for that animal nutrition company many years ago. For me that was such an educational experience because that is something I never would have sought out, that information. But it was right there in front of me. So I decided to ask a lot of questions. This is really interesting. I learned so much and I never would have learned that otherwise if it weren’t for that job. So it’s really interesting learning about food and what it does to you, and how effective it is. You said something earlier that made me write this line down. So mindset, power, and then combine that with the power of food equals just a magic if you tap into both of those things. So I love that. So talk to us a little bit Giuliana about food science and careers, because I’m sure there are different avenues for us to explore there, but I really don’t know what they are. So talk to us about that.

Giuliana:

This Is actually really cool to talk about right now, because I’m actually just switching careers. So I can talk a little bit about that. So when I first came out of college, I had done one internship and then I had done my senior project pieces with another industry. So I’ve actually been in four industries at this point. I’ve been in the seafood industry. I’ve been in the dairy industry. I’ve been in the non-dairy plant-based industry and now I’m more in the cooking, baking and packaging industry. So I think the most important thing about food science is it’s almost like a tree where there’s so many branches you can pick from. So for example, if I wanted to do more of like the business side of food science, I could do managing a restaurant and I could do food safety, food audits, proper sanitation standards, or I could do research and development for our restaurant and come up with different recipes, with different chemical reactions that make the perfect menu. For example, there’s this super upcoming trend now that it’s smoked food, which it’s not actual smoked food, but it’s smoke that tastes like different foods. Have you ever heard of that? So there’s this restaurant in Mexico. I can’t remember the name right now, but it’s this restaurant that is doing this thing where they literally bring you shots of smoke. It takes you through a whole meal.

Megan:

What. Oh my gosh, that’s crazy.

Giuliana:

There’s things like that. You can also go through the route I went right after college, which was, I went towards quality assurance and food safety for a plant-based milk company. So basically what I was, I ran their microbiology lab where I tested for pathogens and I tested for quality shelf life, things like that. I was also doing research and development with new packaging to extend shelf life. How can we reduce microbial growth? This is very interesting. It’s also kind of weird to be in that. I drink plant-based milk. So it’s weird to be testing microbiology. Because I remember at first it would be weird for me to actually drink milk because I know the bacteria in this. I know it’s safe, but it’s weird. So there’s definitely so many different paths. I think it’s basically a trial and error thing, where you just have to really just try things out and see what you like and what you don’t.

Megan:

So, how do you get into that? I mean, it’s really interesting that there are so many different aspects of food science, but is it clear how you get into that? I mean, I would have no idea how to find a job studying food science.

Giuliana:

So I actually didn’t either. Funny that you asked that. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So I went to the food safety part and honestly, I’m just gonna say the truth. It’s not my passion. So that’s how I started taking holistic nutrition courses and looking into maybe being a dietician because I definitely can see that my passion is more towards the nutritional side of food science. That’s how I started my blog actually, because I applied to jobs. The way I went about this was I went on Indeed and I checked food science jobs. I saw quality assurance jobs, food safety jobs, the most common thing people do out of a food science career that I never thought of going because in college, usually you talk to people and nobody knows what really you want to do. You start doing things with other people. So it was interesting because that’s how I was targeted. I basically went on all these job search websites and honestly, I literally put the broadest thing. I put food science and I would start applying to things that called my attention. I was definitely into milk. I did my senior project on that. I worked the whole year on microbiology for milk. So I applied to some milk jobs and then I could see that some of the roles were quality assurance. So I started applying to some quality assurance roles and that’s how it started working out for me.

Megan:

That’s so cool. So it’s just really interesting to me because there’s such a different side to food. We, as food bloggers, get into it on such a different level. So having that deeper dive into food and the fact that it’s science really is so intriguing to me. I think a lot of us don’t think about that. So can you talk to us about how we can apply everything that we’ve talked about today to food blogging? If we want to maybe educate our audiences or incorporate some more quote food science into our recipes, how can we relate this a little bit to food blogging?

Giuliana:

Definitely. I’m going to talk about my personal experience and how I relate to it. For example, for my recipes, I like to include nutritional labels where I specify absolutely everything about my recipe. Like the fat content, everything. I think people have responded very well to that. People reach out to me all the time and they’re like, we love this because it’s not always clear in some recipes on Instagram and stuff. For example, for my baked goods, I always like to try new things and talk about them. So the latest thing I’ve been researching and trying to talk about is carob powder. Do you know what that is? I’m not sure if that’s how you say it.

Megan:

Yes. Yes. I’ve heard of it.

Giuliana:

So instead of using cocoa powder, I’m using carob powder. So basically I inform my audience, why?.So what is carob powder? Carob powder is this nut pod from an evergreen tree and what is the difference between carob powder and cocoa powder? So cocoa powder is a little bit more bitter, but also you add sugar and it has this caffeine, but then carob doesn’t need any additional sweeteners. So there’s the first health advantage and it’s a low-fat alternative. So there’s another one. Then it doesn’t have caffeine or contain a lot of the stimulants that cocoa powder has. So, that’s how I start targeting. So I’m going to make brownies with this and then I’m going to make them gluten free. I’m going to try to inform my audience, my gluten-free audience, on how I can make gluten-free brownies that are going to have that texture regular brownies. Literally my kitchen becomes my science lab. Like combining different things. So for example, I try sunflower butter instead of oil to give it that thickness or xanthan gum to give it that gooey rather than a dry consistency. I like to share this process. For example, one time I tried to make this skinny lemon poppy seed cake, and it was a disaster. Obviously no buttermilk, it fell apart. I couldn’t eat it because it was powdered. I got so many responses from my audience and they asked, did you try cooking almond milk before in a pot? Things like that. That’s what is really, really cool is my audience knows a lot and I think that’s why they also like to see my recipes because they also want to inspire me and help me, which is so cool.

Megan:

That’s so awesome. I love that so much. I love your whole concept of turning your kitchen into a science lab. I think, especially with baking, as you know, we all feel like that. Okay, I use buttermilk versus milk versus whatever other liquid and it can make the biggest difference in the world. We learn that the hard way. It’s like one batch of failed cupcakes is devastating. So you’re like, I’m never doing that again, but it is like a science lab. It’s like a constant experiment with ingredients. I love that you take your audience along on your journey with you and allow them to weigh in and they give you such great advice, which is so amazing. Hey, have you tried doing this? So I think it’s almost like you’re in it together. Hey, let’s do this together. I’m trying this. What advice do you have for me? I’m learning right along with you. I think people appreciate that when they know that we are not trying to be perfect, we are learning too. They will help us. They’ll step in and help, which is great. So I love your perspective on that. That’s so refreshing.

Giuliana:

So I actually decided to start my blog and my Instagram, where I shared my recipes because I also found it to be inspiring for me. You know, like I said at the beginning of the interview, cooking is my love language. I like to cook for the people that I love. I like to cook to help people. I figured if I could help some people through hard times or through anything by teaching them about food to another level and making recipes to help them feel good about their bodies and also learn and know and get inspired. I want to do that. I want to help.

Megan:

That’s inspiring. I think that your authenticity really shines through and I’m sure that your audience absolutely loves you for that. I want to hear more about your bakery because that was in your bio. We have not talked about that, but tell us a little bit about your bakery; why you started it and how that works.

Giuliana:

So I actually started my bakery about a month ago. So what happened was, like I said, I’m taking a little bit off to transition in my job right now because I am trying to focus on this more. Because, during this quarantine I was struggling. I mean, it was really taking a toll on me; being on a visa, being international, just being inside all the time, not being able to be that active. Just feeling weird about my body. I was like, you know what, I’m going to snap out of this. I’m going to be super creative, productive, and I’m going to help people. My best friend for five years now, she has celiac disease, which means she eats all gluten-free. She was texting me about how she was really struggling finding gluten-free goods. I was like, I am a food scientist. I’m going to start a home bakery.

Megan:

Yeah, that’s amazing.

Giuliana:

I was like, I want to help people that need to eat vegan and need to eat gluten free. Honestly, they don’t have all the opportunities we have in the sense, like we can order anything on Amazon. I could order chocolate chip cookies on Amazon and get them delivered to my house. They can’t do that. So that’s how the inspiration behind my bakery came up. That’s why I’m doing a vegan, gluten-free bakery where it’s been so much fun to just come up with products. I came up with this bagel recipe that I literally wanted to cry the other day because it was that good. I was like, I’m so proud of myself. It almost tastes like a regular bagel.

Megan:

Oh, isn’t that the best when you just accidentally find that magic combination of ingredients. You’re like, yes, this is amazing.

Giuliana:

I was dancing in my kitchen. I’m so happy. You know? It’s also been a project in the sense that, I send it to my friend and she makes her day too. She tells me, Hey, this doesn’t taste that good. You need to redo this or things like that. Then I’m starting to ship nationwide. It’s been such a learning experience where I not only applied my food science knowledge and my nutrition knowledge, but I’m also starting to apply some of my business skills. y Honestly, just all in passion, like this is what I love.

Megan:

Oh, so you found it, you found that thing that really lights you up and okay. You’re shipping nationwide. So what is the name of your bakery?

Giuliana:

So my bakery’s name is called The Foodie Lab. So because of food science and my lab, and then of course I’m a foodie and it’s in my blog website. So basically when you go on my website, you see a little tab that says the Foodie Lab bakery.

Megan:

That’s so great. Well, my husband is sensitive to gluten, so he has not been able to indulge in it for a couple of years. So I might just go look at your website. I feel like we’re always eating things that he can’t eat here in our house because none of us have the same issues as him. I mean, he’s so nice. He’s like, it’s okay. But I feel so bad. I’m sorry.

Giuliana:

It’s definitely hard. In college, like I said, it was my friend that’s celiac. I went gluten free in our apartment, so I would only eat gluten if we weren’t.

Megan:

Oh, that’s so nice of you.

Giuliana:

It was also fun to see the way my body reacted to it. I wanted to know, not just because of her, but I wanted to know reactions and differences and how I felt, and I’m not gonna lie. My body does respond better to no gluten. It’s interesting.

Megan:

Yeah. It’s interesting to experiment with that. Isn’t it. I wanted to point out that the quarantine prompted something good. Everyone says this quarantine is horrible. Nothing good is coming. But look at what you did. You were like, okay, people are not getting access to the things that the rest of us are; people who have gluten sensitivities and maybe other sensitivities. You turn that into a good thing. You’re putting a positive spin on that. I love hearing stories like that right now because you know, people just need to hear that, I think.

Giuliana:

I think so too. If this, me talking about how I started doing this in the quarantine and inspired somebody to do something they love out of this, I really hope I get the message about it because it would honestly make my month, my year. I have been through some tough times and this quarantine was really tough on me before and now I’m looking at it as a blessing in disguise almost.

Megan:

That is so inspiring. I love it.

Giuliana:

Well, thank you.

Megan:

That’s really inspiring to me. I think this quarantine has been really tough for a lot of us, but I just love the good stories and the positivity. So thank you so much for sharing that. Is there anything that you feel like we should touch on regarding this topic before we start saying goodbye, Giuliana?

Giuliana:

Honestly, I think we’ve touched a lot of what I wanted to talk about. I do think I want to emphasize to everybody out there that sometimes they struggle with their body and just really listen to what their body is telling them. I know that’s hard to even understand. It seems funny, you know, but I do want to emphasize it has changed my life. It has changed who I am. It is important to remember that our bodies talk to us and our mind is very powerful. I want to leave things on that note.

Megan:

Yes. That’s a great note to leave it on. Listen to your bodies and tap into that power; that mind power that we all have because it is there. I just want to thank you Giuliana for being here and sharing all of this. This has been really inspiring and really fun. Our time went so fast. I can’t believe we’re already at 40 minutes, but just such a super fun chat today. So thank you so much for taking the time for this today.

Giuliana:

Thank you for having me. I honestly have had so much fun too. When you said that we were about done, I was like, oh my God.

Megan:

I know. It went so fast. So I like to ask all my guests for either a favorite quote or words of inspiration for food bloggers. Do you have anything along these lines to share with us?

Giuliana:

Yes. So I have a quote that I have in my phone. I have it in my calendar. I have it everywhere and it has changed me again. It is, “health is adding a level of intention to every area of your life” by Miranda Anderson.

Megan:

Oh, that’s so great. Wow. Sit and think about that for a little bit.

Giuliana:

It’s so true you have to very intentionally put it in everything you do to be healthy. Because health to me is not just eating healthy and looking good. It feels good. Do good, be good. You know, it’s so many things.

Megan:

It goes back to your mind, body, soul. I think we should title this episode. Mind, body, soul. This has been really great. Thank you for sharing that. We are going to put together a show notes page for you Giuliana. If anyone wants to go look at that, you can find that at eatblogtalk.com/foodscience. I did that because I just don’t want anyone to get and tripped up by your name. There’s a lot of vowels in there. So food science is where to find that. Giuliana, would you tell my listeners the best place to find you online?

Giuliana:

Definitely. So my website is Giulianobernini.com. It’s G I U L I a N a B E R N I N I. I know it’s complicated the Italian way. Then I always update my Instagram. I’m always sharing recipes, sharing nutrition facts, tips, lifestyle things. So my Instagram is Giuliana Berndini food blog. If anybody is interested. You can reach me, if you ever need inspiration, help anything. I’m more than happy to help just through my blog or through my Instagram. I’m always going to respond. I’m always here. My life mission is to help others.

Megan:

Oh, that’s so great. Check out Giuliana’s bakery too on her website. So look for the Foodie Lab. I’m excited to go look at that. So thank you again so much for being here and thank you for listening today, food bloggers. I will see you next time.

Outro:

We’re glad you could join us on this episode of Eat Blog Talk. For more resources based on today’s discussion, as well as show notes and an opportunity to be on a future episode of the show, be sure to head to eatblogtalk.com. If you feel that hunger for information, we’ll be here to feed you on Eat Blog Talk.