Skip to content
Basket
← Back to laVie

Real Talk

The honest conversation about food sensitivities, FODMAP, IBS, and how to live well with both flavour and balance.

Articles in Real Talk

Candace's own spice wall, straight on: a pale wooden frame on a white wall holding two wire racks of four shelves, eight glass jars to a shelf. Most jars carry a round black label, printed or handwritten and mostly in German: Garam Masala, Nelken, Zimt, Sternanis, Kurkuma, Kreuzkümmel, Sumach, Lorbeer, Liebstöckel, Majoran, Thymian, Rosmarin, and a bottom shelf of chillies from Ancho Chili to Urfa Biber. On one of the top shelves most jars are labelled on slips of paper instead.

Real Talk · 6 min read

Hidden Garlic: Where it lives in your kitchen

Garlic appears in food under many names. Here's how to find it on the label, and why it matters.

Five stellaVie blends seen from above on a dark wooden board: a deep red one in a long white dish, a speckled pale one in a small round bowl, a green herb mix in a square white dish, and a red-flecked one and an orange one heaped in wooden spoons, with bay leaves and flakes of salt scattered around them.

Real Talk · 5 min read

Natural Garlic Flavouring: What it actually is

Many 'garlic-free' spice brands use natural garlic flavouring. Here's what that means biochemically, and why it can still trigger IBS.

A wooden table seen from above, laid for lunch: an orange bowl of orecchiette with greens and pieces of sausage, a yellow plate of prawns, a platter of tomato salad with basil, shaved fennel over cucumber on a blue plate, empty coral and red plates, glasses, and a bowl of fruit at the edge.

Real Talk · 7 min read

Why garlic-free doesn't have to mean bland

The assumption that removing garlic ruins flavour is wrong. Here's what actually builds depth in cooking, and why stellaVie blends taste the way they do.

Shaved fennel over thin rounds of cucumber on a yellow plate, glossy with olive oil and dotted with capers, on a long wooden table, bowls of fruit and a chair soft in the background.

Real Talk · 7 min read

The gut-brain connection: what eating well actually means

The science of how your gut talks to your brain, and why food sensitivities affect more than just digestion.

Oranges, lemons and a few red plums in a wide bowl speckled green and white, seen from above on a wooden table, beside an orange bowl of cherry tomatoes and a smaller one of walnuts.

Real Talk · 7 min read

What FODMAP-friendly cooking actually means

It's not a diet. It's a framework. Here's how to think about it.

A kitchen under a pale stone vault: a long grey island with a bowl of fruit and a chopping board on it, glass pendant lamps hanging above, arched alcoves holding the hob and open shelves, and a glazed door to the garden at the back.

Real Talk · 7 min read

Cooking when your body has new rules

A guide for the recently diagnosed, the recently sensitised, and anyone whose food has stopped agreeing with them.