Meet the IBD Kitchen Team!

The authors are a team of registered dietitians and a chef who know firsthand how a flare up of IBD can complicate healthy eating, and at times lead to unwanted weight loss and malnutrition. The cookbook was reviewed by scientists who study diet and IBD.

Sarita Gupta, RD

Registered Dietitian, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario

Sarita has worked for 30 years as an inpatient dietitian for people who had surgery, including IBD patients, and as an outpatient dietitian with the Bariatric and the Home TPN Program. She has a special interest in addressing the needs of patients with vegetarian or cultural dietary requirements. She enjoys educating on how certain foods can be incorporated into diets for those experiencing GI issues and those requiring diet modifications after surgery. Sarita has enjoyed developing these recipes and looks forward to sharing them with others.

Haley Hartlen, RD

Registered Dietitian, Nova Scotia Health, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Haley has worked as an inpatient and outpatient clinical dietitian with Nova Scotia Health over the past eight years. Having a diverse background in clinical nutrition, Haley has a keen interest in dysphagia management and nutrition support. She is passionate about being a part of the Nova Scotia Collaborative IBD Program. She enjoys working as part of the interdisciplinary team and keeping up to date on the evolving research in nutrition and IBD. Haley enjoys getting to know her patients and helping them translate their nutrition knowledge into skills that fit their individual needs and values. She is especially excited to share these new recipes with her patients.

Ashley Manuel, RD

Registered Dietitian, Nova Scotia Health, Truro, Nova Scotia

Ashley has been an Inpatient Clinical Dietitian with Nova Scotia Health for 12 years. She is passionate
about clinical nutrition, particularly optimizing nutrition support in critical care, GI and surgical patients. Ashley has a special interest in IBD and works closely with these patients in hospital. She believes the key is to empower people to improve their nutritional status while also managing symptoms, by identifying well tolerated foods that are palatable, visually appealing and nutrient dense to best meet their needs. Ashley is excited to have this new resource available for her patients and get to bring together her clinical skills and love for cooking healthy, delicious foods!

Sheridan O’Day

Chef, Recipe Developer, Montreal, Quebec

Sheridan is a boundless food connoisseur and believes you should never sacrifice delicious flavour for healthy food. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University from Providence, Rhode Island, Sheridan has been leveraging her education in Culinary Nutrition to develop tasty recipes, creative menus, and innovative retail food products. Having worked in various areas of the food industry this project was personal for Sheridan as she’s witnessed several family members struggle with the effects of IBD. She hopes that by providing her chef’s point of view to achieving remission, patients will gain a new love for cooking and the food that fuels them!

Special thanks to Deanna Gibson PhD, Associate Professor, and Natasha Haskey MSc RD, PhD Candidate, Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, British Columbia for reviewing this book.

Erratum: This recipe book mistakenly listed Sheridan O’Day as a nutritionist, which is a reserved title for members of the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec.

Go back to the IBD Kitchen overview

  • Canada has among the highest incidence rates of Crohn's and colitis in the world.
  • 1 in 140 Canadians lives with Crohn’s or colitis.
  • Families new to Canada are developing these diseases for the first time.
  • Incidence of Crohn’s in Canadian kids under 10 has doubled since 1995.
  • People are most commonly diagnosed before age 30.

Other Areas of Interest