Meet Caid - ODE Stagiaire who healed his gut working at ODE

Food keeps us alive, but good food makes us feel alive.

This is now more true than ever for one of our ODE staff who before spending a month working at ODE and living with Chef Lucas, had been living with the daily torment of severe gut and abdominal pain. An un-diagnosable condition which had left him debilitated and unable to work for the past seven years.

Meet Caid. He came on board with us one month ago as our stagiaire. Working for free, he stepped into our world eager to learn and like us passionately curious about what we are doing. He was also very hungry. While uncertain about how often he could work due to his condition, we could see how motivated he was to understand more about ‘good food’. Motivated and hungry to learn? Sounds like a good place to start for a stagiaire.

In Caids’ seven-year ordeal he has seen gastrointestinal specialists, nutritionists, dieticians and had countless tests including multiple gastrointestinal endoscopy’s. He likened his condition to morning sickness, that lasted all day, and has hung around for 7 years. As thin as a bean you can see that he has suffered.

Now, at ODE and in the way we live at home, we believe that good food starts with respecting the integrity of the ingredients - ingredients that have been produced with attention, consideration & purity. From day one under Lucas’s wing, Caid has been eating an organic and spray free diet. Within the first week Caid noticed that for the first time in years he was able to eat more than usual and actually started to feel more energised. With access to a plethora of fresh produce and drinking the clean Wanaka spring water each day, he found himself with an appetite he had not experienced for a very long time.

In all his time dealing with his condition he had tried every diet under the sun. Gluten free, dairy free, elimination diets, GAPS plus many more. Not once was he suggested to try an organic diet. In his time at ODE, he has not eliminated a thing but only fuelled his body with ‘good food’. Clean food. Seasonal food. Fresh food. Real food.

The change in a month has been remarkable. From a 25% attendance rate when Caid started, to 100% attendance when he left. Not to mention he has gone from from half a meal a day, to eating more like five!

While we know the true value of good food, we have been deeply moved to see these changes in Caid. Now Caid can set off with the world at his feet, experience under his belt and life changing knowledge that he will no doubt continue to grow.

We hope that by sharing Caids experience with us, you will take a moment to consider what good food means to you.

Food keeps us alive, but good food makes us feel alive.