Ella Woodward and her Deliciously healthy success story
Ella Woodward's Deliciously Ella blog documented her dietary changes following a major illness and made her a star.
There are thousands of food bloggers out there covering every topic you could imagine. So how did Ella Woodward’s Deliciously Ella blog manage to attract millions of followers and spawn a hugely successful cookbook?
Blog beginnings
In 2011, while studying at St Andrews University, Ella was diagnosed with an extreme version of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, a fairly rare condition that increases heart palpitations.
“I literally couldn’t walk down the street, I slept for 16 hours a day, had never ending heart palpitations, was in chronic pain, had unbearable stomach issues, constant headaches and the list goes on,” Ella writes on her blog.
She tried conventional medicine but without success so, having never been the healthiest eater and inspired by American cancer survivor Kris Carr’s writing on diet, she went for a more extreme solution. “I came downstairs and I said to my parents: ‘OK, I’ve got something to tell you. I’m cutting out gluten, dairy, sugar, meat, eggs, anything processed, chemicals, additives…’ They burst into roars of laughter and said, ‘So, what are you going to eat?’ They thought it would last about three days, but I was really inspired,” she told the Daily Mail.
The Deliciously Ella blog was also part of her way of working through the illness and it quickly grew in popularity via word of mouth and people looking for healthier recipes and lifestyle tips. The fact that she documented her culinary experiments on the blog, as well as the improvements in her health, clearly struck a chord with many people.
Ella's empire
Then there was an app that was downloaded by the thousands. Then her first cookbook called, unsurprisingly, Deliciously Ella was published in January 2015. It became the fastest-selling debut cookbook ever. Two more are on the way.
It would be remiss to not say that her model good looks and family background (her mother is heiress to the Sainsbury’s fortune and her father is a former Labour Cabinet Minister) have also helped attract plenty of media coverage.
But her recipes have won so many admirers that this clearly isn’t just a flavour of the month in any way.
“I don’t make big promises about losing weight or anything like that. I just suggest things that people can make to make them feel good” is how she succinctly sums up her ethos. And it’s one that’s likely to mean she’s around for some time to come.
Try these Ella Woodward recipes
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