Christina Pirello

Christina Pirello is a bright, free spirited, vivacious redhead who, is one of America's preeminent authorities on natural and whole foods, and her radiant personality only serves to make her message more powerful. And shes made it her purpose in life to show Americans that they can look their best, and feel great too, by learning to eat natural, organic food.

Christinas love affair with food began at a young age when she spent many happy hours cooking with her mother, who centered family life in her Italian kitchen. My mom was always so happy while she was cooking. It was the place where the whole family gathered, and it was a place I knew great joy came from, she remembers.

That joy might have been the very thing that prepared Christina to be open minded about the healing power of food, because she would need it. At age 26, she was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. By the time her illness was identified, the cancer had already advanced to an acute stage. Her doctors gave her little reason to have hope for the effectiveness of conventional medical therapies and told her she had only months to live. Initially, she was discouraged and uncertain. Then a co-worker introduced her to Robert Pirello, a whole foods advocate who helped her adapt her lifestyle and diet based on whole, unprocessed food. With love, dedication and death-defying discipline, Christina overcame the odds, and in the process developed an expertise in cooking with whole foods.

After just two months of eating beans, grains and vegetables, her doctors noticed a significant improvement in her condition. In fourteen months, her cancer was gone. From that time, she was utterly convinced of the close relationship between diet and health. She knew her lifes calling was to help others discover the importance of this relationship in their own lives. To that end, she studied and became an expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture and earned a Masters Degree in Nutrition. Today, almost 27 years later, Christina is a glowing example and inspiration on the power that our food choices have on our overall health and well being.

Christina is the Emmy Award-winning host of the television series Christina Cooks, which airs weekly on over 200 national public television stations nationwide as well as on the Create network. It has also aired in over 50 countries on Discovery Health. Christina also offers trips and vacations to exotic destinations from Caribbean cruises to tours of Italy.