In 2009, Marilyn Roseburrough was diagnosed with fibromuscular dysplasia, a rare disease that causes a blockage of arteries. A specialist in New York was able to clear an artery leading to her kidney but told her there wasn’t anything he could do to prevent another, highly likely, life-threatening artery blockage.
On the airplane ride home, she decided to see a naturopath that a friend recommended named Dr. Keivan Jinnah. She described her first meeting with Dr. Jinnah: “I walked in and I said, ‘I am willing to do anything. I have a 5- and 7-year-old at home. I want to live as long as I possibly can.'”
“I wasn’t a big believer in this at that point, but I was willing to give it a try, to go full on,” she said. “I spent a ton of money on supplements. I walked out at that time with what I thought was a crazy diet — no gluten, no dairy, no soy, no nightshades because they are inflammatory, no corn, limited eggs, and meat if it is organic and grass-fed. From that second I walked out of his office, I went cold turkey.”
It took a while for Marilyn and her family to adjust to this new diet. Eventually, she mastered the art of gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free meals and baked goods. Friends and family told her she should start a company, so she sold gluten-free mixes at the Vancouver Farmers Market. She called her company Kember’s — a combination of her daughters’ names, Kate and Ember. The mixes sold out quickly so she expanded her line to six mixes — waffle, brownie, pizza crust, doughnut, pumpkin bread, and crepe. At the farmers market, she met the owners of the Hello Waffle food truck (now a drive-thru window in Camas), C’est La Vie Cafe and Ben’s Bottle Shop, all of whom use her mixes to create gluten-free options for their customers.
