Bed-ridden by a rare illness, this 22-year-old cured herself with healthy eating - and now her recipe app is number one on iTunes



Ella Woodward diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome in 2011

Breaks down autonomic nervous system and left her 95% bed-bound

Embraced a vegan lifestyle and hasn't had to take her tablets since

Launched app, Deliciously Ella, which went to number one on iTunes

Now writing a book and her doctors want to test her diet on other patients

A self-confessed 'sugar monster' who was struck down with a rare illness that attacked her nervous system and left her bed-bound cured herself through healthy eating.



In an effort to turn her life around, Ella Woodward, 22, embraced a fully vegan lifestyle and managed to beat her illness and launch her own successful business.



In 2011 Ella was diagnosed with a relatively rare illness called Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS.



Ella suffered from a rare illness that left her mostly bed-bound but discovered a vegan lifestyle and has cured herself - and now she's sharing her story in the glossy pages of her new recipe book The syndrome effectively breaks down your autonomic nervous system: the system that controls everything that is meant to happen automatically in the body - so your heart beat, digestion, circulation and immune system.

Speaking to MailOnline, Ella said: 'As you can imagine this had a pretty devastating effect on my life. I literally couldn’t walk down the street, I slept for 16 hours a day, was in chronic pain, had blackouts, never-ending heart palpitations, unbearable stomach issues, constant headaches - the list goes on.'



Ella, who lives in London, was bed-ridden 95 per cent of the time and prescribed conventional medication and steroids for about six months but they didn’t make much difference so she decided to make a change herself.

'I began researching natural healing which is how I came to change my diet. Overnight I gave up refined sugar, gluten, dairy, anything processed or refined and meat,' she said.



'It was a huge change from someone that lived off a delicious mixture of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream; mountains of Cadbury’s caramel chocolate, lots of fizzy pick-n-mix and millions of jars of peanut butter and strawberry jam eaten with a spoon.

'I noticed a difference after just a few weeks of eating well though and 18 months later I was able to come off all the medication - which I should have been on for life - and now feel absolutely amazing.'

Ella gave up refined sugar, gluten, dairy, anything processed or refined and meat - and noticed the difference within two weeks

Ella tracked her progress and shared all her favourite recipes via an online blog, Deliciously Ella.



She quickly saw her internet fame sky rocket, garnering 77,000 Instagram followers , who avidly follow her colourful 'food porn' snaps and enthusiastic attitude to clean living.

Ella, who is currently studying nutrition, was so inundated with recipe requests that she decided to launch an app.



'I wanted to launch the app to make my recipes more accessible,' she said.



'Blogs are amazing, and I’m so grateful to mine for giving me such a great platform to explore other ideas, but it’s just not practical to scroll through 30 pages of blog to find a dinner recipe.



'I also wanted to include some detox and meal plans to inspire people to try giving this way of eating a go for a few days.'

Success: Ella tracked her progress via an online blog, Deliciously Ella, and saw her internet fame sky rocket, garnering 77,000 Instagram followers

Clearly we have a taste for healthy living, the £2.99 Deliciously Ella app went to number one in the food and drinks category, both in the UK and the US, and number five on the whole Itunes store .

But Ella isn't interested in making money, she simply wants to inspire people to adopt her way of life and hopes it can help them like it helped her.



'It's beyond inspiring to read that Deliciously Ella has impacted people’s lives in this way and I’m still so touched and humbled every time I read an email or comment saying that I’ve made such an impact.'

While Ella starts the day with a green smoothie and follows with salad bowls, hearty soups, kale chips and homemade houmous, we don't all have the time or taste for that.



The lifestyle guru advises: 'I think just making one small change a day is amazing, just adding in one new serving of fruit or vegetables a day is fantastic, some sweet potato wedges or guacamole make an insanely delicious addition to any meal and they’re such an easy place to start.

Business: Ella has a blog, an app, is writing a book and even manages to squeeze in some time for studying nutrition

'Whizzing up a smoothie in the morning is incredible too as it always starts you off on the right track for a positive day, while giving you an abundance of goodness and energy,' said the blogger, who practices yoga or pilates every day.

Ella, who personally responds to every single Tweet and recipe query, is just making headway with her healthy living empire.



'There are a million different things that I want to do. My book is the first thing that I'm focusing on, and I'm so enjoying writing it - it’s so exciting, literally a dream come true.



'I'm training as a nutritionist too, which I’m loving and I think will really help me take the company forward.'

As for her health, her doctors are so impressed with her progress that they are trying to set up trials based on her diet for similar sufferers.

Inspiring: Ella posts recipes of deliciously healthy recipes such as green smoothies and stir fry

Treats: Carbs are still allowed - she just makes healthy versions of bread (left) and makes her brownies from sweet potatoes (right)



For more recipes and healthy living tips, download Deliciously Ella on iTunes.













