Reboot with Joe: How I Improved My Rheumatoid Arthritis

joe the juicer screengrabThe healing power of food is something very close to my heart  so I’m honored to share this post that I wrote for Joe the Juicer and his amazing Reboot community. They asked me to explain how eating healthy (specifically more fruits and vegetables) has helped improve my rheumatoid arthritis. It’s done a lot more than that, too, and I know Joe and all the people he’s inspired feel the same. You can read the full story here.

One thought on “Reboot with Joe: How I Improved My Rheumatoid Arthritis

  1. Dear Jamie,

    This is the best TV Dinner post yet. The gentle way in which you explain how the foods we/you eat can improve, or damage, our health is non-threatening, non-judgmental and so very welcoming. Your writing voice is brilliant because you write about food and health that is non-threatening, non-judgmental, and completely welcoming and fun.

    I thought for the benefit of my peers–your wonderful Mum and Dad and MIL–that I would pass along my preferred way to start the day. Doing this has allowed me at age 65, to not take any medications, which my doctors and even the local pharmacist at Walgreens find amazing. It also, I believe, may work well with your paleo. While my son and daughter-in-law have coaxed me happily into the world of smoothies, there are mornings when I need to start the day chewing :) So, here is Nini’s Breakfast Mix:

    Before I shower and head off to work in the morning, I put 1/4 tsp of curry powder mix (from Penzey’s or the mix from the super Middle Eastern food store in Hartford) and a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon (also from above sources) in the bottom of a small shallow bowl. On top of that goes a cup of diced/chunk fresh fruit of the season. Then I add the seeds: flax, sunflower, sesame etc, whatever I feel like. No more than 1 tsp total. Then for some “chew” factor, 3 or 4 walnuts. Sometimes I add Whole Foods unsweetened coconut flakes or even a bit of coconut oil. Here’s the important part: mix it all together and let it rest for the 10 – 20 minute shower /blow dry time.

    If I feel I need a non-caffeinated extra, my long-ago year of British childhood comes alive and I add a 1/4 tsp of that vitamin B powerhouse Marmite to the mix. It adds a great “bite” but Marmite does take some getting used to. :)

    Here’s the pay-off for your Mum, Dad & MiL: great blood pressure and heart health from the cinnamon and no age-related knee or hip pain thanks to the curry/turmeric combo and a med-free life at age 65.

    Most of I thank you so much for so generously sharing your life here and on twitter and IG. Watching the trajectory of your and Brian’s successful careers and now your sweet marriage is such a treat. What makes me privately so proud is how Brian’s Mum and I created magic and fun for our sons after the loss of their Dads. My son John Rossi just concluded a number of years as the CT-based chief of staff to US Congressman John Larson for a management position at Hartford HealthCare, and Brian’s career speaks for itself. So often the narrative is that sons of widows/single moms face less than optimal futures, so I love it when I see triumph that contradicts that. Of course when I wrote the below, all I could do was hope I was making the right parental choices :)
    http://www.amazon.com/From-this-forward-Nancy-Rossi/dp/0812910818

    But back to great food. It is thanks to you and TV Dinner that I have given up grains and am amazed at my higher energy levels. I am sure you know the brilliant Clotilde and her Chocolate and Zucchini blog. She recently also is working on paleo recipes and is totally convinced: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/breakfast/paleo-granola-recipe/?utm_source=http://chocolateandzucchini.com&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_campaign=paleo-granola-recipe. Another fun person for you to know is a high school classmate of my son’s, Merrill Stubbs of Food52. You two would adore each other if you do not already know each other.

    My only regret of my Hartford life is not getting my traffic reports from you!!

    Have a great evening and please know that you are changing the lives and health not only of your friends and fans but of those of us who could be your parents or even your grandparents. Unlike any other food / health writer I know you are able to break our longstanding food habits with kindness, encouragement the sweetest grace.

    Thank you so much!!

    Nancy (@willowbarcelona — the name of my dear golden retriever who helped put me back on my feet with a move to Barcelona after my long-standing NYC stock broker took all my money. I owe Willow a lot :)

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