Changing your diet can change your life; Seamus Mullen knows that intimately. In 2012, a near-death experience forced him to rethink how he lived.
The award-winning chef, restaurateur, and avid cyclist made a name for himself cooking through kitchens in Spain, San Francisco, and New York, where he opened his first restaurant in 2006. But the job’s long, grueling hours, plus a lifestyle of partying and unhealthy food, took a toll on his body.
In 2007, Mullen was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The autoimmune disease caused severe chronic pain in his joints, which were so swollen that each morning he couldn’t tie his shoes. He was placed on a cocktail of medications that never fully alleviated the pain—but weakened his resistance to infections, resulting in frequent trips to the hospital. After bacterial meningitis landed him in the ICU with a 106°F fever, he knew something had to change….