Q&A: Amie Valpone of The Healthy Apple

In 2006, Amie Valpone found herself in countless doctors’ offices and hospitals, battling illness and struggling to find a diagnosis. It was only when The Healthy Apple founder started eating clean and detoxing her lifestyle that her body started to heal. We chatted with the blogger and cookbook author about some of her fave delicious recipes and why a nourishing diet is empowering.

Tell us a bit about your health journey. What led you to found The Healthy Apple?

Western Medicine doctors put me on numerous steroids and pain killers, and gave me no choice but to land on disability from my job with lots of chronic pain. I switched to working with Integrative medicine MD’s, healed myself through eating clean and discovered Lyme Disease, C-Diff Colitis, PCOS, hypothyroidism, leaky gut, candida and much more.

TheHealthyApple.com is to help people stay positive while eating clean, dealing with health issues or simply cleaning up and detoxing their lifestyle from toxins in our food and environment.

Clean eating plays a huge role in my life today- my entire day revolves around food and I love it.

Define what a healthy diet and lifestyle means to you.

It’s about eating what makes you feel good. It’s not about eating bowls of kale every day because you’ve heard it’s good for you. And it’s not about being skinny. That’s not what being healthy is about; it is about balance and happiness.

When I start[ed] eating 100 percent organic, I felt amazing. I want people to know that eating clean can be very simple and it can be done with just a few minor changes. If I can do it in a Manhattan apartment, you can do it anywhere!

What does it really mean to detox? What are the biggest misconceptions?

Toxins are harmful substances that kill living, organic materials. Unfortunately, toxins are have established a home in our bodies and take a toll on our organs.

I learned that detox is about taking an active role in stimulating my body’s ability to cleanse itself of these harmful toxic substances. My mindset shifted when I started researching how toxic my body was, where my toxins were coming from and what they could be doing to my health.

If you could only cook one recipe for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Anything from my cookbook, Eating Clean: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation, and Reset Your Body.

Do you think a healthy diet can help people feel empowered?

Yes, of course. Food is just the first step; there is so much more. Nothing changed for me until I changed my environment and my lifestyle. What I’ve learned is that it’s up to you to change the quality of your life, forever.

You can at least support your body’s ability to do what’s in your control: Detox on a daily basis by eating organic, meditate, take an Epsom salts bath, make yourself a cup of tea, and find time to schedule downtime in your calendar — every day.

Healthy nutrition tips for busy people?

Food is meant to be nourishment. But so many people are focused on calories and choose foods found in boxes and cans that are void of nutrients, full of refined sugars and flours, and made from very cheap ingredients.

Real food is eating one-ingredient whole foods and forming your meals and snacks around those foods. What’s in an avocado? An avocado. What’s in an apple? An apple. What’s in an almond? An almond.

Words of encouragement for those struggling with a health issue?

Believe in yourself. Trust yourself and accept nothing less than your best life ahead.

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