Chef AJ

What Chef AJ says, topic by topic

Vitamin B12

In a 2019 episode of her Weight Loss Wednesday show, Chef AJ went through a day of her food in a nutrition tracker and said B12 was the only nutrient she fell short on¹. She added that B12 does not come from food in any case and that she takes a supplement for it¹.

Asked by a viewer in 2024 which B12 and vitamin D she takes, she said she still takes both as supplements and simply sticks with a brand she likes².

What all the experts say about vitamin B12

Vitamin D

In a 2017 episode Chef AJ shared her own lab results: her vitamin D stood at 43, above the usual floor of 30, and she said this was without any supplement. She told viewers who worry about such nutrients to have their blood tested rather than guess³.

What all the experts say about vitamin D

Omega-3 fats

Chef AJ has answered the omega-3 question with seeds and blood tests rather than nuts. In a 2016 episode she said that anyone eating nuts for their omega-3 fats could take 1 to 3 teaspoons of ground flax or chia seeds a day instead, which she considered healthier than nuts and harder to overeat, and she noted that Caldwell Esselstyn advises the same for his patients⁴. She added that she has her omega-3 level checked each year and that a vegan DHA supplement is an option if it ever comes back low⁵.

In 2017 she reported that a new test, after roughly six years without added fat, showed her omega-3 and omega-6 levels, EPA, DHA and their ratios all in the normal range⁶. In 2019 she said her fatty acid profile was still high on a diet rich in greens, purslane included, and that she would add flax or chia, or a vegan DHA, if it ever dropped⁷.

What all the experts say about omega-3 fats

Oil

For most of her career Chef AJ taught a diet with no added oil. In a 2018 episode she said oil was not one of her addictions, but that she avoided it for health and for calorie density⁸. On a 2022 podcast she called removing oil the easiest change for weight loss, since oil holds about 4,000 calories per pound, and called the idea that people need processed oil “the most ridiculous triumph of marketing over science”⁹. She said fat, if wanted, should come whole, from nuts, seeds and avocado⁹.

She relaxed this in 2025 to 2026. In a July 2026 show she said she had been eating some sugar, oil and salt for about a year, though not every day¹⁰. She said she still does not eat much oil or fried food, but would now add a tablespoon of sesame oil if a recipe called for it for flavor¹¹.

What all the experts say about oil

Protein

Chef AJ does not count protein. In a 2017 episode she said that people eating enough calories will probably get enough protein, and that the real problem she sees in her program is people undereating¹². She noted that infants need protein most, yet breast milk gets under 10 percent of its calories from protein, and referred viewers to Garth Davis’s book Proteinaholic¹³.

In the same episode she said anyone worried about protein can eat more beans and other legumes, and that most people need not worry about getting enough¹⁴.

What all the experts say about protein

Calcium, dairy and bones

Chef AJ speaks far more about dairy than about calcium. In a 2017 episode she called dairy the worst of all animal foods, said that The China Study identifies casein, its main protein, as a potent carcinogen, and called dairy one of the most addictive foods, pointing to Neal Barnard’s book The Cheese Trap¹⁵. Earlier that year she recommended The China Study to anyone who wanted to understand why dairy harms health¹⁶.

On calcium itself she has relied on diet tracker checks of her own meals. In 2017 she said a day of vegetables, starch and a little fruit met all her calcium needs, even without greens that day¹⁷, and in 2019 a similar check showed 94 percent of her calcium requirement¹⁸.

What all the experts say about calcium, dairy and bones

Iodine

Because she eats no salt, Chef AJ gets her iodine from sea vegetables. In a 2017 episode she told a viewer worried about losing the iodine in iodized salt to eat sea vegetables a few times a week, and named smoked applewood dulse as her own choice¹⁹. In a 2018 video of her daily meals she said dulse is where her iodine comes from²⁰.

She has also spoken about her own thyroid. In 2016 she said she had lost her weight while hypothyroid and without medication, though she takes thyroid medicine now²¹. In 2017 she told viewers that hypothyroidism had made her loss of 50 pounds take 27 months, slower than for others, but had not prevented it²².

What all the experts say about iodine

Calorie density

Calorie density is the core of Chef AJ’s weight loss teaching. On a 2022 podcast she defined it as calories per pound, credited the research of Barbara Rolls at Penn State, and said food groups run from about 100 calories per pound for non-starchy vegetables to 4,000 for oil²³. She said whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes stay at or under about 600 calories per pound and hold fiber and water, which fill the stomach²⁴.

She dates her own turn to it precisely. In 2017 she said she went SOS free (no added sugar, oil or salt) on August 1, 2008, after a lecture by Caldwell Esselstyn, but did not lose weight until years later because she did not understand calorie density²⁵. In 2022 she said she began applying calorie density on January 2, 2012²⁶.

By 2026 her own needs had changed. She said she had found it hard to gain weight on a very low calorie density diet²⁷, had dropped to 97 pounds, and now eats food of much higher calorie density, which she took as proof the method works²⁸.

What all the experts say about calorie density

Nuts, seeds and avocado

Chef AJ blames nuts for much of her own past weight. In 2017 she said that about an ounce of nuts a day had been enough to keep her 50 pounds heavier²⁹. On a 2022 podcast she said the same 50 pounds came mostly from nuts and not understanding calorie density³⁰, and that the 2022 tenth anniversary edition of her book Unprocessed gives lower fat options, for example oats in place of walnuts in dessert crusts³¹.

In a 2021 talk on the McDougall 50/50 plate she said she was not telling people to avoid whole food fats such as nuts, seeds and avocado, only not to eat them with starch, an idea she credited to a 2015 talk by Michael Klaper³².

What all the experts say about nuts, seeds and avocado

Soy

In a 2017 episode Chef AJ said her test for a processed food is whether she can easily make it in her own kitchen, and that soy milk, tofu and tempeh pass that test³³. In 2018 she said tofu gets over half of its calories from fat, so she does not suggest it for weight loss even though it is healthy, and that she avoids it herself because she is allergic to soy³⁴. She said learning of the allergy did not leave her feeling deprived, since soybeans, unlike sugar or oil, are not addictive³⁵.

What all the experts say about soy

Salt

In a 2017 episode Chef AJ said her book Unprocessed called sugar, oil and salt “the evil trinity”, and that she would now add flour³⁶. Later that year she said that a looser program allowing some flour, sugar and salt is fine for anyone who gets results on it, but that for people with refined food addiction even small amounts, and for some even salt, can stand in the way³⁷.

She admitted salt was the hardest part. In 2018 she said that within her SOFAS acronym (sugar, oil, flour, alcohol, salt) she was not perfect with salt either³⁸. In the July 2026 show she described her current diet as that of a classic McDougall follower, with a little sugar and a little salt²⁸.

What all the experts say about salt

Sugar

For years Chef AJ treated sugar as an addiction rather than a nutrient question. In a 2018 episode she described her own abstinence as being, above all, from sugar and flour⁸. She said at the time that she had over 2,500 days of abstinence from sugar, flour, oil, alcohol and salt³⁹.

In July 2026 she said she had chosen not to eat sugar for about 25 years but now eats it again⁴⁰. She said letting go of strict food rules had calmed her digestion and had not led to bingeing or weight gain⁴¹.

What all the experts say about sugar

Starches

Chef AJ bases her diet on starches. In a 2021 talk she said starches range from about 200 calories per pound for winter squash to about 365 for potatoes and sweet potatoes, about 500 for grains and about 600 for beans, while non-starchy vegetables run roughly 67 to 125⁴². She said her own diet was about 75 percent starch by calories⁴³.

She has, however, cautioned against starch alone for weight loss. In the same talk she said she tells clients to eat at least a pound of vegetables at each meal and only then whatever amount of starch they can manage⁴⁴.

What all the experts say about starches

Fasting

In a 2017 episode Chef AJ said she fell into intermittent fasting by accident, simply eating within a narrow window⁴⁵. She said she does not recommend starting her program with intermittent fasting when someone has much weight to lose, and sees it as a tool for people nearing their goal⁴⁶.

She described the water fasting at Alan Goldhamer’s TrueNorth Health Center as strict: during a fast nothing but water, not even a squeeze of lemon⁴⁷.

What all the experts say about fasting

Supplements

In a 2017 episode Chef AJ said B12 is her main supplement, 1,000 micrograms of methylcobalamin a day. Beyond it she named only a fiber product she takes for irritable bowel syndrome and lysine, which a dermatologist suggested for cold sores, and she said she does not recommend that others copy those two. She added that she has her blood tested every year⁴⁸.

In another 2017 episode she said she is not against supplements as long as people know what they are supplementing, and described tracking her omega-3 level with a finger stick blood test rather than taking a supplement for it⁴⁹.

What all the experts say about supplements

Iron

Chef AJ has answered iron questions with tracker readouts of her own food. In 2017 she said a day of mostly vegetables and starch gave her 147 percent of her minimum iron requirement¹⁷, and in 2019 a similar day came to 237 percent¹⁸.

What all the experts say about iron

Fiber

Chef AJ ties fiber to hunger. In a 2017 episode she said animal products and processed foods, which carry neither fiber nor water, leave people hungry all the time, and that the hunger lasts until the diet has enough fiber. She stressed that the fiber has to come with water: air popped popcorn or rice cakes have some fiber yet do not satisfy⁵⁰. In 2016 she said fiber and water together make the bulk that makes people feel full, which liquids cannot do⁵¹.

In a 2019 tracker check of her own day she reported 434 percent of the minimum fiber requirement¹⁸.

What all the experts say about fiber

Fruit

Chef AJ treats fruit as an extra rather than a staple. In 2018 she said she sees fruit as an accent to a meal or a dessert, not something to eat all day, and that oatmeal with fruit is about the worst breakfast for a sugar addict trying to lose weight⁵². In 2017 she explained that fruit first thing in the morning can wake up a sugar addict’s sweet tooth, which is why her program starts the day savory⁵³.

Her own experience shaped this view. In a 2016 talk she said that after reaching 132 pounds she still felt she was overeating, mostly on fruit, at times five bananas a day, and that Doug Lisle told her she was not eating enough starch⁵⁴.

What all the experts say about fruit

Vegetables and greens

Vegetables for breakfast are a hallmark of Chef AJ’s program. In 2016 she said one reason is that they test whether a person is truly hungry: rich foods taste good even without hunger, while plain vegetables only taste good when you are hungry⁵⁵. In 2019 she repeated her rule, “if you’re not hungry enough to eat vegetables you’re probably not hungry”, and said vegetables for breakfast are both the top reason people turn down her program and the top reason members succeed⁵⁶.

In 2017 she advised eating vegetables before richer foods in a meal, so as to fill up on the fewest calories and start the signals of fullness, and noted that the chewing they need adds to satiety⁵⁷.

What all the experts say about vegetables and greens

Beans and lentils

Legumes are one of the four food groups of Chef AJ’s program. In a 2018 episode she named fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes as the whole diet, the same four groups as the Physicians Committee’s Power Plate⁵⁸. In 2017 she counted them among the cheapest foods, finding one pound bags of legumes for 99 cents in a survey of local prices⁵⁹, and that year she also said anyone worried about protein can simply eat more beans¹⁴.

She does not call beans essential, though. In 2016 she said there is no single superfood everyone must eat, noting that some people have digestive trouble with legumes or are allergic to them, and that the diet as a whole is what counts⁶⁰.

What all the experts say about beans and lentils

Whole grains, bread and flour

Chef AJ draws a sharp line between whole grains and flour. In 2016 she said her program is free of flour and gluten: wheat berries come to about 500 calories per pound, while bread and flour run about three times that, and flour, like sugar, is easy to overeat. She said she does not recommend bread for weight loss, or wheat in general when so many other grains exist⁶¹.

In her 2016 talk she described a test suggested by Doug Lisle: for five weeks at TrueNorth Health Center she ate as much rice and other grain as she wanted and, instead of gaining, lost another 5 pounds⁶². In 2018 she called oats a healthy whole grain that helps lower cholesterol, but said that for some of her members rolled oats act more like flour, and she showed whole oat groats as the alternative⁶³.

What all the experts say about whole grains, bread and flour

Potatoes

In her 2016 talk Chef AJ said that in January 2012 she swapped nuts for potatoes as an experiment and lost about a pound a week, 12 pounds in 12 weeks⁶⁴. By 2020 she said she never tires of potatoes and sweet potatoes, naming the Murasaki and Hannah varieties as favorites, and eats them for their taste rather than out of duty⁶⁵.

She has been cooler on all potato diets. In 2018 she said such a diet stops being one once people add barbecue sauce, ketchup or cheesy sauces, and that she does not think the potato diet is healthy⁶⁶.

What all the experts say about potatoes

Meat

Chef AJ is an ethical vegan and opposes eating meat at any frequency. Asked in a 2017 episode whether meat a few times a week does any harm, she said studies comparing an otherwise healthy diet with and without some meat hardly exist, because so few people eat healthily, and that every serving of meat or alcohol carries some risk⁶⁷. She then gave three reasons against it: the suffering and killing of animals, damage to the environment, and harm to the heart and arteries⁶⁸.

What all the experts say about meat

Low-fat eating

Chef AJ eats a very low fat diet with no added fats. In her 2016 talk she said that in late 2011 Doug Lisle estimated she was getting about 30 percent of her calories from fat and told her she would need about 10 to 15 percent to lose weight⁶⁹. Later she asked John McDougall whether a diet with no added fat at all is safe; she said he replied with one word, yes, after which she gave up seeds as well⁷⁰.

In 2017 she said she had eaten no added fats, nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut and olives included, since January 2, 2012, and had been attacked by others in the plant-based movement for it, though she does not tell people who do well on nuts to drop them⁷¹. In 2019 she said a tracker still put her at about 10 to 12 percent of calories from fat, all from the fat naturally present in greens, oats and other whole foods⁷.

What all the experts say about low-fat eating

Carbohydrates and low-carb diets

Chef AJ grew up believing that carbohydrates make people fat. In her 2016 talk she said that when Doug Lisle urged her to eat more starch, she protested that carbs are fattening, a belief her family had taught her⁷², before her rice experiment showed otherwise⁶².

In 2017 she said whole, unrefined carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice, beans, fruit and vegetables do not make people fat; what does is fat combined with carbohydrate, as in french fries or peanut butter on toast⁷³. In 2019 she reported eating more than 300 grams of carbohydrate in a day while still getting thinner⁷⁴.

What all the experts say about carbohydrates and low-carb diets

Gluten and wheat

Chef AJ’s program has been gluten free from the start. In 2016 she described it as a whole food, gluten free plant diet without sugar, oil or salt, the same diet TrueNorth Health Center had served for over 30 years⁷⁵. In another 2016 episode she called it free of both flour and gluten, adding that she does not recommend wheat when so many other grains exist⁶¹.

Her main objection is to flour, gluten free or not. In 2017 she said about 500 calories of brown rice fills her up, but once the same rice is ground into flour for a gluten free bread it takes about 1,500 calories to fill the stomach⁷⁶.

What all the experts say about gluten and wheat

Coffee, tea and caffeine

Chef AJ does not recommend caffeine. In a 2016 episode she said her mother gave her coffee with sugar and cream at age four and that she later went through caffeine withdrawal twice. She called caffeine a drug rather than a food, “like battery acid to your stomach” whether it comes from coffee, tea or soda, and said its long half life can disturb deep sleep and so hinder weight loss indirectly. Even so, she said dairy is the first thing she would work on with a client, well before caffeine⁷⁷.

Asked in 2018 whether black coffee is bad, she said that something less bad is not thereby good, that she does not want to depend on a stimulant to function, and that she had shared research suggesting morning caffeine leads to sweet cravings later in the day⁷⁸.

What all the experts say about coffee, tea and caffeine

Alcohol

Chef AJ’s program excludes alcohol. In a 2016 episode, answering a woman whose husband had survived cancer, she pointed to the World Health Organization’s statement that no amount of alcohol can be recommended as safe, saying it raises the risk of every kind of cancer⁷⁹. She added that among the couple of thousand people she had worked with, she had not yet seen a woman struggling with her weight become slender while still drinking regularly⁸⁰.

In 2017 she called alcohol a drug and not a food, toxic to every cell, and said any benefit of red wine comes from the grapes⁸¹. She also said alcohol brings no fiber or nutrients and becomes the body’s preferred fuel, so stored fat is not burned while it is being cleared⁸².

What all the experts say about alcohol

Chocolate

Chef AJ counts chocolate among the stimulating foods she avoids. In her 2016 talk she said that in 2003, although she had eaten no animal products for 26 years, her daily sugar, flour, oil, caffeine and chocolate were harming her health⁸³, and that by late 2011 she no longer ate chocolate at all⁸⁴. In 2017 she described her program as excluding stimulating foods such as chocolate and caffeine⁸⁵.

She is more relaxed for people without food addiction. In 2018 she said the desserts in her book Unprocessed, made with dates, cocoa powder and nuts, can keep such families away from store bought sweets⁸⁶.

What all the experts say about chocolate

Juicing and smoothies

Chef AJ does not count on drinks for weight loss. In 2016 she said juice, smoothies and alcohol all lack satiety, since it is the fiber, water and chewing of solid food that make people full⁵¹.

She does blend vegetables, though. In a 2018 episode she made what she calls a salad smoothie, a blended salad she credits John Pierre with popularizing, suggested it for people with little time to chew, and kept fruit out of it to help reset the taste buds⁸⁷. She said a whole blender of it came to about 130 calories, the same as one tablespoon of olive oil⁸⁸.

What all the experts say about juicing and smoothies

Organic food and pesticides

In a 2017 episode Chef AJ said she buys organic fruits and vegetables, preferring to spend her money at the grocery store rather than the doctor’s office. She cited Michael Greger’s view that conventional plant food still beats organic animal or processed food, said organic grains, beans and potatoes are an advantage for those who can afford and find them, and pointed viewers to the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists, which favor organic for thin skinned produce such as spinach and kale⁸⁹. In 2018 she said corn is one food she always buys organic, as it is among the most heavily genetically modified crops⁹⁰.

What all the experts say about organic food and pesticides

Weight loss

Chef AJ’s teaching grows out of her own story. In a 2016 talk she said she finally lost weight and kept it off after about 50 years of failed attempts⁹¹. She said a raw food diet in the 2000s improved her health but not her weight, because fruits and vegetables alone gave too few calories and she filled the gap with dried fruit and nuts⁹². From January 2012, she said, dropping nuts and eating starch brought her down to 132 pounds and a size 8 by November of that year⁹³.

In 2016 she said that eating only foods at or under about 600 calories per pound, meaning fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, makes weight gain impossible and lets most people lose weight until they are slim⁹⁴. She also asks clients to keep a food journal, and in 2016 said people who write down what they eat lose half again as much weight as those who keep no record, recommending pen and paper⁹⁵.

What all the experts say about weight loss

Cravings and food addiction

Chef AJ describes herself as a food addict. In her 2016 talk she said she had gone public about it two years earlier, and called food addiction a real disease, chronic, progressive and often fatal, that the wider medical community does not yet recognize⁹⁶.

In 2017 she said her program joins two worlds: food addiction programs, none of them vegan and all built on weighing and measuring food, and the plant-based world⁹⁷. She said people are not addicted to food as such but to refined products, since sugar and flour are refined much as drugs are⁹⁸, and that while heart disease or diabetes can be reversed on diets that still allow some flour, food addiction needs abstinence⁹⁹.

Her view loosened later. In her July 2026 show she said she was questioning beliefs she had long held, including the food addiction field’s focus on sugar¹⁰⁰.

What all the experts say about cravings and food addiction

Exercise

Chef AJ values exercise but does not rely on it for weight loss. In 2016 she said she did not work out at all while losing 47 pounds over 27 months, as she was recovering from a serious knee injury, and that weight loss cannot depend on exercise¹⁰¹. In 2018 she called exercise great but not necessary for losing weight, saying no one can outrun a bad diet¹⁰². Her program asks members to move as much as they are able, with no need for a gym or marathons¹⁰³.

In 2017 she said she walks her dog about 45 minutes twice a day¹⁰⁴. In November 2025, during cancer treatment, she wrote that two weeks unable to exercise sent her anxiety soaring, and that she now believes the doctors who call exercise the best antidepressant¹⁰⁵.

What all the experts say about exercise

Heart disease

Heart disease runs in Chef AJ’s family. In her 2016 talk she said her father had his first heart attack before she was born and, though not overweight, ate kosher salami every day, which she believes cost him years¹⁰⁶. She said it was a 2008 video of Caldwell Esselstyn on preventing and reversing heart disease that led her to give up oil, along with sugar, flour and salt¹⁰⁷.

In 2017 she recommended Esselstyn’s book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease to anyone hoping to reverse heart disease¹⁶, and said heart disease can be reversed on diets that still include some flour or richer foods, unlike food addiction⁹⁹.

What all the experts say about heart disease

High blood pressure

Chef AJ’s program uses no salt, but she frames this mainly as a weight and addiction measure. In 2017 she said she does not recommend salt for weight loss, since it stimulates appetite, nor for anyone with high blood pressure or heart disease, and repeated Alan Goldhamer’s advice to push through 30 days until food tastes good without it¹⁰⁸.

In 2018, asked why she insists on no salt when John McDougall says it is not needed for blood pressure control, she said she recommends rather than insists and that her program is not designed to treat high blood pressure¹⁰⁹. She added that of sugar, oil, flour, alcohol and salt, salt is the one she is most lenient about, except for people with high blood pressure or a past cardiac event¹¹⁰.

What all the experts say about high blood pressure

Cancer

Chef AJ reports her own experiences rather than advice. In her 2016 talk she said that in 2003, with colon cancer in her family, an exam found large bleeding polyps of the kind that can become cancer; afraid of surgery, she spent six months on a raw fruit and vegetable diet, after which, by her account, a repeat exam found her colon clear¹¹¹. In 2016 she also urged the wife of a cancer survivor to weigh the World Health Organization’s warning on alcohol and cancer⁷⁹.

She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022. Writing in September 2025, she said she still believes food matters but that illness and healing involve more than diet, noting she had been vegan for 45 years and on a strict Goldhamer style diet for 15 when the cancer was found; she added that several of her doctors think decades of fear and stress may weaken the immune system¹¹². In October 2025, struggling with side effects of treatment, she wrote that since her diagnosis she has put the quality of her life ahead of its length¹¹³.

What all the experts say about cancer

Longevity and aging

Chef AJ has pushed back on the plant-based focus on living longer. In a 2026 newsletter, after the memorial of a friend who outlived a six month cancer prognosis by 20 years, she wrote that many in the plant-based world are so fixed on longevity that they miss the present¹¹⁴. During her own treatment in 2025 she wrote that she has valued the quality of her life over its length since her diagnosis¹¹³.

What all the experts say about longevity and aging

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