Seamus mullen, the superhero of healing foods

Seamus Mullen describes himself as rather obsessive — about the way his meat is raised, his fruit is treated and his vegetables are grown. For good reason. As Mullen discovered when he was struck with rheumatoid arthritis, choosing high-vitality foods can make a dramatic difference in your well-being. Chop a hundred onions; peel a hundred pounds of potatoes; scale, gut and fillet 50 red snappers.

Not for a second. The agony was so fierce he could not even get to the phone to call Finally, after hours of debilitating pain, he heard the footsteps of a neighbor and screamed for help. It took 10 days in the hospital, an MRI and much medical detective work before the doctor came to a diagnosis: rheumatoid arthritis.

Seamus mullen, the superhero of healing foods: The award-winning chef, restaurateur

With medication — steroids, immunosuppressants, anti-inflammatories , various pain meds, even an antimalarial used in particularly refractory cases of rheumatoid arthritis — he soldiered on, opening a second Boqueria, in SoHo, two years later. Though his arthritis made the competition an excruciating undertaking case in point: he spent breaks between filming in a wheelchair because he could barely stand , Mullen went on to become one of three finalists.

Looking back over the previous couple of years, Mullen began to sort out the times when his pain was most severe from the times when it lifted, and he eventually realized that certain foods were associated with the periods of pain relief. He started experimenting — eliminating this, adding that — until he discovered that at the heart of the traditional Spanish cuisine that he had been perfecting for years were a few simple ingredients that seemed to relieve much of his inflammation.