Healing Through Nutrition: Yalda Alaoui on Beating Autoimmune Disease and Building Eat Burn Sleep

When facing a serious health diagnosis, medical advice is essential—but so is understanding how lifestyle choices impact your overall well-being. In this conversation, our own Amy Cohen Epstein speaks with Yalda Alaoui, founder of Eat Burn Sleep, about how making intentional changes to diet, movement, and stress management can complement medical treatment and improve quality of life. Diagnosed with two life-threatening autoimmune diseases, Yalda took a proactive approach to her health, combining expert medical care with research-backed lifestyle adjustments that ultimately helped her heal. In this interview, she shares her journey, insights on reducing inflammation, and practical steps anyone can take to support their health alongside their doctor’s guidance.

Amy Cohen Epstein:
I am really excited, especially because I feel like we rescheduled this a few times, and I should have interviewed you a month ago. But I already know this is going to be one of my favorite conversations. We’re diving into inflammation, digestion, and all the things people are constantly talking about. I was just telling a friend the other day that my focus right now is preventive care. Because if we understand the root cause of illness—while also accepting there are things we can’t control—we can use real, science-backed tools to make better decisions for ourselves. And I feel like that’s exactly what you’ve done. You’ve figured this out through your own body, your own experiences. I can’t wait to hear your journey and learn about Eat Burn Sleep and everything you’ve built.

So, for those who might not know your story, can you take us back to the beginning? How did this all start?

Yalda Alaoui:
I never imagined this path for myself. My background is in finance—I studied business in France, went to the London School of Economics for accounting and finance, and worked in the financial markets. Health was always an interest of mine—my father and grandfather were both into health and sports—but it wasn’t something I ever thought would become my life’s work.

That all changed when I was diagnosed with my first autoimmune disease, ulcerative colitis, at 28, shortly after my first pregnancy. At the time, I was a healthy person—I rarely got sick, I wasn’t a heavy drinker, and I lived an active lifestyle. But suddenly, my body was fighting itself. Then, after my second pregnancy, I was diagnosed with a rare blood condition called autoimmune hemolytic anemia. It was life-threatening—my body was destroying its own red blood cells, and I wasn’t responding to medication. My hemoglobin dropped to 4.7, which is dangerously low. At 4, you’re in a coma; at 3, you don’t survive. I was hospitalized and had two very young children, just two and four years old, depending on me.

I had access to the best doctors and specialists across Europe, Asia, and the U.S., but no one could fix me. So, I took matters into my own hands—not knowing if I would succeed, but determined to try. It took me eight years, but by 2015, I was off medication and healthy again. I thought I would go back to my finance career, but life had other plans.

Amy:
I want to step back for a moment. How did you know to push for answers? Many women ignore symptoms, push through discomfort, or accept what they’re told by doctors. Your first diagnosis was colitis—what was happening in your body that made you take action?

Yalda:
That’s such an important question. First, there’s autoimmunity in my family—my mother has Hashimoto’s, and my grandmother had scleroderma. So, I was genetically predisposed. Second, pregnancy alters the immune system. My second pregnancy actually put me into temporary remission, but after I gave birth, my health collapsed again.

What really pushed me to keep searching was my frustration with doctors not having answers. I kept asking, What is the cause? but they couldn’t tell me. Medicine often focuses on managing symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. I started observing my own body, talking to other patients, and collecting data on myself. For example, I noticed that some foods made me feel worse. But when I asked doctors if diet played a role, they said no—because there weren’t enough studies to prove it.

I realized I had to experiment on myself. I learned that my body was highly sensitive to inflammation, which was a common factor between both of my diseases. That was my lightbulb moment: If I can lower inflammation, I can improve my health. That’s when my real research began.

Amy:
And what were some of the biggest things you learned? What was driving your inflammation?

Yalda:
I found that inflammation is triggered by multiple factors—diet, stress, sleep, exercise, and even emotions. I had to rethink everything.

For example, I used to be a runner, but I noticed that every time I exercised intensely, I had a flare-up. That didn’t make sense to me—exercise is supposed to be good for you. But I later learned that intense workouts can actually be inflammatory. That’s why I developed the anti-inflammatory workouts that I now teach on my platform.

I also started researching movement and its impact on the body. I was at a horse race with my then-husband, and I was observing the jockeys. They had very low body fat but strong muscles. I asked one of them how they maintained their physique, and he said, We walk five to six hours a day. That led me to research the power of walking—it preserves muscle while reducing inflammation.

Amy:
That’s fascinating. And what about diet? How did you change the way you ate?

Yalda:
I focused on what I call the “low-hanging fruit”—the simplest, most impactful changes. I removed inflammatory foods, introduced gut-healing ingredients, and balanced my meals in a way that supported my microbiome. It wasn’t about restriction—it was about nourishment.

Amy:
At what point did you decide to share this with others?

Yalda:
At first, I didn’t think what I had learned was special. It seemed obvious to me. I went back to finance, but my heart wasn’t in it. Then, one night at a dinner party, I shared my story with someone who worked at Apple. He told me, You have to share this with the world. I resisted at first—I valued my privacy. But I realized that if I could help even one person avoid what I had been through, it would be worth it.

So, I started posting on social media, sharing recipes and research. After nine months, I released an eBook, and thousands of people bought it. That’s when I knew I had something real. Instead of writing a book, I built an online platform that could be constantly updated with new science-backed information.

Amy:
And Eat Burn Sleep was born! How did you come up with the name?

Yalda:
It actually started years earlier. When I was in recovery, I hired a coach to keep me accountable. She asked me to send photos of everything I ate, but to make it easier, I started an Instagram account to track my meals. I called it Eat Burn Sleep because those were the three things I was focused on—eating right, moving my body, and getting good sleep. Years later, when I launched the platform, I revived the name.

Amy:
That’s incredible. Yalda, this has been amazing. You’ve turned your pain into purpose in such a powerful way. Thank you for sharing your story, your knowledge, and your passion for helping others.

Yalda:
Thank you, Amy. It’s been a pleasure.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.