Today Show Nutritionist Joy Bauer Dishes on Better Sleep, Thwarting Stress and the Newest Superfoods! (EXCLUSIVE)
Joy Bauer, R.D., is a regular on the Today show, handing out nutritional and health advice for millions of viewers. As a registered dietitian with a graduate degree from New York University in nutrition, she knows just how to make wholesome living easier.
The 60-year-old mom of three grown children has written bestselling cookbooks and keeps busy with speaking engagements while also parlaying her knowledge in a successful entrepreneurship with her recently launched delicious no sugar, high protein muffins under the JOYLY brand name.
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Bauer began her career at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City as the clinical nutritionist with their neurosurgical team. She grew up outside New York City as a competitive gymnast and an admitted “huge jock,” drawn to every sport available.
“I had all these Olympic aspirations and I studied kinesiology at the University of Maryland, using it as a pre-med entrée,” Bauer explained to Woman’s World as our cover girl (Get your copy here!) Once she got her graduate degree in nutrition, “the light bulb went off; I had a passion for health…and I loved to eat.”
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Keeping that passion alive, Bauer has continued to keep busy with her nutritional journey. She feels sharing her health knowledge has helped her grow into a happier, calmer person. Woman’s World asked Joy Bauer for her best tips—here’s what she had to say!
Joy Bauer tip 1: Prioritize sleep
“Sleep is critical to my overall health,” Bauer says. “Even though I’m innately a night owl and love to stay up, it’s not my norm. I really make an effort to get seven hours of sleep a night.”
“One of the best things I ever did — which was lifesaving for me — was that I no longer keep my phone charging next to my bed. What I do when I brush my teeth and wash my face, I charge my phone and put the ‘do not disturb’ on and keep it in my bathroom. I started doing that over COVID and it changed my life.”
Joy Bauer tip 2: Ward off stress
“One way I combat stress is that I eat healthy,” Bauer says. “It levels out my blood sugar and I’m more even-keeled.
“Number two is that I exercise, and as we know, that’s an automatic mood booster but it also makes me feel more zen. My choice is walking and it really allows me to organize and put things into perspective in my head and to reinforce my game plan for the day.”
“The third thing is I’m a huge to-do list maker. When I have things down on paper, it always feels more manageable and less overwhelming. The best part of that piece of paper is crossing things off and sometimes if I accomplish something and I go to that piece of paper and I had forgotten to put it on – I will then write it down just so I can cross it off.”
“And every afternoon I have a cup of chamomile tea; it’s one of the best documented medicinal plants and it really does have this property to make us feel less fragile, to make us relax, plus ease muscle tension. I don’t only drink chamomile tea, but I use chamomile in what I call my calming cookies. They really help me relax.”
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Joy Bauer tip 3: Focus on superfoods
“My superfoods are beans, oats, dates and spinach but there are so many others,” Bauer smiles. “What I’m loving right now is quinoa, which is really great for stabilizing your blood sugar. It’s naturally gluten free and has B vitamins.
“Another new super food I’m loving now is cabbage which is part of the cruciferous vegetable family. So it’s coleslaw season now cause it’s summer and that makes me very happy. Avocado oil is like the new kid on the block. It has pretty much identical properties and breaks down as extra virgin olive oil does, so all of the goodness we know about extra virgin olive oil stands true for avocado oil as well. So if you’re looking for a neutral flavor and not that olive flavor in cooking or baking, that’s when avocado oil is good.”
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For more of Joy’s candid and informative interview, pick up the newest issue of Woman’s World at your local grocery store or buy it online here!
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