Alex Jamieson

Cooking career

Although she originally planned a career in advertising, Jamieson attended cooking school after becoming intrigued with the idea of affecting health through diet.

Jamieson graduated from New York City’s Natural Gourmet Cookery School, and began cooking professionally in Milan, Italy. Working under Chef Mohamed Tourkey, she expanded her skills creating regional, vegan, macrobiotic and seasonal organic menus. She worked with clients who required specialized food planning due to cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, infertility and food allergies.

Returning to New York City in 2001, she worked as the pastry chef at Other Foods, an upscale organic restaurant. In 2002, she worked as a vegetarian chef at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, cooking food for children with life-threatening illnesses.

In addition to The Great American Detox Diet, Jamieson has authored Living Vegan for Dummies and Vegan Cooking for Dummies, both in the For Dummies instructional book series.

Personal life

Jamieson is the ex-wife of documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer and screenwriter Morgan Spurlock. They were married in 2006 and have a son, Laken James Spurlock, born on December 9, 2006. His birth is depicted in Spurlock's documentary Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, which Spurlock dedicated to Laken. The couple divorced in 2011.

Jamieson was originally a vegan. She has said she became a vegan due to battles with sugar addiction, fatigue, migraines, and candidiasis. In a 2011 interview, she said that diet is an individual choice and should be free of judgment, adding that while she was a vegan, she supported clients who were not vegan, and as an omnivore, she supports those who choose to follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. Although she began her business as a vegan chef, and was introduced as such in Super Size Me, she announced on her website in February 2013 that she was no longer following a vegan diet. Jamieson admitted she had been craving and eating animal products for several years, but had kept it secret because of confusion and guilt. She maintains her holistic health counseling business and says she is "passionately devoted to helping as many people reach their ultimate health as I can."

Media appearances

In addition to being featured in Super Size Me, Jamieson appeared in the first episode of Spurlock's television program 30 Days in which the pair lived on minimum wage for 30 days. Jamieson has appeared on television shows, including Oprah, The Final Word, and The National Health Test with Bryant Gumbel.