Spend a few minutes with Dr. Joey Shulman and you may get the urge to toss out all the junk food lurking in your
cupboards. At 34, the Toronto-based nutrition expert glows with health and vitality. In fact, she’s the best endorsement for her latest book, The Natural Makeover Diet, which has been enjoying strong sales since its release earlier this year by John Wiley & Sons Canada.

“It’s a four-step program to achieve inner health and outer beauty,” says Shulman, who decided to write the book after hearing her clients complain of such problems as weight gain, bloating, low energy, and poor digestion. While The Natural Makeover Diet is aimed primarily at a female audience, Shulman says men can follow the plan, too. The four steps include internal cleansing to restore intestinal health; nourishment through her “pick three” system of eating; moisturizing via nutritional supplements; and maintenance. And the results? Shulman promises benefits such as clearer skin, weight loss, and higher energy, often in as little as two weeks. “It’s my goal to make readers ‘get’ nutrition,” she says. “Once you do that, you don’t need me anymore.”

Although nutrition was a passion for Shulman from an early age, she tried a few other careers first. After a brief turn as a model with the Elmer Olsen agency – “I was horrible, the worst ever” – she enrolled in the psychology program at Concordia University. After graduating with honours, she studied at Toronto’s Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, receiving her chiropractic degree in 1999. “The moment I graduated, I said, I want to be in nutrition,” says Shulman, who then obtained her designation as a registered nutritional consulting practitioner (RNCP), finally opening her own practice in Oakville in 2000.

Shulman can only describe what happened next as “serendipitous.” On a drive home from work one day, she was listening to a program on Toronto’s CFRB radio station where the topic of discussion was nutrition. On a lark, she called in to make a comment. So impressed was the host, Randy Taylor, that he invited her back as a guest. It was a fortuitous event in more ways than one. Not only did it lead to a five-year on-air stint as a nutrition expert – she also ended up marrying Taylor. And now he is contributing to her projects; the new book comes with a selection of recipes, all created by Taylor (who also happens to be a trained gourmet chef).

Shulman soon started doing television appearances as well, including one on CityTV’s Breakfast Television, where she met a woman who worked for Wiley. At the time, Shulman was toying with the idea of writing a book, so she decided to send a query letter to Wiley. “I read The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published – I had no idea,” she says.

Thanks to that proposal, her first book, Winning the Food Fight, was published in 2003. The book aimed to educate parents on the role of nutrition in pediatric health, arming them with guidelines on how to persuade kids to eat better. Although Wiley’s vice-president and publisher Jennifer Smith describes its performance as “respectable,” she says The Natural Makeover Diet has “wildly exceeded” expectations. “We’re only four months in and at our third printing – that will take us to 25,000 copies in print, which is a pretty darn good number,” says Smith. “Seeing as we publish a number of very successful books, it’s amazing that this book has risen to the top of the heap. It’s nice to hit a home run every once in a while.”

Smith attributes much of the book’s success to Shulman’s media savvy. “Every time Joey does media, it’s amazing to watch the spike in sales. About three weeks ago, she did media in western Canada and when I looked at her sales they doubled from the prior week. It’s incredible to see the power of media coverage for a book like this.”

To promote the book, Wiley partnered with supplement company Genuine Health, for which Shulman is also a spokesperson, to conduct a national media tour that has included radio and speaking engagements. The company also hired an external public relations agency with contacts in the magazine industry. In January, Shulman met face-to-face with beauty editors, which resulted in coverage in FASHION, Flare, Canadian Living, and other magazines.

According to Smith, sales of The Natural Makeover Diet show “no signs of slowing down,” and she is in talks with Shulman about a third book. Both, however, are tight-lipped about its subject and release date.

In the meantime, Shulman, who is also the mother of an 18-month-old son, will remain as busy as ever. In addition to her writing, she also serves as vice-president of Truestar Health, an online health site, and as head nutritionist for Sweetpea Baby Food. But busy as she is, she wouldn’t have it any other way. “Whatever your passion is, you have to follow it,” she says. “I would do this for free.”