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Chef Says Diet, Food Helped Get Him Into Remission

DENVER (CBS4) - Daniel Witherspoon has been a chef for the last 40 years. Since 2011, he has been the owner and executive chef of a cooking school in Denver, The Seasoned Chef.

"I love teaching, it just fits me like a glove."

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He says he shows his students how to take control of their kitchen and their nutrition.

"Hey, cook like a chef. Make the different components and then mix and match them to your own desires. Don't follow a recipe and just do what it says, think about what you're eating."

In August of 2016, Daniel's bloodwork revealed he was sick.

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Daniel Witherspoon (credit: CBS)

"And [the doctor] says, 'You have a rare blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma and it's in 80% of your bone marrow.'"

Through a mix of treatments, including a stem cell transplant using his own stem cells, Daniel is in remission.

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"Right now I'm not taking any medicines, I am completely off everything."

He partially credits food and his diet with helping keep his energy up and his cancer under control.

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"The nurse practitioner looked me right in the eye last time and said, 'I think your blood work is better than mine.' So here I am now, still doing what I'm doing."

That includes a new cookbook, Mix Match Make Take, to continue to help teach others to take control of their nutrition.

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"Conscience cuisine means being aware of what you are buying, being aware of what you're cooking and being aware of what you are putting in your body. That doesn't mean that I'm telling you never to have a bowl of ice cream again, but know that's what you're doing."

LINKS: The Seasoned Chef | Mix Match Make Take Cookbook

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