From Flares to Freedom: Chef Laura Rodriguez’s Realistic Guide to Flare-Free Cooking

“Nothing tastes as good as flare-free feels.” – Chef Laura Rodriguez

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by restrictive diets or frustrated by confusing health advice, this story is for you. In the latest episode of The Invisible Strength Podcast, we sat down with chef, homesteader, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) warrior Laura Rodriguez.

She shared her powerful journey. She went from struggling to lift a cooler at work to walking barefoot in her garden again.

Laura’s mission? Making anti-inflammatory eating actually doable—no perfection required.

A Diagnosis That Changed Everything

Back in 2015, Laura was an executive chef preparing healing meals for cancer patients. Ironically, she was silently battling her own health crisis.

“I couldn’t even lift food trays into cooler bags,” she recalls. “I was eventually diagnosed with RA and told there was ‘nothing I could do’ except take a prescription and wait.”

But Laura knew better. She dove into nutrition research, reading every book she could find on inflammation and healing through food. What she discovered changed everything.

Food as Medicine—Without the Overwhelm

Laura didn’t just talk the talk. She walked the painfully slow walk of eliminating common inflammatory triggers.

These include gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, soy, and peanuts. But rather than going cold turkey, she developed a compassionate, sustainable method to help others make real change without burnout.

Enter: The EPIC Method

Embrace a healing mindset
Peacefully transition away from current habits
Identify your personal food triggers
Calculate your “flare-free math” so you can live (yes, even enjoy fries and Italian beef now and then!)

The Sheet Pan Strategy That Saved Her

During one of her rock-bottom flares—caused by a toxic mix of mold exposure and long hours as a private chef—Laura could barely stand, let alone cook.

That’s when she discovered her now-famous sheet pan method.

“I didn’t have the capacity to cook three times a day,” she says. “So I spread everything out on sheet pans, cooked in the broiler, and prepped two to three days of meals in one go.”

The results? In just 10 days of consistent flare-free eating, Laura was barefoot in her garden again.

Real Food for Real Life (Not the AIP Extremes)

Unlike rigid elimination diets, Laura focuses on “food chaining”—incremental swaps that allow your taste buds and nervous system to come along for the ride. Think:

From white sandwich bread → organic wheat → gluten-free grain bread
From soda → prebiotic poppy → stevia-sweetened Zevia
From cheese singles → organic cheddar → soy-free vegan cheese

It’s not about deprivation—it’s about transformation without trauma.

Budget-Friendly & Accessible

You don’t need Whole Foods to eat better. Laura shops at Food Lion and makes sheet pan meals with pre-chopped veggies to save time and energy. For those in food deserts or with tight budgets, she suggests starting simple:

Soak non-organic produce in baking soda + water to reduce pesticides
Buy from Misfits Market or Imperfect Foods to save money on quality ingredients
Focus on cooking at home—even the most basic meal at home is likely less inflammatory than restaurant fare

What If You’re on Medication?

If you’re symptom-free because of meds, you might not feel immediate feedback from food. But for many (like Laura), meds weren’t enough. Dozens of her students have been able to reduce or eliminate medications entirely by adopting a flare-free lifestyle.

Healing Is Possible—And It Tastes Good Too

Whether you’re managing autoimmune disease, caring for a chronically ill loved one, or just feeling stuck in a food rut, Laura’s message is clear: “You’re not weak—it’s just that nobody taught you the right way to begin.”

Ready to Get Started?

🎁 Grab Laura’s free gift to the Invisible Strength community:
👉 The Autoimmune Foodies Survival Guide – includes top anti-inflammatory swaps, simple instructions, and store-specific shopping tips (Walmart, Aldi, Target & more).

🧠 Pro tip: Bookmark it. You’ll want to return again and again.

Final Word

Healing doesn’t start with a massive overhaul. It starts with a better grilled cheese. A little less soda. One new pantry staple.

And according to Laura Rodriguez, those small shifts add up to something big: your life back.

Dance on, friends,
Karin

Disclaimer: These tools do not replace the advice of a health care professional; if you have concerns about your health, please consult a health care professional.