Candice Kumai

Candice Kumai, a professionally trained chef, health journalist, and 4x best-selling author, was born and raised by a Japanese mother and a Polish-American father in San Diego, CA. At age 22, following her true passion for food and wellness, she received her professional culinary training from Le Cordon Bleu California School of Culinary Arts and cooked on the line in several California-based restaurants. Candice was the youngest chef to compete on Bravo's inaugural season of Top Chef at age 23. She began writing for national magazines at age 24, and at age 26, her first cookbook endeavor, Cook Yourself Thin, was a New York Times #1 bestseller. By the age of 29, as a major influencer, Candice became a regular judge on Iron Chef America and had written/developed recipes for numerous best-selling books; including Cook Yourself Thin, The Skinny Bitch Cookbook, Recipe Rehab, Novak Djokovic's Serve to Win, and The Bikini Body Diet.

In addition to contributing regularly on E! News and Access Hollywood Live, by the age of 29, Candice was also featured on The Today Show, CBS Early Show, GMA, The Doctors, Dr. Oz, The Talk, Extra, Cooking Channel, PBS Simply Ming, Food Network, Top Chef, Iron Chef and Beat Bobby Flay. She is the former Food Editor-At-Large at Shape and Men's Fitness. She is the Resident Culinary Adviser at Clean Eating magazine. Candice's newest cookbook, Clean Green Eats, is published by HarperWave, a division of HarperCollins.

Her current cookbooks include Cook Yourself Thin, Pretty Delicious, Cook Yourself Sexy, and Clean Green Drinks. Her charitable contributions include work with Health Corps, The James Beard Foundation, 1,000 Days, The Chef's Garden, The Japan Society, The White House Initiative for AAPI, Wellness in the Schools (WITS), and The US-Japan Council. Candice is featured in and contributes as a health journalist to dozens of food, health, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle publications. She writes for Men's Health, Women's Health, Prevention, People, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Men's Fitness, and Clean Eating. She is a former fashion model and is currently in love with avocados, coconut, and her cat, Sisi. She lives in New York City.