Intro to Culinary Medicine
Given my obsession extreme interest in nutrition and how we can improve our lives and health through the food we eat, I’ve embarked on a new journey this year, working on my Master of Science in Integrative Nutrition degree. I’ll be sharing some of the things I’m working on in class that I think would benefit others. This post is on the new and emerging field of Culinary Medicine, which I think has a ton of promise in helping people learn how to eat for optimal wellness. This YouTube video, in particular, was a great intro culinary medicine and what’s being done today at Harvard Medical School:
Harvard Medical School. (2018). What to eat: the emerging field of culinary medicine. [Video]. YouTube. URL: https://youtu.be/dEpdVGIgBJE
Enjoy!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 90% of US healthcare spending is attributable to patients with chronic conditions, with many of those conditions preventable or treatable through diet and nutrition (CDC, 2023). In fact, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that over half of Americans have at least one diet-related chronic condition (USDA, 2020). With over half of Americans living with a diet-related chronic condition and driving 90% of our healthcare spending, there’s a need to help Americans learn about nutrition and how they can make improvements in their diet to treat current conditions and prevent additional chronic conditions. While physicians are in a position to help do this, most do not receive enough training to feel comfortable providing lifestyle and diet advice to patients (La Puma, 2016). The Association of American Medical Colleges requires medical schools to provide students with 25 hours of nutrition education, however, only about a quarter of US medical schools meet that requirement, leaving many physicians unprepared to counsel patients on diet and nutrition (Blunt, 2019).
There’s a relatively new and emerging field called culinary medicine, which is aimed at addressing this gap in our healthcare system. Culinary medicine helps patients treat and prevent disease through their diet (La Puma, 2016). Culinary medicine aims to help patients understand what they should eat for their condition and for their general wellbeing, beyond just looking at specific nutrients or following a specific way of eating. Culinary medicine helps teach patients about food, how their body uses the food they eat, and how to prepare meals that will improve their wellbeing (La Puma, 2016). There is recognition in the field that food is a cultural experience, and as such, there’s a need to help people understand how to maintain their cultural connection while also improving their health through their diet (La Puma, 2016).
Medical schools are slowly beginning to integrate culinary medicine courses and concepts into their curriculum, with at least 10 medical schools in the US offering culinary medicine courses (La Puma, 2016). Culinary medicine is driven by physicians, but is a discipline in which physicians can work together with chefs, personal trainers, dieticians, and even farmers to teach patients how they can use their diet to positively impact their health in a sustainable way. An increase in the availability of ultra-processed foods and eating away from home has led to increased calorie consumption, and a move back to cooking at home more can lead to improvements in diet quality and quantity, though patients need help learning how to easily prepare meals at home and overcome barriers like time and knowledge (Harvard Medical School, 2018). This is precisely where culinary medicine can be beneficial and begin to address the increased healthcare costs associated with diet-related chronic disease, in collaboration with conventional and alternative medicine.
I see myself using culinary medicine in my own practice in the future through helping people learn how to grocery shop and cook meals that they enjoy and are nutritious. I have often found that people think eating healthy has to mean buying only organic food and spending hours in the kitchen, which is not the only way. There are ways to prepare healthy meals that are quick, easy, and delicious. Since Eric is a trained chef, I see us collaborating in my own practice to help develop recipes and guidelines for how to cook delicious and nutritious foods that meet the needs of different populations (hint, more to come here very soon!). I am also very focused on how to help people learn how to cook healthy foods in a sustainable way that they can continue to follow even without my help and assistance. It’s great to give people specific recipes to show them how to cook healthy meals, but even better to teach people how to come up with their own recipes and learn to enjoy cooking, because they’ll need these skills for the rest of their lives.
References
Blunt, S. B., & Kafatos, A. (2019). Clinical Nutrition Education of Doctors and Medical Students: Solving the Catch 22. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 10(2), 345–350. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmy082
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, March 23). Health and economic costs of chronic diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm
Dietary guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 - executive summary in English. (n.d.). https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/DGA_2020-2025_ExecutiveSummary_English.pdf
Harvard Medical School. (2018). What to eat: the emerging field of culinary medicine. [Video]. YouTube. URL: https://youtu.be/dEpdVGIgBJE
La Puma, J. (2016). What is culinary medicine and what does it do? Population Health Management, 19(1), 1–3. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/pop.2015.0003
