Culinary medicine blends the art of cooking with the science of medicine.

 

Culinary Medicine is the utilization of nutrition and culinary knowledge to help patients achieve and maintain optimal health.  It embraces a food-first approach to help patients adopt and maintain a healthier lifestyle. The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University is the nation’s first dedicated teaching kitchen to be implemented at a medical school. The Center’s programs provide primary care clinicians with a knowledgebase of diet, lifestyle, and nutrition, and how they relate to disease. 

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Reference:  www.culinarymedicinecertified.com/what-culinary-medicine

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We know more than ever that the nation’s leading medical problems are largely influenced by lifestyle choices.  This includes well known risks like smoking, obesity, and excessive alcohol consumption, as well as common everyday choices like what we put in our mouths.   The availability and convenience high calorie, nutrient poor foods, has made it very difficult for many Americans to divorce themselves from food choices that contribute to poor health.  High salt, high fat, high carb food addiction is a real challenge for many people, and has permeated our culture for decades.  The disease impact has been immense, but from this failed experiment there has been an epiphany:  Food can be your medicine. 

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Now more than ever, science and good medicine have proven how we can take or health back - nourish your body with right nutrients.   Not surprisingly most these nutrients are readily available and affordable in their natural states as they were born – whole foods.  These are plant or animal foods that have been processed or refined as little as possible and are free from additives or artificial substances.  Why is this important?  Because when you process food, you remove the natural fiber, water, and nutrients that yield the most healthful benefits. 

 

The concept is simple, but changing years of bad habits, and implementing it into our busy lives can be a great challenge.  Culinary Medicine helps patients overcome their personal boundaries, using food as much as possible to control and prevent disease.    

 

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