The Emerging Field of Culinary Medicine: Cooking is Medicine

Presented by: Robert Graham, MD, MPH, FACP, ABOIM, Chef

Culinary education is emerging in medical education. The majority of the nutritional content currently taught in medical education is related to biochemistry, not practical food-related knowledge and skills that may positively impact eating behaviors. This gap manifests in the attitudes of residents, fellows, and other practicing clinicians who lack confidence and knowledge to effectively prescribe nutrition. Culinary medicine programs are an effective way to bridge this gap, by addressing food-based knowledge and skills. Preliminary results from such programs have documented improvement in both the providers’ personal and professional nutrition related behaviors, including their perceived ability to advise patients with metabolic risk factors.

This presentation was recorded at the 2020 Integrative Healthcare Symposium Annual Conference.