May 23, 2024
Nutrition as Medicine: The Building Blocks of Health
What we eat is very important.
However, fast and ultra-processed foods are often the preferred choice in the United States.
Nutrition as Medicine
Food: Whether healthy or not, diet can impact an individual’s health, making nutrition an important part of today’s medical education and care.
Cooking: Combining healthy cooking with nutritional information and meal preparation skills is the secret to success at the United Nations University, where health and well-being are paramount.
Recipes: For healthier and more cost-effective options, skip the takeout and prepare a meal from scratch at home. Here are two tempting options.
Now, Dr. Steven Wengel, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at San Francisco City University, is collaborating with others to promote healthy eating through healthy cooking.
"How much we move and what we consume," Dr. Wengel said. "This program aims to provide a practical and enjoyable healthy cooking class for busy people."
Participants learn how to prepare healthy (and simple! No need to spend hours in the kitchen or use a long list of expensive ingredients) recipes. Previous sessions have focused on preparing Minnesota wild rice soup, lemon chicken, and turkey and black bean chili.
"There is increasing research on the negative impact of 'ultra-processed foods' on our health," Dr. Wengel said. "One antidote is cooking at home with healthy ingredients."
Dr. Wengel, an elderly psychiatrist, mentioned that there is growing evidence suggesting lifestyle factors may influence and help prevent diseases like dementia. He said, "We are seeing more and more that lifestyle factors—such as how much you move and what you eat—are important."
Additionally, he noted reports indicating that certain mental health conditions—such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and severe depression—are linked to gut microbiome disturbances. "We don’t know if it’s a causal relationship," Dr. Wengel said. "But in some preliminary studies, the microbiome of people with depression or OCD seems different. Can we influence it through diet? We don’t know, but perhaps."
He concluded with one thing we do know: "There are no downsides to a healthy diet."