Physician-Chef-Dietitian Partnerships for Evidence-Based Dietary Approaches to Tackling Chronic Disease: The Case for Culinary Medicine in Teaching Kitchens

Abstract

Since the middle of the 20th century, the American food environment has become increasingly ultra-processed. As a result, the prevalence of chronic, diet-related disease in the United States has skyrocketed. Meanwhile, physicians are still poorly trained in nutrition. A recent innovation that aims to address this is "culinary medicine" programming taught by teams of physicians, chefs, and registered dietitian nutritionists. Culinary medicine is an evidence-based, interprofessional field of medicine that combines culinary arts, nutrition science, and medical education to prevent and treat diet-related disease. It employs hands-on learning through healthy cooking and is typically taught in a teaching kitchen, either in-person or virtually. It can be dosed either as a patient care intervention or as experiential nutrition education for students, medical trainees, and healthcare professionals. Culinary medicine programs are effective, financially feasible, and well-received. As a result, healthcare systems and medical education programs are increasingly incorporating culinary medicine, teaching kitchens, and interprofessional nutrition education into their patient care and training models.

Culinary Medicine: Needs and Strategies for Incorporating Nutrition into Medical Education in the United States

“…Strategies to reduce required resources have been documented, including adopting existing curricula like Health meets Food , 15 offering pre-recorded lectures and virtual hands-on experiences in a student's home kitchen, 37 , 48 and incorporating an interprofessional team with emphasis on the inclusion of registered dietitian nutritionists. 49 , 50…”

Culinary Medicine or Culinary Nutrition? Defining Terms for Use in Education and Practice

“…There is new emphasis for competent medical professionals to design and deliver health-related culinary interventions facilitated independently or in collaboration with culinary and/or nutrition experts [ 14 ]. Teaching kitchens and cooking classes also have a history of use, to varying degrees, in educating health and medical students on nutrition-related curriculum [ 15 , 16 ].…”

The Role of Agricultural Systems in Teaching Kitchens: An Integrative Review and Thoughts for the Future

“…One major contributing factor to this phenomenon is the high prevalence of UPFs in industrialized countries. UPFs–which are high in salt, oil, and sugar, and low in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients–are widely available from the supermarket to hospitals and now make up 73% of the US food supply [ 32 , 33 ]. Epidemiological studies have documented significant associations between greater UPF consumption and diseases such as obesity, heart disease, type two diabetes mellitus, cancer, and depression [ 33 ].…”

“…Chefs are instrumental in the FIM movement and especially TKs. Given that taste is a key determinant of food choice, chefs can help translate nutritional knowledge into practical and appealing culinary creations, ensuring that therapeutic foods are not only healthy but also enjoyable [ 32 , 91 ]. Applying nutrition principles to food preparation transforms learning into a delicious, nutritious experience that allows people to see, feel, and taste what nutrition is all about [ 92 , 93 ].…”