Zest: The Health meets Food Newsletter
February 2025
Zest. It says a lot about what the folks who are involved with Culinary Medicine are about. People connected with the Culinary Medicine movement have just that: a zest for life, learning, and teaching. Zest evokes the excitement and passion that is happening at the intersection of where health meets food.
Health meets Food Curriculum Update
The Health meets Food Curriculum Committee is pleased to announce further updates to the courseware. This is part of the ongoing effort to revise at least one professional module per month.
The Adult Beginner Community Series — both the 6 lesson beginner and 6 lesson intermediate have been updated and are available online now.
In addition the Healthcare Professional programming has been updated with recent additions of:
Module 5 – Protein and Vegetarian Diet
Module 6 – Sodium, Potassium, Hypertension and Renal Diet
Module 7 – Carbohydrates and Diabetes Diet
This represents a complete refresh of the core programming — Modules 1 through 7.
In addition the Sports Nutrition module has been revised and one of the most important, Billing and Coding for Lifestyle Medicine.
This represents over 15 modules revised for the professional programming in the last 15 months along with the complete revision of the community courseware. Dr. Katie Balaram and the committee have been doing an amazing job.
Committee Members
| Aimee Shea, MPH, RDM, CCMS, LD Amy Pinkham, MS, RDN, LDN, CCMS Barabara Schultz, RN, BSN, CCMS Francisco Zayas, MD, CCMS Heather Nace, RD, LDN, CCMS Jennifer Hronkin, MD Jennifer Paisley, MD, FAAP, Dipl ABOM Karolyn Ryan, PA-C Kathryn Balaram, DNP, MPH, RN, CCMS Kerri Dotson, MPA, RD, LPN, CCMS Leah Sarris, MBA, RD, LPN, CCMS |
Linda Garrow, MS, PhD, CCMS Margaret Smith, MD, MPH, MHSA, CCMS Mary Opfer, MS, RDN, CDN Max Goldstein, MS, RDN, CCMS Monica Brandau DO, MPH Shipra Bansal, MD, dABLM Sonali Iyler, MD, FACP Timothy S. Harlan, MD, CCMS Traci Stevenson, DO, IFMCP, CCMS, Dip ABFM Virginia Defi, MS, FNP, CCMS |
Health meets Food Culinary Medicine Research Library
The Clinical Practice Committee has continued to work on a Culinary Medicine Research Library and this month is the first of our curated articles. These are selected from a monthly search undertaken by students at the GWU Culinary Medicine Interest Group with leadership of the project recently taken over by Kaylee Fisher and Jeni Zhang from last year’s team 0f Hanna Harris, AJ Hora and Trinity Rico.
You can find the library at this link: https://culinarymedicine.org/research-2/culinary-medicine-research-library/
If you are interested in synchronizing the database to your desktop version of Zotero, complete the form on the library page.
| Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: The importance of physical activity and nutrition education-A randomized controlled study | Us Altay, D., Kaya, Y., Mataraci Değirmenci, D., Kocyiğit, E., Üner, A., & Noyan, T. (2024). Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: The importance of physical activity and nutrition education-A randomized controlled study. Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology, 39(12), 2723–2734. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgh.16756 |
| A network meta-analysis of the comparative efficacy of different dietary approaches on glycaemic control and weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and overweight or obesity | Yuan, Y., Chen, C., Liu, Q., Luo, Y., Yang, Z., Lin, Y., Sun, L., & Fan, G. (2024). A network meta-analysis of the comparative efficacy of different dietary approaches on glycaemic control and weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and overweight or obesity. Food & function, 15(24), 11961–11974. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4fo00337c |
| Effects of Mediterranean diet during pregnancy on the onset of overweight or obesity in the offspring: a randomized trial | Coppola, S., Paparo, L., Bedogni, G., Nocerino, R., Costabile, D., Cuomo, M., Chiariotti, L., Carucci, L., Agangi, A., Napolitano, M., Messina, F., Passariello, A., & Berni Canani, R. (2025). Effects of Mediterranean diet during pregnancy on the onset of overweight or obesity in the offspring: a randomized trial. International journal of obesity (2005), 49(1), 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-024-01626-z |
| The relationships among food neophobia, mediterranean diet adherence, and eating disorder risk among university students: a cross-sectional study. | Ozkan, N., & Gul, F. H. (2025). The relationships among food neophobia, mediterranean diet adherence, and eating disorder risk among university students: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Health, Population & Nutrition, 44(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-00735-3 |
| Mediterranean Diet and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review | Camprodon-Boadas, P., Gil-Dominguez, A., De la Serna, E., Sugranyes, G., Lázaro, I., & Baeza, I. (2025). Mediterranean Diet and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Nutrition reviews, 83(2), e343–e355. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuae053 |
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Want to learn about the impact of gut serotonin on irritable bowel syndrome, the MIND diet, advanced glycation end products, or understanding obesity bias? How about hours of culinary skills building sessions?
The American College of Culinary Medicine is pleased to announce updates to our YouTube channel, with these topics and many more.
Find the newly refreshed programming here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ACCM-HmF
Be sure to click on the Subscribe button to be updated as new videos and programming are added to the channel.
Currently viewers have access to recordings from past years’ Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference, spanning from 2017 through 2022. (Sorry, CME is no longer available for these recordings.)
More videos will be added in the coming months, including those from conferences and our Culinary Medicine Roundtables.
As the year progresses, look for additional video offerings, including tips, culinary skills demonstrations, and Webinars focused on the ACCM mission of providing medical professionals, food service professionals, students, patients, and community members with hands-on culinary training and lifestyle lessons using an evidence-based approach that aligns with current medical literature.
Hands-on Culinary Medicine Continuing Medical Education in Denver, CO
Join us in Denver CO for a weekend of Culinary Medicine CME classes March 21st and 22nd! We will dive into various topics during our upcoming in-person hands-on cooking classes including Introduction to Culinary Medicine, Carbohydrate and Diabetes, and Sports Nutrition.
You will hone your knife skills, gain confidence in putting culinary medicine principles into practice while collaborating with other health professionals in an interdisciplinary setting, all while preparing delicious recipes! Earn up to 4.25 CME credit hours per module!
Register for Introduction to Culinary Medicine
Register for Carbohydrates and Diabetes Diet
Register Now for Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference!
The 2024 Culinary Medicine conference was amazingly successful and we are looking forward to a great conference in 2025. The Health meets Food team is delighted to announce that we will be returning to our roots – in New Orleans! There will be an online streaming option using a virtual conference platform.
The conference will be held at Delgado Community College: 615 City Park Avenue, New Orleans, LA.
FRIDAY: REBOOT OF FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
Friday programming will focus on the Food Safety and explore the fundamental information around safety of food in the supply chain, diagnosing and treating foodborne illness, and contaminants in our food.
SATURDAY: CHALLENGES IN CULINARY MEDICINE
Saturday programming will explore the intersection of women’s health, food, and nutrition. Topics will include an exploration of the role of women in nutrition research as well as nutrition and PCOS and nutrition and menopause.
During this year’s culinary skills building sessions, we will explore the challenges our vulnerable patients face with cooking great healthy food using a variety of pre-selected ingredients. Teams will create and share recipes with other conference participants in the afternoon sessions.
SUNDAY: LOOKING TO THE HORIZON – FOOD FOR THOUGHT
What are the current issues and impact of nutrition in the food supply chain and how is this affecting our planet?
Register for the Conference Now!
Conference Host Hotel
Our host hotel will be the International House Hotel. Located in the heart of downtown New Orleans, the International House is a boutique hotel and joyful tribute to New Orleans today – an ensemble of historic architecture, colorful characters, cheerful culture, signature food and local music unlike any other city in America.
We have secured a reduced rate for registration starting at $129.00 per night – rooms are limited so book your room now. Call Toll Free 855.974.6835 or
If that room block is filled as we are getting very close to being fully booked at the International House, you can book at a similar rate at The Old No. 77 hotel. This hotel is about 1 1/2 blocks away and will be easy to access the shuttles to the conference venue, Delgado Community College. Use this link to book:
Culinary Medicine Conference 2025 @ The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery
Guests can also call and reference the “Culinary Medicine Conference 2025” rate with our reservations team at 504-302-0017
The link provided defaults to an arrival on June 5th and departure on June 9th. Guests can navigate to the link and adjust the stay dates for arrival as early as June 1st and as late as June 10th and book a stay for as many nights as they’d like.
Featured Speaker
Stacy Dean
Carbonell Family Executive Director
As Executive Director, Dean champions the institute’s mission to change the world through the power of food. She is a renowned national food policy leader with more than 30 years of experience in the government and non-profit sectors, dedicated to improving nutrition assistance for struggling Americans and tackling barriers ingrained within nutrition programs. Her distinguished career includes her most recent role as the Deputy Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, where she led the Administration’s work on federal nutrition programs. In this role, Dean was instrumental in strengthening the agency’s efforts on food and nutrition security as well as local food systems and resilience.
Prior to her role at USDA, Dean served as the Vice President for Food Assistance Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where she led their research and advocacy work on federal nutrition programs as well as other safety net programs. She has authored scores of papers and analyses on federal nutrition programs, testified before Congress and has been frequently quoted in the media, including the NYTimes, Politico and other publications.
Stacy holds a Master’s in Public Policy and a BA from the University of Michigan.
Register for the Conference Now!
2025 Poster Session at Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference
For 2025 we are delighted to be able to gather for The Culinary Medicine Conference Poster Session. Posters can be submitted now, and will be reviewed by the Poster Committee, with final decisions made in April with notification by May 1.
You can find previous posters and abstracts at this link: https://culinarymedicine.org/research-2/
Nancy Kistler Scholarship
The American Academy of Culinary Medicine is pleased to announce the establishment of the Nancy Kistler Scholarship.
When the ACCM launched the Certified Culinary Medicine Professional Course, Chef Kistler was the first participant to enroll. This scholarship honors the life and legacy of Chef Nancy Kistler, commemorating Chef Kistler’s passion for great food and her understanding of the complex relationship of food and health. As an educator with an intellectual curiosity and desire to learn, she valued evidence-based information and demanded excellence from herself and her students. This scholarship will be awarded to a like-minded female chef educator.
Aims: The primary aim of this scholarship is to offer financial support to a current female culinary educator of future culinarians in obtaining the Certified Culinary Medicine Professional designation.
Learn More and Apply Now! Donate to the Scholarship Fund
ACCM Advisory Board Member Spotlight
Max Goldstein, RD, CCMS
Profession: Chef-Registered Dietitian
Yale New Haven Health Teaching Kitchen | North Haven, CT
Max Goldstein is a Chef and Registered Dietitian working at the Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen at Yale New Haven Health.
Max earned his Associate of Culinary Arts and Bachelor of Culinary Nutrition from Johnson & Wales University and completed his Master of Science and Dietetic Internship at Saint Elizabeth University. He is also a Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist.
As a Registered Dietitian and chef, Max has always been interested in combining nutrition and culinary principles to help patients reach their health goals. He has been teaching culinary medicine cooking classes since 2018. During the Covid-19 pandemic he transitioned to teaching cooking classes virtually with the Health meets Food team, helping people continue their healthy habits from their own homes.
Max started at the YNHH Teaching Kitchen in 2023, where he helps patients, providers, and trainees learn valuable culinary and nutrition skills through crafting delicious and nutritious food.
Max completed the ACCM Food Lover’s Questionnaire
What is your favorite ingredient?
Garlic
What is your least favorite ingredient?
Coconut
What turns you on creatively?
Sharing ideas, recipes, and experiences with other food lovers
What turns you off?
Food shamers
What is your favorite recipe or meal?
My favorite meal is my Christmas morning tradition: a spread of bagels, lox, cream cheese, whitefish salad, pickled herring, capers, and caviar
What culinary flavor or aroma do you love?
The smell of freshly baked bread
What culinary flavor or aroma do you hate?
The taste of matcha
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Architect
What profession would you not like to do?
Any desk job that doesn’t require creativity
Julia Child invites you to a pot luck dinner with James Beard and Aguste Escoffier. What dish would you take?
An asparagus and gruyere tart drizzled with balsamic glaze
Featured Recipe: Curried Spaghetti Squash Salad with Shrimp
Spaghetti squash is so great. There are almost no calories and you can use it where you would any pasta. It is fantastic in salads like this and makes the perfect vehicle for almost any flavor – just as your favorite pasta does.
Using goat cheese with your composed salad in this way is super easy and adds a creaminess to the salad that is hard to get with ingredients like mayonnaise, yogurt, or sour cream. By putting the cheese in the bowl and letting the residual heat from your ingredients melt the cheese, you save the time and hassle of mixing up the dressing.
The ACCM website has thousands of recipes for you to try. Every recipe offers information on health benefits as well as potential allergies and are tagged to indicate whether they might be GERD friendly, gluten free, low sodium, safe for warfarin users, or those who are lactose intolerant. This combined with the ACCM Med Diet Score application gives you amazing tools to eat great food that just happens to be great for you.
Culinary Medicine Research and News
Mediterranean diet changes gut bacteria, boosting memory and cognition
A new study from the Tulane University School of Medicine suggests that the Mediterranean diet’s brain-boosting benefits may work by changing the balance of bacteria in the gut. Rebecca Solch-Ottaiano, a neurology research instructor at the Clinical Neuroscience Research Center, was the lead author of the study.
10 Ways to Eat Better
Dr. Nate Wood, the director of culinary medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, loves to cook and has prepared plenty of elaborate meals from scratch.
But his best advice for healthier eating is to use simple, packaged foods like frozen vegetables, canned beans, tinned fish and precooked whole grains to more easily prepare balanced meals at home.
FoodShare SC: 10 years fighting hunger in South Carolina
FoodShare SC addresses food insecurity with 27 local sites, fresh produce boxes, recipes, and a teaching kitchen for healthy cooking.
Blanchard Joins Terrebonne General Staff
Blanchard is also a certified culinary medicine specialist and a member of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners Drug Enforcement Administration. In her personal time, Blanchard enjoys cooking, fishing, reading, yoga, nutrition and fitness, and spending time with friends and family. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and can also speak French.
Upcoming Virtual Culinary Medicine Classes
The Health meets Food team has been offering virtual online hands-on Culinary Medicine programming for over 3 years. Participants use Zoom to gather, collaborate, cook together, and discuss case studies. Each module will follow the workflow of in-person programming and will take about 3 1/2 hours to complete.
For registration problems, questions, or for more event information, please contact Cecilia Hatfield at cecilia@culinarymedicine.org.
Module 7 – Carbohydrates & Diabetes: Sunday February 16, 2025 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 6 – Sodium, Potassium, and Hypertension: Friday March 7, 2025 4:00 pm – 7:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 1 – Introduction to Culinary Medicine: Saturday March 8, 2025 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 16 – Anti Inflammatory Diet: Saturday April 5, 2025 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 3 – Fats: April 6, 2025 Sunday 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 17 – IBS IBD GERD: Friday July 18, 2025 4:00 pm – 7:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 13 – Celiac Disease: Saturday August 16, 2025 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 8 – The Pediatric Diet: Saturday October 18, 2025 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 3 – Fats: Sunday October 19, 2025 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 16 – Anti Inflammatory Diet: Friday November 7, 2025 4:00 pm – 7:30 pm EST via Zoom
Module 7 – Carbohydrates & Diabetes: Saturday November 8, 2025 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST via Zoom
ACCM Med Diet Score Application
What’s Your Score?
What if there were an app that could tell you what your Mediterranean Diet Score was?
You can do that now with the ACCM Med Diet Score, our flagship desktop and mobile app, designed to help improve the quality of the calories you consume.
The Health meets Food courseware teaches you how to eat great food, and the basis for our style of eating is the nine points of a Mediterranean-style Diet:
1. More vegetables,
2. More legumes,
3. More fruits and nuts,
4. More whole grains,
5. Better quality oils and fats,
6. Less land animal protein,
7. More seafood,
8. Less dairy and more reduced-fat and fermented dairy, and
9. Alcohol only in moderation.
Healthy Recipes
Med Diet Score includes over 2,000 healthy recipes, from Breakfasts to Desserts, created and tested by the Health meets Food team.
Meal Planner
Use Med Diet Score to create 2-week meal plans for one person, families, or groups – including shopping lists. Save time and money by planning ahead!
Food Diary
Track foods consumed using data from one of the most complete nutritional databases available anywhere.
Exercise Diary
Track exercise with calories calculated automatically. Connect common wearable exercise trackers such as Apple Watch and Fitbit.
But it’s much more than a food and exercise diary and calorie tracker!
It’s called Med Diet Score because it tracks your overall Mediterranean Diet Score according to the nine principles of a Mediterranean-style diet.
The Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist (CCMS) Program
The Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist (CCMS) designation identifies clinicians who have a unique foundation for incorporating healthy eating into patients’ diets: comprehensive knowledge of nutrition and the culinary techniques to prepare food that is consistent with real-world budgets, time constraints, and nutritional ideals. Physicians, Physicians Assistants, Pharmacists, Registered Dietitians and Nurse Practitioners are eligible for certification.
The hybrid 60-credit curriculum includes a distinctive combination of online nutrition education courses, live conferences, and in-person attendance at hands-on teaching kitchen modules.By completing the program, clinicians will enhance their confidence and quality of care by learning how to:
- Integrate nutritional counseling to supplement pharmacological treatment
- Educate patients about weight loss and weight management
- Develop practical examination-room dialogues that inspire behavioral change
- Implement new strategies in even the busiest primary care offices
Apply for the CCMS Program Now!
Culinary Medicine Programming for Chefs and Foodservice Professionals
The Advisory Board and the Health meets Food team is excited to offer pioneering Culinary Medicine programming for chefs and foodservice professionals. The programming is a 20 module series and the courseware will be available for culinary schools as well as a certification program.
Chefs and foodservice professionals are perfectly positioned to play a central role in changing the way Americans eat. However, many chefs and foodservice professionals feel their nutrition education and ability to communicate practical, effective guidance to consumers as well as their skill to produce food that is healthy and delicious is lacking.
The Certified Culinary Medicine Professional (CCMP) program provides foodservice professional at any level with a unique combination of nutritional knowledge and improved healthy culinary skills so that they can effectively incorporate healthy options into menus to help consumers.
Through certification, foodservice professionals will enhance their knowledge, confidence, and skills by learning how to:
- Evaluate and apply the most rigorous current research to menu and recipe development.
- Enhance the quality of meals prepared.
- Improve the diet quality especially targeting diet-related chronic diseases
Featuring a hybrid 45-credit curriculum comprised of online education, live conference learning, and hands-on teaching kitchen modules, the CCMP program is designed for those passionate about integrating science-based nutrition research into their culinary skillset and will equip candidates with the nutritional knowledge and culinary skills to optimize health.
View the program’s hybrid curriculum and steps towards certification.
Culinary Medicine Roundtable – School Lunch Program
Watch the recording of the American College of Culinary Medicine Fall 2024 Culinary Medicine Roundtable.
Building on conversations started at the 2024 Health meets Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference, the ACCM convened experts in the field to offer further insight into the history, implementation, public health implications, and innovations in the school lunch program.
Free Food Security Continuing Medical Education Online
The Health meets Food team offers free continuing medical education programming focused on food security issues:
1. Food Security in Older Adults
2. SNAP and WIC
3. Food Banks and Medically Tailored Meals
This is a significant issue for many in our society and the courseware covers background as well as actionable information for healthcare professionals. All three of these modules are also available for use by partner sites using the Health meets Food courseware for healthcare professional students.
American College of Culinary Medicine Clothing and Swag
We are excited to announce the availability of Health meets Food clothing and swag. Great as a gift for yourself, family, friends and (even better) your Culinary Medicine colleagues.
Choose from baseball caps, t-shirts, polo shirts, embroidered aprons, mugs, and water bottles.
