The best place to launch a healthy lifestyle? Your kitchen

Because we all have to eat. When I saw the brochure for the Harvard Medical School Lifestyle Medicine conference, I was intrigued, and determined to attend. Why? Because how we live can either spur on or help prevent some of the biggest threats to health like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. The conference started with Culinary Health Education Fundamentals coaching. Its purpose is to teach providers like me how to teach patients about nutrition, and to help us identify and address barriers to eating healthy. Dr. Rani Polak, the Director of the Culinary Health Education Fundamentals (CHEF) Coaching Program at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, led these sessions. Dr. Polak is a physician and trained chef. He reviewed extensive research showing that home cooking is key to a healthy lifestyle. For example, studies show that the more meals people prepare at home, the more fruits and veggies they eat. But since the 1960s, people have been preparing food at home less often, and relying on fast food a lot more. Many people know they need to eat more healthfully, but don’t know where to start. They lack confidence and skills, and don’t think they have the time to prepare meals at home. If these are barriers to eating well, then doctors should be able to inform, motivate, and help patients make reasonable and practical goals for better eating. We need to help patients plan, shop for, and prepare healthy meals — and understand that they can d...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs