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On this episode, Ragnar speaks with Dr. Timothy Harlan, an internationally recognized leader in the field of Culinary Medicine – the practice of using food as medicine to improve health and prevent disease. Known as Dr. Gourmet, Dr. Harlan shares his transformative journey from the kitchen to the clinic, emphasizing how food is the most powerful tool we have for health and well-being. Learn about culinary medicine and how chefs today are positioned uniquely to make significant contributions towards healthier lifestyles. Hear more on Episode 102: Culinary Medicine: Bridging the Gap Between Food and Health.
This episode is a must-listen for professionals in the culinary and healthcare fields, offering an important perspective on the relationship between good food and good health. Dr. Timothy shares how culinary medicine is revolutionizing healthcare, backing his insights with personal anecdotes, professional experiences, and the impactful Health Meets Food curriculum. Discover how chefs can create delicious, indulgent meals that are also nutritious, reinforcing the role of food as a powerful tool for the prevention and treatment of diseases.
Tune in and LEARN:
- The Evolving Role of Chefs in Healthcare: Understand how the culinary profession can directly impact health outcomes through the principles of culinary medicine.
- Culinary Medicine Principles: Explore the foundation of culinary medicine, including healthy cooking practices, the importance of using real, whole food ingredients, and how these practices can be integrated into restaurant menus to promote health.
- The Synergy Between Culinary Arts and Medicine: Gain insights into how the culinary and medical fields are increasingly working together, providing chefs with a unique opportunity to become pioneers in the realm of healthy eating.
- Practical Applications of Culinary Medicine: Learn from Dr. Harlan’s journey and the Health Meets Food courseware, how chefs can apply culinary medicine principles in their kitchens, contribute to patient care, and educate the wider community about healthy eating.
Resources
The American College of Culinary Medicine provides Culinary Medicine courseware to over 50 academic medical centers as well as culinary schools. The Health Meets Food curriculum offers healthcare and foodservice professionals the tools they need to counsel about and prepare healthier food for patients and patrons — great food that just happens to be great for you. Learn more about the curriculum here.
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About Dr. Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP
I come to the conversation from a ‘food first’ perspective, not from a clinical perspective, from ‘Look, this has to be great food that just happens to be great for you,’
That’s really interesting when you think about what it means to be a chef and the training that chefs get because you’re using great quality, fresh, and these days more and more local ingredients. In a way that just happens to be healthy. The unique piece for those of us who do what I do for a living is that we come to it from that ‘food first’ perspective.
Timothy S. Harlan practices internal medicine in Washington, DC. His love of food began as a teenager working in the restaurant business. Starting as a dishwasher, he worked his way up to managing his first restaurant by the age of eighteen and owning his first restaurant at twenty-two.
After closing the restaurant he started to pursue a degree in hotel and restaurant management but events led him toward medicine and the decision to become a physician.
Dr. Harlan went on to study medicine at Emory University. Early in his career, he noticed a lack of knowledge in the medical field around food, eating healthy, and eating well. Neither patients nor healthcare providers understood much about a healthy diet. Patients, it seemed, were usually told not what they could eat but, rather, what they could not eat.
He served as Associate Dean for Clinical Services at Tulane University School of Medicine and was the founding director of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, the first of its kind teaching kitchen operated by a medical school.
Dr. Harlan is an Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington University and leads the Culinary Medicine Program team advancing both research and education. He helps lead the American College of Culinary Medicine, the organization that provides professional training, education, curriculum, and certification in Culinary Medicine to academic medical centers and culinary schools as well as community members, healthcare, and foodservice professionals.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Dr. Timothy Harlan for joining us.
World on a Plate is supported by Nestlé Professional and our podcast sponsors.
