CONFERENCE SUMMARY:
Sofitel San Francisco Bay
June 5–8, 2014
Jointly sponsored by The Center for Mind-Body
Medicine and The University of Minnesota
T
he notion of food as medicine is
integral to the Paleo lifestyle, yet it
seems to be largely overlooked by
the designated “medicine folk” of our
times. There are countless stories
of those who discovered Paleo
while seeking healing from illness
after the modern-day approach of
“pharmaceuticals as medicine” failed to make them well.
Most often, they find Paleo without the help of their family
physician—someone who may know less about nutrition
than the average reader of this magazine.
The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s annual Food As
Medicine (FAM) training program is doing a lot to change
that. The Center teaches scientifically validated mindbody medicine techniques focused on self-awareness
and self-care to health professionals around the world.
Food As Medicine is their four-day course held yearly in
cities across the country to provide physicians and health
professionals with the foundation they need to integrate
nutrition effectively into clinical practice. The program is
taught by some of the country’s leading lifestyle medicine
clinicians, holistic nutritionists, mind-body practitioners
and chefs. Since its inception in 2001, over 3,000
professionals from 80 medical schools have graduated
from the program.
Officially, FAM provides “a semester’s worth of
nutrition curriculum,” for which health professionals
receive continuing education credits. In reality, the
course is much more sophisticated. Presentation topics
like “Digestive Healing,” “Evolution of the Human Diet,”
“Detoxification of Mind, Body and Spirit,” and “The Art of
Self-Care” delve deep into the realm of lifestyle medicine
and give attendees a solid understanding of the interplay
between food, physiology, genes, environment and
health—a set of connections that the Paleo community
considers a focal point for a healthy lifestyle.
This year, Food As Medicine: A Feast of Science &
Wisdom drew over 300 participants to San Francisco
June 5–8. Roughly a third were physicians, and the rest
a mix of nurses, psychologists, dietitians, acupuncturists
and others in the health professions. If you had walked
into the event without knowing a thing about it, you
might have guessed that it was a gathering of yogis or
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healthy-food advocates rather than a training geared toward practitioners
of Western medicine. The mornings began with a yoga practice or a
qigong class, and during the lecture sessions, more than one presenter
led the audience through a moment of deep breathing, body movement
or meditation in between their slides. A concept heard again and again
was “food first.” The theme was echoed by nourishing lunches made from
whole, sustainable, mostly Paleo foods, and cooking demonstrations that
pretty much stole the show. This, of course, was by design.
Rebecca Katz, executive chef for the FAM program, says the average
clinician lacks the culinary literacy to have a point of view on whether
a certain diet will improve their patients’ health. Oftentimes, she says,
the nutrition education comes from the patient first. “In general practice,
if you walk in to your clinician and say, ‘Should I go on a Paleo diet?’ I
honestly don’t think they even know what that is.” Even those who value
nutrition may still lack the skills to guide patients in the right direction. But
when you get people cooking and eating delicious food, that’s when their
understanding reaches a whole new level.
“We have to get clinicians translating the
science to the plate,” Rebecca says. “We
have to get a knife in their hands before they
can persuasively talk to their patients about
eating a whole-foods diets.”
This year, to make sure that happened, hands-on cooking classes were
offered for the first time at FAM. Out of 304 conference attendees, 294
signed up. “And at the end of the day,” Rebecca said, “at the end of a big
science-driven nutrition conference, we had standing room only and people
asking questions for an hour at a cooking demo that was supposed to last
only 30 minutes. And I thought: God, this isn’t rocket science.” On display
were plates for a variety of dietary patterns, including Paleo, low FODMAP
and gluten free, which were discussed at length in the medical science
portion of the event. “We had doctors who have been practicing for 25 years,
hospital administrators, and these people are just beginning to discover
the power of food!” Rebecca says. “They got to cooking and they found it
was easier than they thought, and, more importantly, they felt a sense of
community that made them want to participate and share with others.”
“It’s really about the experience that people have with what they put
on the end of their forks. Because food really is medicine—no science
required. And they think ‘wow, if I can do this, my patient can do this.’” A
program that provides continuing medical education credits to doctors for
attending cooking classes? This is hope for our future!
Of course it’s not just any physician or health professional who goes to
Food As Medicine. These are folks who are already interested in using
nutrition therapies and whole foods to heal people with chronic conditions,
and to prevent disease. But theirs is a growing pool. In fact, Food As
Medicine has become so popular that for the first time, this year, the event
is running twice. The second gathering will take place September 17–21
at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, MA. Although the
conference is aimed at health professionals, registration is open to all.
See http://cmbm.org/professional-trainings/food-as-medicine/ for more
information.
To help individuals access quality holistic care, The Center for Mind-Body
Medicine maintains a list of healthcare professionals practicing integrative
medicine. The list, organized by state, is at the following link: http://cmbm.
org/patient-referrals/
July 2014 eNewsletter 15