When healthcare meets food, it makes for happy cooking

Cooking is contagious.

I caught the bug in my youth and delight in spreading it wherever I go. I have watched smiles consume a roomful of kindergarteners as they turned flour, yeast and water into turtle-shaped bread loaves. If you told 5-year-old me that decades later I would land in a career combining cooking and health care, I would have called it fantasy. Dreams come true and the smiles endure.

The joy shared with me by my mom in our 1960s kitchen began with nutrition education, which felt less like a lecture and more like gospel. Cue my mom’s Alabama accent:

Dr. Bhakti Samant, Dr. Michele Salassi and Dr. Miranda Mallory, from left, gather around for another look at the printed recipe before beginning to cook as Dr. Katie Queen hugs April Hamilton, far right, during a culinary medicine workshop at LSU’s Human Ecology building on Jan. 7. STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS▲

“Eat the broccoli stems and leaves; they have more fiber and minerals.”

“Have an orange with your eggs and spinach to help with iron absorption.”

“Balance your plate with protein, vegetables and a starch. Have a variety.”

Culinary Medicine 101: Spaghetti with Meat and Lentils, and Caesar Salad are on the menu

“Make your own salad dressing.”

“Did you drink your milk?”

“We don’t answer the phone or watch TV at the dinner table. Who wants to start the blessing?”

Dr. Thiravat Choojitarom, center, speaks to attendees about how nutrition and well-rounded diets can help improve patient health during a culinary medicine workshop on Jan. 7. STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS▲

There was also daily discussion of her nonnegotiables. “Soda pop is poison; it leaches the calcium from your teeth and bones. Watch out for preservatives. Read the label. Soft-serve ice cream is full of chemicals. Red dye will kill you.”

She was ahead of her time. Mom lived to almost 93 and her words continue to echo. Gospel.

Today, I work as a nurse at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital with like-minded doctors, minus the preaching, who paved the path to starting a Health Meets Food Culinary Medicine program. About a dozen years ago when I was cheffing in West Virginia, I learned about the program that started at Tulane Medical School. The concept captivated me, and I am beyond honored to have a role in teaching pediatric residents cooking and nutrition.

Rule No. 1 is to have fun. Doctors trade their white coats for chef jackets and the future pediatricians tie on purple aprons to celebrate the university’s theme color. We have a red-carpet welcome into the teaching kitchen on LSU’s campus, where Judy Myhand has taught generations of registered dietitians, student athletes and 4-H kids how to nourish and flourish.

Olivia Dinh, second from right, shows the class how to slice mushrooms alongside Amy Cave. STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS▲

When a career change beckoned in my empty nest era and mom was still here, I shared my somewhat fleeting wish of nursing school with her. She voiced her concerns about the long shifts and challenges of the field. As she took her last breath, my first semester began and nutrition was on the syllabus. I know she is smiling now.