. DOI: 10.3390/nu15122816
"Diet is the top risk factor for early death in the U.S., and the cost of diet-related diseases here is in the billions of dollars. Most patients are not getting the support they need to improve their diets in the typical clinical model," said study leader Jaclyn Albin, M.D., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UT Southwestern and a certified culinary medicine specialist.
Over the past decade, patients have increasingly sought advice on changes in diet to improve outcomes forconditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, and food allergies, Dr. Albin explained. There is also a desire for information about how to eat healthfully on a budget. Physicians typically don't have the time to answer these questions during a standard clinic visit, and most have no formal training in nutrition.
Seeking a new way to get information to patients, Dr. Albin teamed up with UTSW registered dietitian Milette Siler to apply an established electronic consultation service, eConsults, to a new specialty—culinary medicine. Culinary medicine combines the expertise of physicians, registered dietitians, and chefs to help patients improve their personal nutrition and ease health problems through delicious foods.