Culinary and Nutritional Neuroscience

Catalog description

We have heard the expression you are what you eat, but have we considered it? This course introduces the science of a brain (and body) healthy diet and the concepts of the neuropsychology of eating. It offers practical applications of the science you can adopt to support your brain health and those you care for. It is not just what you eat but how. Eating mindfully means choosing foods that balance blood sugar and provide adequate brain-boosting nutrients like essential fatty acids, lean proteins, and a rainbow of antioxidants. The nutrients extracted from the food enter metabolic pathways manipulated, modified, and molded into molecules the body can use. This nutritional neuroscience and nutritional psychiatry course includes opportunities to ask faculty questions and engage with other members of the brain-healthy community for inspiration from similarly motivated individuals. Most people’s concerns about diet involve weight loss, fitness, cardiac health, and longevity. But what we eat affects more than our bodies; it also affects our brains. Now more than ever, our food is something we can control. A neuroprotective dietary pattern can boost our immunity, which is also linked to levels of depression and anxiety; studies also show a link to insomnia, dementia, and beyond. This academic course, grounded in nutritional neuroscience, neurology, and psychiatry, includes live sessions weekly throughout the semester, neuroprotective culinary technique and communication demonstrations, instruction by internationally recognized leaders in the neuroscience and nutrition field, and the opportunity to engage with members of the brain-healthy community for inspiration from similarly motivated individuals. We will introduce the science of a neuroprotective dietary pattern, the concepts of the neuropsychology of eating and healthy lifestyle habit formation, and offer practical application of the science you can adopt to support your brain health and performance and the brain health of those you care for and about.