Culinary Medicine
Culinary medicine at Yale School of Medicine provides opportunities for medical education and interdisciplinary research through hands-on lessons in preparing meals that promote wellness. Taught at the Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen at Yale New Haven Health, classes focus on how food and cooking can help prevent and manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
Culinary medicine is for everyone.
Yale New Haven Health’s Teaching Kitchen brings together patients, health care professionals, medical trainees, community members, dietitians, and chefs on a journey toward better health.
“Culinary medicine is a vital part of patient care,” says Nate Wood, MD, MHS, inaugural director of culinary medicine at Yale School of Medicine. “It also empowers individuals to improve their lives through dietary changes.”
The Teaching Kitchen gives patients the skills to prevent, treat, and manage various complex chronic diseases and helps many on the road to weight loss.
What is culinary medicine?
Culinary medicine is an evidence-based field that combines culinary arts, nutrition science, and medical education to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related health conditions. In other words, according to director Nate Wood, it’s teaching people how to cook food that is both healthy and delicious.
Wood and his team aim to show people that cooking healthy, delicious food can be easy, affordable, and fun.
Why take a culinary medicine class?
Often, people want to improve their health but don’t know what foods to eat or how to prepare healthy meals. Culinary medicine classes teach learners how to improve their diet and health through cooking and eating.
Who can take culinary medicine classes?
The Teaching Kitchen provides classes free of charge to patients. Contact your Yale New Haven Health provider to receive a referral for classes at the Teaching Kitchen. For questions about patient classes, email teachingkitchen@ynhh.org.
Culinary medicine classes in the Teaching Kitchen are also offered to health care professionals, community members, staff, and other learners, both in person and virtually. If you are interested in scheduling a class for your staff, community group, or learners, contact director Nate Wood at nathan.wood@yale.edu.
What will I learn in a class at the Teaching Kitchen?
Each class begins with a lesson on nutrition followed by a cooking demonstration. Learners then engage in hands-on cooking alongside a chef and registered dietitian. Classes culminate in time for the group to reflect on the lesson while eating the meal prepared during class together.
After taking an introductory class, learners can sign up for sessions that focus on breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks to help promote wellness through food. For medical trainees, there are also class offerings that focus specifically on food and nutrition security, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
How can I get involved?
To volunteer in the Teaching Kitchen, email teachingkitchen@ynhh.org.
If you’re interested in participating in research or organizing a class, email director Nate Wood at nathan.wood@yale.edu.
For Yale New Haven Health providers who wish to refer their patients to the Teaching Kitchen, email teachingkitchen@ynhh.org for referral instructions.
For upcoming virtual community class offerings, visit the Yale New Haven Health events webpage and search for “teaching kitchen.”
The Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen’s current community partners include Chapel Haven, Step-uHP, and Yale New Haven Health volunteer services. If you are involved with a community organization and are interested in establishing a partnership with the Teaching Kitchen, please email director Nate Wood at nathan.wood@yale.edu.
Where can I get more information?
Contact director Nate Wood at nathan.wood@yale.edu for more information.
For media inquiries, email Colleen Moriarty at colleen.moriarty@yale.edu.
Visit the Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen website at Yale New Haven Health.
Leadership
Instructor of Medicine (General Medicine); Director of Culinary Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Nate Wood is an Instructor of Medicine and the inaugural Director of Culinary Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen at Yale New Haven Health. Board-certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine, Nate practices as a primary care physician, serves as a core faculty member in the Yale Primary Care residency program, and co-leads the weight management clinic at the New Haven Primary Care Consortium. Before coming to Yale, Nate studied in the School of Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. As both a physician and culinary school graduate, he has dedicated his career to the field of “Food Is Medicine,” firmly believing that what we eat can be simultaneously healthy and delicious. As the Director of Culinary Medicine, Nate oversees many patient care, medical education, community outreach, and research endeavors related to healthy cooking and eating. Nate is particularly interested in media and education — using print, television, and other multimedia to engage both medical professionals and the general public in learning about the connection between diet and health. His clinical and research interests include culinary medicine, preventive medicine, obesity medicine, and nutrition education. Nate recently completed his Master of Health Science in Medical Education, his thesis project focusing on the development, implementation, and testing of a novel culinary medicine curriculum for medical trainees. Nate's ultimate goal is to combine his passions for medicine, food, education, and media to empower others to enjoy food in a healthy way.