The biggest impact on your health is not from a groundbreaking drug or an advanced surgical technique, but from the simplest solution: how we nourish ourselves.
Dr. Rupy Aujla, a physician with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), believes that modern medicine is fundamentally lacking a crucial focus on nutrition. In his TEDxTalk, Rupy explored the medicinal effects of various foods and debunked some common “diet trends,” emphasizing how we can make “culinary medicine” a default approach rather than chasing fleeting diet fads.
Summary of the TEDxTalk:
The Power of Food: Healing and Preventing Disease
At the age of 24, I witnessed my first patient pass away right before my eyes. She was a 60-year-old woman who was brought into the hospital after a cardiac arrest, likely caused by a heart attack. Despite our best efforts, including CPR and medications, we could not save her.
That evening, I learned that over 100,000 heart attacks occur annually in the UK – one every five minutes. Out of these, approximately 30,000 are cardiac arrests that happen outside hospitals, with a survival rate of less than 10%.
It was clear to me that the medical care we provided was only reacting to diseases that had silently developed over time. Today, I aim to share not only life-saving strategies but also preventive measures to tackle lifestyle-related diseases like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes – conditions that claim millions of lives globally each year.
The Solution: Culinary Medicine
The “medicine” I want to prescribe today is food. When exploring diets like whole-food plant-based, Mediterranean, or low-carb, it becomes apparent that while these diets may seem different, they share several core principles:
- Avoiding processed and sugary foods.
- Prioritizing nutrient-rich whole foods, such as vegetables, fiber, healthy fats, and colorful produce.
These foods not only provide essential vitamins and minerals but also contain phytochemicals – compounds that regenerate cells, reduce inflammation, and enhance bodily functions.
Lifestyle and Nutrition Education
Nutrition isn’t merely a checklist of foods to eat; it’s deeply intertwined with culture, emotions, and education. In the UK, medical students rarely learn about the importance of nutrition during their training, and children are not taught how to grow or cook food as part of their schooling.
To address this gap, I founded Culinary Medicine, a nonprofit organization, in 2018. We conduct cooking and nutrition courses for medical students at universities like Bristol and London. In Bristol, we even teach students how to prepare healthy meals for the homeless, ensuring access to nutritious food for vulnerable communities.
As I often say:
- If you’re having curry, add some spinach.
- If you’re making an omelet, serve it with green beans.
- Even if you’re enjoying a sweet pastry, pair it with a side of mashed butternut squash.
These small additions, made consistently, can create a significant impact on your health over time.
Our health isn’t determined solely by advanced drugs or complex surgeries—it starts with how we nourish ourselves. With greater emphasis on nutrition, I believe we can create a healthier community that doesn’t just react to illnesses in emergency rooms but actively prevents them at their roots.
More About Dr. Rupy Aujla
Dr. Rupy Aujla is the founder of Culinary Medicine, a nonprofit organization that teaches doctors and medical students the basics of nutrition and cooking.
As a clinical advisor to the Royal College of General Practitioners and a participant in the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, Rupy has ambitious plans to introduce “culinary medicine” to healthcare systems globally.
Recently, Rupy and his Culinary Medicine team successfully integrated nutrition training into the curriculum for third-year medical students at the University of Bristol. They are also collaborating with University College London to launch a similar program this year.
Additionally, Rupy shares practical nutritional advice and delicious, healthy recipes with the public through his company, The Doctor’s Kitchen. He seeks to inspire patients with the beauty of food and the clinical research behind the ingredients he uses.
Rupy is the author of two bestselling cookbooks: “The Doctor’s Kitchen” and “Eat to Beat Illness”, which became a Sunday Times Bestseller shortly after its release in March 2019.
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