Gloria Ríchard-Davis, M.D., MBA, and UAMS Culinary Medicine Registered Dietitian Alyssa Frisby hosted a presentation and cooking demonstration for the Arkansas Department of Health’s virtual Lunch & Learn series. The February session, taking place during American Heart Month, was the first in a series titled “Paving the Way to Health with Our Forks.” Dr. Ríchard-Davis shared information about the prevalence of heart disease in America and the role nutrition plays in a healthy lifestyle, while highlighting the Mediterranean Diet and how the principles can be incorporated in a southern American diet. Alyssa Frisby prepared a one-pot shrimp and tomato skillet meal and discussed how it is possible to use both fresh and shelf-stable ingredients to create nutritious, affordable meals. Participants were able to ask questions after the presentation and were curious about food preparation techniques and requested tips on how to make small changes to their current habits to promote a healthier lifestyle. 

View the presentation

By Kalee Sexton 

The culinary medicine team at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently partnered with the Little Rock Chapter of The Links, Inc., and Black Kidney Awareness Resource and Education (KARE) to educate people about chronic kidney disease and prevention.

Black KARE is a program grant funded by Baxter Pharmaceutical to raise awareness about chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Black communities. The Little Rock Chapter of The Links, Inc., organization is a group of professional Black women linked in friendship working together to improve their communities.

CKD is a condition in which kidney function decreases, causing the organs to be unable to filter blood as well as they should. It develops over time and is divided into five stages. Patients in the first four stages can take steps to stop the disease from getting worse while patients in the last stage experience complete kidney failure and require dialysis. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney failure.

The culinary medicine team and the Fresh & Reddie program at UAMS worked with the Little Rock Chapter of The Links, Inc., to provide four weeks of boxed meals to 75 participants from Longley Baptist Church and surrounding communities. The UAMS Culinary Medicine program’s registered dietician, Margaret Pauly, hosted Zoom cooking classes in November and December to teach the participants about the role nutrition plays in preventing chronic kidney disease.

Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., MBA, executive director for UAMS’s Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the program director and lead instructor for the culinary medicine program, said the program helped patients understand food as medicine to prevent and control chronic disease.

“The program empowered patients with nutrition knowledge, resources and self-advocacy,” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease, many of whom are unaware because symptoms aren’t usually present until later stages. Black Americans are almost four times more likely to develop kidney failure than white Americans. Although Black Americans make up 13% of the population, they account for 35% of people with kidney failure in the United States. In Arkansas, the overall prevalence of the disease is 4%, but among Black Arkansans, the rate is 4.8%.

This health disparity is caused by several factors, including the fact that Black patients experiencing CKD are less likely to be identified as kidney transplant candidates than white patients.

When diagnosing patients with the disease, doctors calculate the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which measures kidney function. Higher numbers, like 90 and above, indicate less advanced disease, while lower numbers indicate more severe damage. The eGFR is used to refer patients for transplant. Sometimes, race is used as a factor when calculating the eGFR. Most hospitals no longer factor in race because the result can make it seem like Black patients have better kidney function than they do. However, the race multiplier has hindered Black patients from proper care and treatment, allowing the disease to progress.

The two main causes of kidney disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, are also more prevalent in the Black community. Both conditions can be managed through exercise and nutrition, which is the message Black KARE and the culinary medicine team articulated through their program by providing heart-healthy, nutritious meals containing lean protein, fresh vegetables and reduced sodium.

Richard-Davis said several participants expressed that the program gave them the knowledge they needed to improve their health. One said she had previously been diagnosed with diabetes but was never referred to a registered dietician, so she was able to learn how to take care of her health and how food can make a difference.

By educating participants, UAMS hopes to raise awareness about health care disparities regarding CKD and help Black patients live longer, healthier lives, said Richard-Davis.

By Ben Boulden 

What used to be a space where people could eat lunch is now a place where people will make lunches and other meals as part of the UAMS Culinary Medicine Program.

On October 5, the program reached a milestone in its brief history as it formally opened its new Culinary Medicine Kitchen to teach and train faculty and students how to prepare healthy, toothsome meals. The kitchen occupies what was formerly a dining area on the first floor of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.

Culinary medicine is a new evidence-based field in medicine that blends the art of food and cooking with the science of medicine. Culinary medicine’s goal is to help people make good personal medical decisions about accessing and eating high-quality meals that help prevent and manage chronic disease and restore well-being.

Using a temporary space provided by University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, the program’s registered dietitian, Margaret Pauly and college of medicine faculties have provided instruction in culinary medicine to 213 students enrolled in one-night interprofessional simulation events or its eight-week courses meeting once per week for the past two years. The course has been open to senior medical students as an elective, and students from the College of Pharmacy and the Physician Assistant Studies program in the College of Health Professions have joined as well. The program has also offered limited employee and community courses with plans to expand.

In the newly renovated space, thanks to generous donors, the program will provide the convenience of on-campus Culinary Medicine Program classes.

“This on-campus teaching is more convenient for students, and we think participation will increase greatly when there isn’t a transportation issue to and from UA-Pulaski Tech,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., provost and chief strategy officer. She added that UA-Pulaski Tech has been very accommodating and generous in its support.

The curriculum of the program does not strictly teach a vegetarian lifestyle, but it does place an emphasis on a more heavily plant-based diet of fruits and vegetables, said Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., the program’s director. The menu is a Mediterranean-based diet, which has been shown to contribute greatly to longevity and heart health, is even known to reverse some cardiovascular disease.

“The reality is we are a very unhealthy society,” Richard-Davis said. “We are trying to make a difference. Arkansas has some of the worst health and nutrition statistics of any state. This program was born out of a passion to teach our students about nutrition, how to prepare healthier meals and hopefully to change their lives. That they will in turn teach our patients another healthier way of life.”

With that in mind, Gina Drobena, M.D., read to the audience at the opening celebration a letter she received from a student who is now an intern in North Carolina. Drobena is the course director  and also an associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Pathology.

The student wrote: “I enjoyed the culinary medicine rotation at UAMS last year and want to include it in my practice long-term. I want to start a program here, but I am not sure where to start. Would you mind helping?”

Drobena said the letter is a great example of what the program seeks to accomplish in culinary medicine — students being inspired to take what they learn and use it to teach healthy nutrition and cooking to their patients and colleagues. In the near future, the program hopes to expand instruction to UAMS employees and communities of Arkansas, too, allowing members of the public to sign up for classes.

“I’m so excited about tonight,” Gardner said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “It’s a dream we’ve shared for a couple of years, and we’re eager to have you walk through and see the space where students, faculty, resident and community members will be able to learn more about nutrition and healthy eating.”

Using a curriculum created by Tim Harlan, M.D., at Tulane University’s Goldring Culinary Institute in New Orleans, the program delivers a comprehensive hands-on interactive course.

The program was started with Chancellor Patterson’s vision and support. The seed money for the program was a Chancellor’s Circle grant and it has received several nonprofit grants to support its community outreach programs from the American Cancer Society, Robert Wood Johnson, Arkansas Medical Foundation, Ardmore Institute of Health and recently another Chancellor’s Circle grant. In partnership with community organizations, UAMS will soon launch a program to increase chronic kidney disease awareness focused on decreasing prevalence in the African American community. The Culinary Medicine program also has worked closely with the Mexican Consulate to deliver community programs in Spanish.

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and Tonya Johnson, R.D., director of UAMS Nutrition and Hospitality Services, spoke briefly before a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Johnson also handed out several healthy meal kits to guests to promote the new Fresh & Reddie service the university plans to roll out in January to all UAMS faculty, staff and students.

The Fresh & Reddie program will market inexpensive healthy meal kits with fresh ingredients and easy-to-prepare recipes, using the principles of culinary medicine.

Gloria Ríchard-Davis, M.D., MBA, spoke at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society. She educated healthcare providers on using culinary medicine to improve health outcomes in midlife women and offered tips for women on using food as medicine to manage weight and overall health. 

We are excited to join the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, a unique group of medical professionals, chefs, educators, researchers, and food system experts dedicated to the improvement of personal and public health.

Learn more about the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative.

Save the Date: Ribbon cutting ceremony on October 5, 2021 at 5:30 p.m.

The UAMS Culinary Medicine program is moving to a brand newly renovated teaching kitchen in the Reynold’s Institute on Aging at 629 Jack Stephens Dr, Little Rock, AR 72205.

We are excited to be moving into our own space on UAMS campus. This will provide the convenience of on campus classes for our students, faculty and staff. We hope to add community outreach programs and continuing medical education for health care providers.

Look for updates in the coming weeks.

Dr. Gloria Richard-Davis and Dr. Cam Patterson were interviewed in the July 2021 Zest Culinary Medicine Newsletter. Read it on the CulinaryMedicine.org website.