Psychiatric Culinary Medicine: A Global Conversation

This product is free for GMIG members.

This webinar was presented live on March 2, 2021.

The global conversation about mental health is well underway given our current global pandemic. As a nutrition professional, gaining critical fundamental knowledge in the fields of Nutritional Psychiatry, Culinary Medicine, and Nutritional Neuropsychology are essential to move forward in our unified mission to support the nutritional well-being for all humans. Through an inclusionary lens of Clinical Medical Nutrition Therapy across the lifespan mixed with scientific analysis of current literature, expand your practice and understanding of how food impacts brain function.

CPEU: 1.0
Learning Need Codes: 2000, 3005, 4120, 5390
Performance Indicators: 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 10.2.5

Learning Objectives

• State at least three critical micronutrients directly involved with cognitive function
• Explain the biological interplay between chronic inflammation and autonomic nervous system dysregulation
• Name the three regions of the limbic system directly involved in establishing a subjective attachment to food

Speaker

April N. Hackert, MS, RDN, LD, CEDRD-S

Professor April N. Hackert is a Psychiatric Culinary Medicine Research Dietitian, Scientist, International Clinical Eating Disorder Supervisor, and the FOUNDER of Choose to Change Nutrition Services. As a global expert on Nutritional Neuropsychology and Psychiatric Culinary Medicine, this visionary orator is an international public policy advocate for the healing power of food on mental health.

April uses two decades of clinical experience and rigorous scientific training to showcase the impact of food on psychiatric conditions. As the creator of an international clinical training program for the Middle East on the topic of Nutritional Psychology, the necessity of a global conversation about Nutritional Psychiatry became clear.

As passionately articulate teacher, researcher, and chef, our speaker brings over two decades of experience to her food chemistry-inspired, culinary creations. She strives to communicate scientific principles in an entertaining and meaningful language.

As immediate past chair and current Executive Committee member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Behavioral Health Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, April integrates executive leadership principles alongside scientific and medical training from Valencia College, Virginia Tech, New York University, UCSF, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Harvard, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Federal/State Correctional Rehabilitation Centers to offer a diverse array of thought. Her research examines the dietary components and subjective behavioral food patterns of humans with symptoms of anxiety.

You can watch her TEDx talk entitled, "Turn in at the fork" or find numerous pictures of her culinary creations on Instagram (healingkitchen). Follow #adventuresofapril and #foodmatters for the latest updates in her experiences. April is currently still serving within the #BHNFamily and expanded her leadership development to include volunteering as an External Relations Committee Member for the Global Member Interest Group within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.