Coronavirus COVID-19 Updates: uc.edu/publichealth
Search By:
Culinary medicine is an educational and nutritional approach to improving eating behaviors and overall health by focusing on food shopping, storage, and meal preparation skills. At the Osher Center for Integrative Health, our interdisciplinary team utilizes food as medicine to teach students and patients the importance of food and its impact on your health.
Read more: New Culinary Medicine program empowers Cincinnatians to eat healthier
In this series, you will learn about the science and evidence behind a plant-based eating pattern from medical experts as well as how to cook healthy, delicious meals from a trained chef! This series runs February 21, March 21, and April 18 from 6-7:30 p.m. Click here to learn more and register!
Join us on Wednesday, April 12 from noon - 1 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building Room E351 for a presentation from Annie Fenn, MD, on Cultivating a Brain-Healthy Lifestyle and a panel discussion featuring lifestyle medicine and wellness experts.
Experiential learning opportunities focused on food as medicine for patients, students, and the community to learn from our physicians and cook a healthy meal at the Turner Farm Teaching Kitchen in Indian Hill, Ohio. Past events have included Optimizing Your Brain Health through Farm Fresh Foods & Cooking for Cancer Prevention & Recurrence.
Visit our Calendar of Upcoming Events for upcoming events.
Our goal is to work with you to create a personalized self-care plan that you can implement and sustain with your lifestyle.
At your lifestyle medicine consultation, you will initially meet with your physician or nurse practitioner for one hour. They will learn about your personal, medical and family history; your dietary, exercise and sleep habits; your sources of stress and coping mechanisms, and then will assess your health concerns and evaluate your symptoms, order any necessary tests and create mutually agreed upon lifestyle prescriptions.
To schedule a consultation, call 513-475-9567.
Centering group medical visits take a group approach to healthcare. Small groups of patients meet once a month in addition to one-on-one assessments with their provider. Centering allows patients to become more informed and confident in making healthy choices, all while building a community and support system. UC Health currently offers group visits for patients with pre-diabetes, diabetes, chronic pain and obesity.
Teaching kitchen events at LaSoupe are also scheduled once-a-month outside of the regularly scheduled group medical visit for participants to learn how to cook healthy meals.
To join a Centering Group, call 513-584-0373.
This course you will explore the theory of an interdependent/ interconnected relationship between the gastrointestinal tract and other systems within the body and understand the impact of stress and environment on the functionality of the gastrointestinal tract and how it effects your overall health. You will also learn how the role of the microbiome is related to digestion, immune health and systemic effects
Try our Honeynut Squash Soup Recipe from Pamela, our Nurse Practitioner and Trained Chef. Schedule a Lifestyle Medicine Consultation with Pamela: 513-475-9567
• Preheat oven to 375 and prepare a lined baking sheet. • Prepare the vegetables by scooping out seeds of the honeynut squash (save and toast as garnish); cut off the top of the garlic bulb and remove the outer layer if desired; cut off the top and bottom of the Cipollini onions and remove outer layer. • Place roasting ingredients on baking sheet and bake until tender about 40-50 minutes, flipping halfway through (add seeds last 5 minutes) and let cool slightly. • Scoop out the honeynut squash and place in a blender or food processor with the onions and carrots. Add the garlic cloves or squeeze roasted cloves into the blender mixture. Gently add the 1.5 cups of vegetable stock, ¾ cup of oat milk, and seasonings. • Blend until smooth and creamy, pour into a bowl, top with desired toppings, and enjoy! Download and print + share this recipe! Pamela Recipe Card
Grains: Place raw grain, liquid, and a pinch of salt into a pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook until tender (cook time will vary depending on the grain used). Drain any excess liquid and place it into a bowl or onto sheet tray to allow the grains to cool rapidly. Reserve for later.
Download and print + share this recipe: Whole Grain Bowl Recipe
TLT (our healthier version of a classic BLT) utilizes Tempeh - a plant-based protein. Pamela takes the intimidation out of cooking this delicious plant-based option! Email Pamela with questions: pamela.sharpe@uc.edu Schedule a Lifestyle Medicine Consultation with Pamela: 513-475-9567 Servings: 2 Ingredients 4 Slices of whole grain bread, lightly toasted 7-8 oz of Tempeh, sliced into ½ inch slices 4 slices of tomato 4 slices of lettuce (Red leaf, Romaine, Baby Kale, or Spinach) ¼ avocado Tempeh marinade: 2.5 Tablespoons-Coconut Aminos ½ tsp smoked paprika 1/16 to 1/8th tsp Pink Himalayan Sea salt 1/8th black pepper ½ tsp of maple syrup (optional) 1/8 tsp of cumin 1/16 tsp sumac (optional) Optional: ¼ cup of vegetable broth or 1 tsp of olive oil for cooking. Directions: The recipe makes two sandwiches-if making ahead of time keep veggies on the side for a delicious, nutritious, healthy sandwich for lunch the next day. 1.) Place all ingredients for the marinade into a covered dish. 2.) Rest and set aside for at least 15 minutes to 1 hour but may be marinated overnight. 3.) Wash vegetables thoroughly, and slice tomatoes into ¼-inch thick slices. 4.) Cut and remove the pit of the avocado, and remove ¼ of avocado 5.) Preheat the skillet to low-medium heat. 6.) Take Marinated Tempeh and add a small amount of cooking liquid or oil to the skillet, flipping every 2-3 minutes for a max of 10 minutes until done. 7.) Assemble the TLT, Toasted bread, sliced avocado, cooked tempeh, tomato, and lettuce, as a bonus, spread a smear of hummus, such as Roasted Red pepper Hummus makes for an extra special treat! Nutritional Info for one TLT serving: (404 kcal, 54 g Carbs, 9 g fat, 28 g protein, 695mg sodium) Substitutions: May decrease salt to a pinch (1/16tsp) to decrease sodium to 616 mg/serving or completely eliminate added sea salt. Spices substitute smoked paprika for Spanish or regular paprika. Sumac for ground coriander or squeeze of lemon to additionally reduce sodium.
Expand all
Collapse all
October 20, 2022
March 1, 2023
Director, Osher Center for Integrative Health | Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, UC College of Medicine
Dr. Cotton is a licensed clinical psychologist and founding director of the UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and UC Health Integrative Medicine. A Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Cotton has an active research lab with ongoing clinical studies focusing primarily on mindfulness-based interventions and integrative medicine practice-based research. In 2007, Dr. Cotton was awarded a K23 career development award by the National Institutes of Health to examine the role of spiritual coping and health-related quality of life in adolescents with a chronic illness. A former Board member for the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health, she is often invited to speak with community organizations and businesses, healthcare audiences, and academics about mind-body medicine for stress reduction, and preventive and wellness-based approaches to healthcare.
Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, has worked in the fields of immunogenetics and molecular and cancer biology, contributing to the understanding of interactions between the environment and our genes. His clinical work focuses now on lifestyle-related chronic diseases.
As an internist, Dr. Golubic has practiced and directed educational and research activities within integrative and lifestyle medicine since 2009 with a group of exceptional lifestyle medicine professionals (dietitians, chefs, yoga instructors, exercise physiologists, meditation teachers, etc.) within the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.
Outside of the health system, he enjoys time with his family and spending time outdoors.
Dr. Chef Stephanie Michalak White has worked in the hospitality industry for over a decade. She has worked in many environments, including small restaurants, pop-ups, catering, high volume, and farm-to-table establishments. She holds a bachelor of professional studies in culinary arts management from the Culinary Institute of America, a master of arts in food studies from New York University, and a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from Maryville University.
Previously, Chef Stephanie designed curriculum, taught, and catered for a teaching kitchen on an organic farm in Cincinnati, Ohio, centered around using local, seasonal ingredients. She also held a position on the Chef Advisory Committee for the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative. During her doctoral studies, her research focused on food insecurity in higher education. Now, Stephanie helps oversee two online academic programs for the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts: Plant-Based Culinary Arts and Holistic Nutrition & Wellness as well as working with the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC teaching food as medicine principles. When she is not working or researching, Stephanie is an avid painter and enjoys traveling and hiking with her husband, Nick, and three rescue dogs, Jack, Mac, and Ned.
Integrative Medicine Provider Pamela Sharpe, FNP-BC, specializes in integrative and lifestyle medicine. She believes every person can obtain notable benefits with the implementation of Lifestyle Medicine which utilizes a whole food plant-based eating pattern, physical activity, sleep for restoration, management of stress, positive social connections, and avoidance of toxic substances as an evidence-based therapeutic modality. Food as Medicine Her journey started with food, trained as a chef. She wanted to create higher-quality nutritional meals for her family and friends, some of whom were affected adversely by chronic health and lifestyle-related conditions. Seeking to gain an even greater understanding, she went on to receive her Bachelor’s in in Food and Nutrition with Pre-Med and Chemistry. This helped to provide a greater understanding of advanced nutrition, biochemistry, and human metabolism as related to wellness, diseases, and chronic conditions. Armed with this knowledge, she went on to gain graduate-level training and experience as an ANCC Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. Combining Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine In clinical practice, she has found patients utilizing allopathic and osteopathic medicine, in combination with the use of evidence-based lifestyle medicine and integrative therapies, help patients to address or improve areas of life-related to stress, sleep, nutrition, and movement. Additionally, if applicable working with patients to eliminate intake of any health-harming substances which can lead to greater overall areas of better-quality health and wellbeing. Good Catch Award Recipient Most recently, Pamela was awarded the Good Catch Award. A recognition related to a patient who came in for a routine acute visit. On further examination, she discovered the patient needed immediate life-saving treatment. Pamela worked with an interdisciplinary team to help provide resources and care while getting the patient transported to obtain life-sustaining medical care and treatment. The patient survived and a major chronic condition was discovered, appropriate treatment was started, and the patient was able to thrive without many alterations in their quality of life. Leading Health Improvement with Lifestyle Change Pamela is passionate about healthcare and having the opportunity to work with patients to improve their lifestyle and health. Her philosophy is that it is never too late to change and even the smallest changes can lead to lasting results. With intensive lifestyle changes, one can see significant changes in the optimization of many acute and chronic conditions. Some conditions may not be able to be reversed but implementing lifestyle and integrative medicine can help decrease pain, stress, improve sleep and mood, as well as helping patients live their lives to the fullest. Outside of work, Pamela enjoys taking long walks in nature with family, friends, and her dog. She loves bike riding, as well as creating and cooking mostly whole-food plant-based recipes.
UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute Integrative Medicine
3113 Bellevue Avenue, Suite 3100 Cincinnati, OH 45219
513-475-9567
Medical Sciences Building Suite 4358231 Albert Sabin WayPO Box 670582 Cincinnati, OH 45267-0582
Mail Location: 0582Phone: 513-558-2310Fax: 513-558-3266Email: osher.integrative@uc.edu