Know Your Foods

Healthy eating is the focus of a new student org at OUWB — and the group recently used a demonstration kitchen at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, to bolster their knowledge of nutritious nourishment.

Know Your Foods is the name of the student organization formed in early 2021. The purpose is to serve as a complement to OUWB coursework and help apply medical knowledge learned in class to nutrition and to ways in which patients’ lifestyle and nutritional habits could be improved.

An added benefit is that students learn healthy eating tips and tricks — including ways to cut costs — that they can apply to themselves, says Fanny Huang, rising M2, and president, Know Your Foods.

It all generally falls under the category of culinary medicine, says Virginia Uhley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies and the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Uhley also serves as faculty advisor to Know Your Foods.

“The focus is on making sure that (the students) understand nutrients and what kind of guidance to give their patients,” she says.

The cooking demonstration at Beaumont is the latest way members of Know Your Foods learned about healthy eating.

“The students had a chance to work with food and really think about what (eating healthy) means,” says Uhley. “They also tasted the food… because if you say ‘healthy food,’ many people think cardboard, right?”

Participating students learned about various recipes, including a butternut squash-based soup, smoothies, an Indian-inspired dish called Chana Masala, a dark chocolate and pomegranate dessert, and more.  

“Now we have these tools and recipes, we can use ourselves…or share if we volunteer at a hunger center, or with patients,” says Huang, who earned her undergraduate degree in nutritional biochemistry and metabolism from Case Western Reserve University.

Two big takeaways from the demonstration were that it doesn’t necessarily require a ton of time or money to eat healthy.

“It’s all about shopping smart,” says Huang. “One of my favorite places to shop is Aldi because they promote sustainability, wellness, and fair trade and their prices are pretty good.”

Huang says she and her roommates can spend a total of about $60 and get plenty of protein, fruits, vegetables, breads, and snacks for the week.

“Knowing where to shop can save you a lot of money,” she says.

Another tip is to buy frozen fruits and vegetables. Because they are flash frozen, Huang says, the nutrients are locked in. They can sometimes be even better than their fresh — and more expensive — counterparts.

Frozen foods can also save time since there isn’t any washing, peeling, cutting, etc. involved.

That’s a big deal for medical students who might be trying to fit several lectures into a three- or four-hour period and don’t exactly have time to prepare Instagram post-worthy dishes.

“Medical students have a high stress load when they start medical school so it’s not always convenient or easy (to eat healthy),” says Uhley. “They actually asked us for more information about eating healthy on a budget, (and) preparing quick meals.”

Uhley says the group already is looking at ways to expand its efforts to increase awareness of healthy eating, including possibly working with patient groups.

She adds that the group is off to a great start with its first kitchen experience.

“It was great,” says Uhley. “Everyone seemed to have a really great time, and they really liked the recipes.”