CHARLOTTE – In 2019, Novant Health Cancer Institute, Sherry Strong, and Rebecca Katz, MS, teamed together to combine healthcare and nutrition to form Healing Kitchens. Healing Kitchens is a two-pronged nutrition program available to patients of Novant Health Cancer Institute, as well as their friends and family. Healing Kitchens offers an online Cancer-Fighting Kitchen Course and the Culinary Rx Kit™ Health & Healing Through Food.
When you or someone close to you is undergoing cancer treatments, you may feel helpless when it comes to meal planning. Oftentimes, cancer survivors go through treatment and experience a loss of appetite and change in their palate. Survivors can have a lot of questions about how to take the best care of themselves now and in the future, leaving them with concerns about not only physical care but mental health care. Healing Kitchens offers help with meal planning including grocery lists, meal plans, recipes, and more to build a world of knowledge about what healthy and healing foods can do for the body and mind. The Culinary Rx Kit™ is designed for the cancer survivor, but it is good for the whole family. The program can help in endless ways, from helping give ideas on what your taste buds may find appealing to finding nutrient-dense foods that can help your body fight disease. The program addresses health needs and helpful planning with nutritional guidance that is essential to healing.
The Culinary Rx Kit™ was designed to be a helpful tool that allows patients and their friends and family be able to help meet their health needs and empower survivors to live a healthier lifestyle. Using the Culinary Rx Kit™ can bring back the power of food! This program shows you how to bring the joy of food back to the table which many lose while enduring treatment. The program has been designed to support success in treatment plans, help reduce the risk of recurrences, and enhance the quality of life at all stages of the journey.
When you feed the body with good food, it nourishes not only the body but the mind and soul as well. Healing Kitchens also incorporates mental health care by helping others understand that food prepared by a friend or family member combines LOVE with the necessary nutrients to come together and be a source of comfort and sustenance. The Culinary Rx Kit™ promotes food as a source of optimal health rather than focusing on dietary restrictions. Many survivors often have friends and family asking about how they can better support their health, and the Culinary Rx Kit™ is a great guide. It gives them the tools to be able to provide meals and food items that are needed during the different stages of their journey with easy meal prep tips and budget-friendly options for all.
If you are a survivor or know a friend or family member fighting cancer, Healing Kitchens is a wonderful program to take part in. The program focuses on meals and food guides that have been designed by Rebecca Katz. The online guided course can be found at: https://rebecca-katz.teachable.com/p/cfknovant. The online course highlights Rebecca Katz’s award-winning book, The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, featuring recipes that nourish the body and feed the soul. The focus of the book and the online course is completely designed around how good nutrition and basic cooking skills can come together to support a cancer survivor during treatment and beyond.
Rebecca Katz and Michelle Mintz Newell have partnered with Sherry Strong and the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation along with the Novant Health Cancer Wellness Center to team together to commit to helping survivors achieve better health through the online courses and detailed and well-outlined cookbook. The Culinary Rx Kit™ is an amazing resource available to patients of Novant Health Cancer Institute, as well as their friends and family. Feel free to reach out to a provider today or the Novant Health Cancer Institute for more information.
