The Purjes Foundation

IMPORTANT UPDATE *

The Purjes Foundation to sponsor Culinary Medicince Conference
at the 
University of Florida College of Medicine  

The Purjes foundation has partnered with the University of Florida College of Medicine to hold a Culinary Medicine Conference. The conference will be held in Tampa, FL on February 29th, 2020.

The goal of this conference is to educate physicians, allied professionals, and medical students about the impact of food on the body through understanding of stress response, microbiome and immune response. Culinary Medicine 2020 will consist of talks from expert lecturers and physicians on the link between diet and health and how to incorporate these concepts into your practice. Attendees will also get the opportunity to experience 2 hours of plant-based cooking demonstrations from experts Ann and Jane Esselstyn.

As a result of participation in this activity, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the fundamentals of the optimal diet: whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds
  • Understand how nutrition can impact illness via the immune system and microbiome
  • Obtain practical skills on how to advise patients on good diet and practical tips to eating better
  • Educating allied professionals, physicians and medical students about the impact of food on the body through understanding of stress response, microbiome and immune response.
  • Provide practical tips on what foods are important in the body and why
  • Provide hands-on experience with different spices and food preparation to then be better educators to patients

CLICK HERE for more information and to register.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release – August 21, 2018

Dan Purjes’ Foundation to fund new program
at the 
University of Florida College of Medicine  

(Salt Lake City, Utah) ‐‐ Dan Purjes, co-founder of the Purjes Foundation, announced that his foundation is sponsoring the Nutrition/Lifestyle as Treatment for Illness Fund at the University of FloridaThe new program, run by the University of Florida College of Medicine, will educate physicians in a practical setting on treating chronic diseases, such as heart-disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, autoimmune diseases and even cancer, through plant-based nutrition.

The program will be known and marketed as the Purjes Foundation Program for Nutrition/Lifestyle Treatment of Illness.

Dr. Monica Aggarwal, a cardiologist who is the Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention at the University of Florida College of Medicine, will head the new program.

Dr. Aggarwal said, “In a recent article, I highlighted the significant lack of nutrition education among medical personnel. When physicians are lacking in education, they are unable to be effective teachers to families, patients, and to themselves. The lack of nutrition education of physicians is evident in medical school and later. It severely hampers effective treatment of disease. The goal of this culinary education workshop is to empower medical professionals to change personal habits towards healthier living, and to subsequently provide patients with important and practical lifestyle tools. Over time, we will create a national movement to educate physicians on the treatment of illness through nutrition. This is an exciting first step!”

The program will feature lectures by prominent physicians who have brought about significant reversal of chronic diseases through plant-based nutrition. The 3-day program will also feature cooking classes for the physician attendees, as well as plant-based shopping guidelines and deciphering nutrition labels.

“This workshop series takes a new approach to educating physicians and other healthcare professionals about the benefits of plant-based nutrition,” explains Dan Purjes. “By providing cooking classes in addition to lectures, we hope to better educate physicians on a practical level, and enable them to teach patients how to eat healthy to defeat chronic diseases. It is shocking that little or no nutrition is taught in medical school, yet nutrition has been shown to play such a critical role in health. The Purjes Foundation Program for Nutrition/Lifestyle Treatment of Illness, to be launched at the University of Florida College of Medicine in early 2019, is an important step in providing such education.”

It is anticipated that the program will be an annually recurring event.

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The Purjes Foundation is a private charitable trust established by Dan and Edna Purjes. Its mission is to improve health of body, mind and soul.  It is involved in numerous initiatives educating people to reverse and prevent chronic diseases through a whole foods, plant‐based diet. The Foundation achieves its mission by funding scientific studies, documentary films, clinical trials, medical journals, books and other projects. The Purjes Foundation has donated millions of dollars towards these and other worthwhile causes.

The University of Florida College of Medicine is the largest of six colleges at the University of Florida Health Science Center, with a mission to increase Florida’s supply of highly qualified physicians, provide advanced health care services to the citizens of Florida and foster discovery in health research. The College’s Gainesville campus is comprised of 28 clinical and basic science departments staffed by more than 1,300 faculty members. The Jacksonville campus, located 75 miles to the northeast, is home to more than 350 physicians and scientists delivering medical care in an urban setting, performing research and educating medical students and residents. University of Florida Health, the Southeast’s most comprehensive academic health center, is a $3.42 billion operation under the governance of the University of Florida. UF Health spans two campuses — Gainesville and Jacksonville — and consists of six health colleges, two major teaching hospitals and nine major research centers and institutes.

Media Contact:
Mary Vitullo
The Purjes Foundation
info@purgesfoundation.org
801‐441‐7550