Title: Food as Medicine

Biography:

John E. Lewis, Ph.D. is the founder and chief science officer of Nurish.Me Inc.  He is also a past full-time associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and now remains as a voluntary associate professor.  He is a diplomate, faculty member, and advisor of the Medical Wellness Association.  Dr. Lewis has been the principal investigator of multiple nutrition, dietary supplement, exercise training, and medical device clinical trials and studies in the last 2 decades.  Much of his research has included investigating the effects of interventions on a wide variety of outcomes, including immune and cognitive functioning, inflammation, physical fitness, nutrient status, quality of life, and mental health, in healthy adults and in those with Alzheimer’s, HIV, MS, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, chronic pain, and GI disorders, among others.  He has co-authored more than 170 peer-reviewed scientific articles, has mentored many undergraduate, graduate, and medical students in exercise, nutrition, and health promotion, and has been an invited speaker at multiple international and national conferences, including a seminal talk on the results of his work in Alzheimer’s for TEDxMiami (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOJr0sxmxGI).  In addition to his professional accomplishments, he is a former athlete and competitive body builder, who maintains a very rigorous exercise training regimen and has eaten a whole-food, plant-based diet for over 23 years.

Abstract

This lecture will feature some of the latest nutrition science information, starting with some of the basic facts and principles around nutrition and dietary behaviors, the links between inadequate nutrition and chronic diseases, the benefits of dietary supplementation, the importance of bioavailability of active ingredients, and why certain polysaccharides are crucial for health.  Dr. Lewis will discuss the results of his extensive line of research on how polysaccharides modulate the immune system and other organ systems in the context of patients with Alzheimer’s, HIV, MS, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and healthy adults.  Having a proper understanding of the evidence base of nutrition and dietary supplementation and their relationships to chronic disease is important for all allied health practitioners and wellness industry professionals, especially considering all of the marketing hype around diet, food, and dietary supplements.  Dr. Lewis’s lecture provides attendees an evidence-based review of nutrition science that emphasizes some recent important findings that have an impact on health and quality of life.