Integrating traditional knowledge and modern healthcare through food, nutrition, and diet to promote health and well-being

Title : Integrating traditional knowledge and modern healthcare through food, nutrition, and diet to promote health and well-being

Abstract:

Food, nutrition, and diet are considered traditional knowledge and are also integral to modern healthcare, particularly nutrition, which is both an art and a science and a recognized branch of modern medicine, especially Western medicine.At its core, food nourishes the body and sustains life. Through the nutrients present in food and their functions within the body, the primary goal of food and nutrition is to promote health and well-being. Diets, or sometimes traditional diets, are needed when patients or clients have chronic illnesses and require dietary counseling, diet planning, or dietary modification as part of treatment and healing, with the long-term goal of promoting health and overall well-being. Integrating these two concepts—traditional knowledge and modern healthcare—is a natural partnership that supports health and well-being. Understanding and embracing this integration is an effective strategy for improving health. The main objective of this presentation is to share with learners and participants the great importance of food to the human body. It also highlights that food is the starting point of nutrition—a complex process that begins with eating and continues through digestion, nutrient absorption, utilization, and the excretion of waste. The central goal of this integration is to promote health and well-being by using a simple, humble, and affordable approach that provides everyone with access to nutritious food, regardless of age or gender. Through the use of metaphors, role-playing, lived experiences, and storytelling, the presenter will illustrate how indispensable the integration of traditional knowledge and modern healthcare through food, nutrition, and diet can be. Together, they represent a God-given partnership for promoting health and well-being.

Biography:

Julieta Andico Songco has a Master of Science in Nutrition and a Master of Education (major in Community Nutrition), both from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), and a Cum Laude Consultant Dietitian and a Distinguished Member Awardee of AND Dietetics in Health Care Communities Dietetic Practice Group (DHCC-DPG). She has presented three papers at the International Congress of Dietetics (ICD) with one as both paper and poster presentations at the 17th International Congress of Dietetics at CapeTown, South Africa. She has also been an ICD attendee in Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada. She was the first Philippines Medical Mission RDN.