When the Culinary Institute of America and Harvard University recently hosted a gathering of health professionals from around the country in St. Helena, the focus was on how to make healthy living — and eating — a bigger part of the American lifestyle.

Pooling their knowledge, the chefs and health folks were creating and eating foods that were both delicious and healthful, while listening to the latest research from Harvard doctors and sharing ideas that will inspire Americans to aim for a healthier lifestyle — without sacrificing the pleasures of food. These conferences, “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives,” will continue to take place twice a year at the CIA, Greystone in St. Helena.

One of the key points emphasized was that physicians can play a key role in transforming the state of American health by serving as role models — as they did in the ’70s when doctors began giving up smoking.

But the idea of being a role model is nothing new to one of the presenters at the conference, Dr. Heather Piña. “We’ve been doing that for years,” she said. Piña, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, is the director of the St. Helena Center for Health in Angwin, where she oversees three programs designed to help people create healthier lifestyles. “One” is a one-day intensive assessment where a patient receives a “super physical” with cutting edge screenings, works with the doctor and her team (who even dress in the client’s favorite colors that day) and leaves with a personalized blueprint for health; another, “Transformations,” is an 11-day residential weight management program; and the third is a seven-day residential program to help clients stop smoking.

Svelte, energetic and clearly brimming with good health and high spirits, Piña is a walking endorsement of her programs, but she said she follows her own advice mostly because “I want to feel good. It’s my lifestyle now, to exercise and choose healthy foods.”

The mother of two boys, ages 5 and 10, said she realizes healthy eating is “a day-by-day path with kids.”

“I like to cook when I have time,” she added. “I’ve learned to cook fast. I rely on the three S’s: soup, salad and stir-fry.”

Although not a vegetarian, Piña said she follows a “plant-based” diet, incorporating fruits and vegetables. She has devised a list of her 10 “power foods” and starts her day with a smoothie that incorporates five of them — soy protein powder, oats, berries, flax seeds and walnuts.

She also acknowledges the special challenges of navigating a healthy path through the bounty of a food- and wine-loving valley.

“Nobody’s perfect,” she said. “I don’t bake chocolate chip cookies because I know I’d eat them all. I say pick your poisons carefully and enjoy them. I don’t have desserts very often, but if I do, it’s going to be chocolate.”

Transformations

Sitting in a conference room at the health center, Piña was enthusiastic about describing the Transformations program, partly because of its track record, and partly, she explained, because donations from the Trinchero family have made it possible to offer scholarships to help offset the $5,600 cost of the 11-day stay.

Piña, who worked at the Pritikin Longevity Institute after finishing her residency in internal medicine at UCLA, said a year went into planning the program, which takes a holistic approach to weight management. Clients stay in hotel-like luxury rooms overlooking mountains and vineyards of Angwin. Health evaluations are combined with in-depth education, cooking classes and group sessions that focus on social, emotional and spiritual needs. Exercise programed into the day includes yoga, walks in the hills, swimming and work in the on-site gym.

“People are increasingly alienated by a health care system where procedures are ‘done’ to them,” one of the center’s brochures explains. Their programs envision “a physician who acts as your personal knowledge partner and is with you every step of the way,” which is, Piña said, the way Transformations works.

The results are impressive. Even within the 11 days, participants drop weight, and their statistics for LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and tryglicerides show marked improvement.

Most of all, Piña said, the participants leave with a set of “tools not rules” to help them in the real world.

Patty Brown discovered Transformations on the Internet in 2004 and is still singing its praises today: She lost more than 60 pounds after getting a start in a Transformations session, and she’s kept it off, she said, talking to the Register from her home in Hollister. “I had always struggled with my weight. I was one of those people who’d tried everything — Weight Watchers, cabbage soup, Jenny Craig ... I’d lose a little weight and then put it all back on.

 “The price worried me a little, but it turned out to be the best money I’ve ever spent,” she said. “It was the first program I’d found that addressed all dimensions. I really began to understand about food and what it’s like to live a healthy lifestyle. It was a safe place, and when I left I was a little afraid, wondering if I could keep it up. But I did. When people see me now, some don’t recognize me, some say ‘Oh, you’ve lost a lot of weight,’ but the ones I like best are the ones who say, ‘Oh, you look so healthy.’ What’s on the outside is a reflection of changes that happened inside. I’m going to be 45 and I didn’t look or feel this good when I was 25.”

Dr. Piña shared some of her favorite recipes with Register readers. For more information about Transformations, including financial aid applications, call (800) 358-9195 or visit www.shhTransformations.com.





Dr. Piña’s 10 power foods

1. Broccoli/cruciferous vegetables:

 Provides antioxidents, calcium, folate and indoles that cause apoptosis (suicide) of cancer cells.

2. Blueberries:

Provides more antioxidents than any other fruit or vegetable, and improves memory.

3. Walnuts:

Source of Omega-3 fatty acids, lowers triglycerides and LDL levels (bad cholesterol), raises HDL (good cholesterol); provides antioxidants, folates and other B vitamins and ellagic acid, which causes apoptosis of cancer cells.

4. Green leafy vegetables

Source of folate, lutein, fiber, antioxidants and calcium.

5. Grapes, red wine, concord grape juice

Reduces platelet stickiness; resveratrol, reduces endothelin 1, thereby protecting arteries.

6. Oats

Contains fiber, which lowers cholesterol, and antioxidants; decreases blood pressure.

7. Salmon/flax seeds

Contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which decrease platelet stickiness; decrease triglycerides and LDL cholesterol; promotes anti-aging in the brain and skin. Note: flax seeds are recommended for women only.

8. Tomato

Contains antioxidants and lycopene, which promotes prostate health.

9. Tea/cocoa

Contains antioxidants and L-theanine, which boosts immune defenses.

10. Soy

Contains isoflavones, antioxidants and fiber, and lowers LDL cholesterol. Recommended consumption 20-40 grams of soy protein a day.