April 14, 2021
A black bean burger, one of the many recipe offerings from "The Anti-Inflammatory Family Cookbook." Photographs by Harper Point Photography.
Despite the name, the “anti-inflammatory diet” isn’t really a
diet, per se, but a way of approaching, cooking and eating food. It encourages eating more foods that are minimally processed and come from plant sources more often than animal sources, which can lead to better health and wellness and a decrease of inflammatory markers and health conditions associated with inflammation.
A new book, “The Anti-Inflammatory Family Cookbook,” explores recipes and opportunities to encourage this kind of eating. It’s co-authored by Jonathan Deutsch, PhD (BS ‘99), professor in the Department of Food and Hospitality Management and director of the Drexel Food Lab in the College of Nursing & Health Professions, and Alexandra Romey (BS '15, MS '18), culinary developer at Saxbys and former Drexel Food Lab manager. Other co-authors represented a mix of culinary and medical experts: Chef Stefania Patinella, an integrative wellness coach; Hilary McClafferty, MD, medical director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Tucson Medical Center in Arizona; and Maria R. Mascarenhas, a pediatric gastroenterologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.