John La Puma

John La Puma is an Italian-American internist, professionally trained chef and author.

La Puma was born in New York, received his B.A. in 1978 from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, earned an MD from Baylor College of Medicine and trained in internal medicine in Los Angeles. He completed the first U.S. postgraduate fellowship for physicians in clinical ethics at the University of Chicago, became a Clinical Associate Professor there and founded the Lutheran General Center for Clinical Ethics, pioneering hospital clinical ethics consultation in the U.S. He later graduated (in Professional Cooking) from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, part of Le Cordon Bleu and became a Professor of Nutrition at Kendall College School of Culinary Arts. He cooked with Chef Rick Bayless at Topolobampo in Chicago weekly for nearly four years before founding CHEF Clinic, the Cooking, Healthy Eating and Fitness program to prevent and treat obesity, maintain weight loss and measurably promote wellness.

La Puma is co-founder of ChefMD^R, a health and media company, is founder of CHEF Clinic^R and GlutenFreeQuiz for celiac disease screening. The first physician to teach cooking and nutrition in a U.S. medical school, he has authored over 250 original publications, book chapters, abstracts and books. His research interests include weight control, dietary supplement use, employee wellness and medical ethics. His first book for the general public, written with Dr. Michael Roizen, The RealAge Diet: Make Yourself Younger with What You Eat (April 2001) reached The New York Times Bestseller List. His cookbook is Cooking the RealAge Way (May 2003), co-authored with Dr. Roizen. Dr. La Puma contributed recipes to YOU: The Owner’s Manual (May 2005), co-authored by Drs. Roizen and Mehmet Oz. His most recent book is ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine (April 2008), which reached The New York Times Bestseller List in October 2008. In it, La Puma describes culinary medicine (the art of cooking integrated with the science of medicine) and its application to 40 common health conditions. He practices medicine and nutrition and writes books in Santa Barbara, California, and is a social media enthusiast, believing it to have the potential to have the power to help individuals control their health.

Public appearances

Dr. La Puma has appeared numerous times as a motivational and keynote speaker. In June 2001, Dr. La Puma was the commencement speaker at the University of California graduation ceremony of the College of Creative Studies. He spoke about his path from medical school to cooking school back to medical practice, and identified how to eat local and use food as medicine.

Television shows

• "Eat and Cook Healthy with Dr John La Puma!" on PBS, a quarterly PBS Special, 2011-
• "What’s Cookin’ With ChefMD?" on Lifetime Television’s Health Corner Series, 2006-2010
• Guest appearances on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The 700 Club, 2008-

Honors

• National Association of Medical Communicators' Award of Excellence , 2007
• Top Physicians in the U.S. Top Physicians
• Silver and Bronze Medals, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, 32nd Annual U.S. Amateur Winemaking Competition
• First Place, National Instructional Journalism Newsletter Publishers Foundation, 1999

Books and publications

• ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease and Getting Really Healthy, by John La Puma, Rebecca Powell Marx, 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-39462-0
• YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger, by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet Oz, 2005, ISBN 0-06-076531-3 (recipes)
• Cooking the RealAge Way: Turn Back Your Biological Clock with More Than 80 Delicious and Easy Recipes by Michael F. Roizen, John La Puma, 2003, ISBN 0-06-000935-7
• The RealAge Diet: Make Yourself Younger with What You Eat by Michael F. Roizen, John La Puma, 2001, ISBN 0-06-008612-2
• Managed Care Ethics: Essays on the Impact of Managed Care on Traditional Medical Ethics John La Puma, 1998, ISBN 1-57826-012-4
• Ethics Consultation: A Practical Guide by John La Puma, David Schiedermayer, 1994, ISBN 0-86720-797-3
• Numerous contributions to The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, The Annals of Internal Medicine, JillianMichaels.com, Intent.com, Guideposts,Tribune Media Syndicate

External links

• Dr. John La Puma Biography
• John La Puma Cookbook (Official publisher web page)
• Dr. John La Puma on ChefMD
• John La Puma, MD Social Media/Blog World Interview
• John La Puma, MD WhoHub Interview