Food In-Person: Brain Health

Cooking to Nourish: Brain Health
One In-Person Session
Sat., Mar. 15, 2025, 1-3:30 pm MT

Some research has found that activities like solving crossword puzzles or playing a musical instrument can help keep your brain nimble as you age. But there’s growing evidence that your food choices can also play a positive role for your brain health. This class examines diet and brain health in two parts: one part looks at specific foods and nutrients related to cognition with the help of nutrition expert Dianne Koehler, while the second part features Chef Maddie LeBrun who explores how to prepare healthy dishes that optimize brain function.

In part one, Koehler spends 30 minutes covering the top nutrients needed for peak cognition. Koehler says she wants students to discover how these nutrients work, to understand the functional challenges caused by nutrient deficiencies and to learn how to accomplish peak levels in their diets regularly.

In part two, LeBrun conducts a 2-hour, hands-on cooking class where you put to use what you learned from Koehler. LeBrun guides you through the steps of preparing and cooking a meal designed specifically to impart maximum nutritional support for brain health. LeBrun calls the meal “a fulfilling, satisfying and delicious” experience.

Class is held at the Nutrition Therapy Institute in Arvada, Colorado. Seating is limited, so register early!

Dianne Koehler is a 2007 graduate of the Nutrition Therapy Institute (NTI) who has since become a teacher and community speaker. She has continued her education through additional training in holistic health, high-level wellness, herbal therapeutics, functional blood chemistry analysis and endocrinology. She has been an instructor at NTI for more than 10 years, and became academic dean in 2017 and director of NTI in 2019.

Maddie LeBrun is a former registered nurse with a passion for preventative medicine and wellness. In 2022, she graduated from both NTI’s Nutrition Therapy Master program and Natural Food Chef program. She leads workshops teaching people how to cook to support their health and is an assistant instructor in the Natural Food Chef program at NTI.