Wellspring Chinguacousy's Nourish program covers a variety of nutritional topics through education and demonstration. Sessions include proven recipes and guidance from a professional dietitian with cancer experience. 

Demonstration sessions are delivered in a kitchen by a Registered Dietitian, Nourish programs provide educational content, preparation demonstrations, sampling, and take-home program materials and recipes.  

“I really enjoyed the hands-on learning and hugely informative nourish cooking classes. They were fun and I got a chance to meet some other interesting people. I would highly recommend them to anyone.” - Nadine 

“These classes prompted me towards healthy eating. It was fun learning about nutrition as it relates to cancer. The bonus was sipping on delicious tea during the class and tasting the recipes made as demonstration. The recipes were fantastic and delicious!” - Doreen Pinto 

What to expect 

Educational Sessions: 

• Participants take part in an educational session followed by a question period 
• Handouts and recipes are shared via email 

Educational and Demonstration Sessions: 

• These sessions take place in Wellspring’s kitchens 
• Registered Dietitians lead the educational presentation while preparing and sampling recipes related to the content 
• The facilitators weave in information on cooking techniques 
• Questions are fielded throughout the session 
• Handouts are provided at the session along with the recipes 

Specific Nourish topics include: 

PLANT BASED EATING  

If you struggle for new ideas about what to prepare for your meals, and want to explore vegetarian options, this program is for you. In this two-part program, the first session will explore how to live a healthy vegetarian lifestyle ensuring proper nutrition. The second session will give you hands-on experience in preparing healthy vegetarian meals. Bring your appetite so you can enjoy the tasting!  

NUTRITION AND BREAST CANCER  

This is a two-part Nourish series that introduces participants with breast cancer to the evidence linking food, nutrition and physical activity with breast cancer. Session One will focus on guidelines to reduce the risk of breast cancer and recurrence with some bottom-line recommendations. Session Two explores the short- and long-term side-effects and risks related to breast cancer and its treatment including heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, fatigue, insomnia, weight gain and hot flashes. Nutrition and non-nutritional strategies for these side effects will be reviewed. Session Two also includes a cooking demonstration with two easy and delicious recipes. 

BEANS AND GRAINS  

This program will introduce a variety of beans, peas and lentils (pulses) and whole grains. You will learn the recent research on these ancient power foods and how they impact your health. Practical hands-on ways to include pulses and grains into one’s everyday life will be discussed. This is a two-part series. 

ADDING FLAVOUR TO FOOD 

In this program, the use of herbs and spices as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and nutraceutical (phytonutrient) are discussed. The program also includes a review of basic facts of important herbs and spices followed by a cooking demonstration. Session One will emphasize the important role that herbs and spices play as phytonutrients in our diets and includes the demonstration of recipes. Session Two highlights herbs and spices as anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories and demonstrates other recipes. 

SUPER HEALTHY STRATEGIES 

There are many healthy foods, but some are packed with a wide variety of nutrients to make them "super healthy" foods. In this single session, several very healthy foods such as pomegranate, garlic, onions, and broccoli sprouts will be introduced along with the research highlighting their helpful health properties. The leader will demonstrate how these super healthy foods can be incorporated into an everyday diet by presenting several recipes.  

MYTHS AND CONTROVERSIES 

This single session is taught by a Registered Dietitian in a two-hour lecture format. The program answers the popular questions posed by Wellspring members including the subjects of canned foods, GMO, organic foods, microwave cooking, nightshade vegetables, vegetable oils, wheat grass, chia, flax, hemp and juicing. It also covers current popular diets including raw food, alkali, Macrobiotic, Wheat Belly, cleansing and detox. It wraps up with information about cancer and nutrition in the news with some practical tips so that you can bravely wade through and interpret nutrition and cancer news. 

NUTRITION AND PROSTATE CANC?ER 

This single educational session is geared towards the nutritional needs of men diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

TALKING WITH DIETITIANS

In this session, you will meet Wellspring Chinguacousy's dietitian, for an interactive Q&A session focusing on your nutrition and cooking questions. 

Common benefits 

Nourish delivers educational content combined with the demonstration of healthy recipes. The goals are for participants to learn more information, see foods prepared before their eyes and have the chance to taste the final product.  

By learning, seeing and tasting, participants feel more comfortable to incorporate the newly presented foods into their diet and experience the benefits of: 

• Improve health and well-being 
• Reduce side-effects 
• Manage Weight 
• Improve diet and nutritional management 

Related research 

Recent literature has identified that nutrition-related information support is a common need among people living with cancer (Fletcher et al., 2017). Wellspring’s Nourish program is designed to provide nutritional support to members through cancer-focused, dietician-led information sessions and hands-on cooking. The European Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition recommends nutritional interventions for all cancer patients, as this type of support has been demonstrated to improve quality of life and nutritional awareness (Muscaritoli et al., 2021). Furthermore, a study investigating a similar nutrition program in cancer patients noted improvements in social relationships and emotional support following the intervention (Ben-Arye et al., 2016).