The University of Cincinnati physician and integrative health expert connects the dots between our plates and our health.
interview by Bryn Mooth / portrait by Michael Wilson

What interested you in the idea that lifestyle can affect health?
I did my Ph.D. in the field of immunogenetics—how the immune system recognizes us vs. not us. As I was considering what I was going to do with my career, I read an article published by the Cleveland Clinic showing how certain fats affected a gene that causes cancer. This was eye-opening for me: Something that we eat can go into our cells and activate a cancer?

I wrote a letter to the principal investigator and he said I could come as a post-doc. I started studying and going deeper and deeper. Once I finished my residency, I knew that my clinical practice would be focused on the question: How can we help patients take better care of themselves?

What are the 3 most important things we know about the effect of food on our health?
The biggest thing is to avoid ultra-processed foods. Eat food—the stuff that everyone recognizes as food.

Second, slow down, chew well, eat mindfully. Other cultures take time when they eat. In lab studies that compare freshly prepared food and processed food, the speed of eating was one of the key factors.

Third, focus on plants. In order to prevent, manage, and reverse many diseases, we need to eat predominantly plant-based. If you look at the Mediterranean Diet, it’s 80% plant based, and it’s real food. We should be eating 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and 90% of people in Ohio don’t even get five.

What should we make of the rise of weight-loss drugs?
There are 100 million Americans that would qualify for bariatric surgery or prescriptions. We have these technologies and we should use them. The problem of obesity is immense.

From a societal level, it’s not addressing the root cause of the problem, just the symptom. We’re not addressing the foods that we eat, the way we eat, when we eat.

It’s not lack of knowledge, it’s the inability to implement these things. The food industry has figured out that perfect mix of fat and sugar and salt to make products appealing. Why don’t people eat strawberries? Because our taste buds have been trained by strawberry milkshakes. Some would argue that people should take personal responsibility for their eating habits. But by default, the choices they have are unhealthy. The playing field is uneven.

What role do locally produced foods play?
It’s better to eat fresh vs. something that’s a few days old. Within two days you can lose 50% of nutrients. And the environmental reasons are a big component of eating local food because farmers care for their land and protect the soil.

You follow a plant-based diet; what do you love to eat? I like oats with a variety of fruits and nuts, hummus, and chia chocolate pudding with banana. We have a garden, so I enjoy anything that’s in season.

VITAL STATS

Born: near Zagreb, Croatia
Lives in: Montgomery
Career path: Following medical school at the University of Zagreb, joined the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute in 2009. Project scientist at the Cleveland Clinic in the Department of Molecular Biology and Neurosurgery and Brain Tumor Institute. Joined University of Cincinnati as Medical Director at the Osher Center for Integrative Health in 2021. His specialty interests include lifestyle medicine and lifestyle-focused therapies for cardiovascular disease and cancer.