CERTIFICATE
CULINARY MEDICINE COURSE
Certificate in Culinary Medicine
Food • Energy • Chinese Medicine • Seasonal Living • The Art of Healing Through Food
For thousands of years, people have understood that what we eat, how we prepare it, and how we live with the rhythms of nature can profoundly influence our health and vitality.
This immersive Culinary Medicine program brings together Food Science, Dietetics, Macrobiotic cooking, Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Five Elements, seasonal living, and Oriental energetic diagnosis to create a practical and holistic approach to health.
You will learn to see food not simply as calories or nutrients, but as something that can support the body, emotions, energy, and spirit.
At the heart of the course is the ancient Chinese Medicine understanding of the Five Elements—Tree/Wood, Fire, Soil/Earth, Metal, and Water—and their relationship to our organ systems, meridians, seasons, foods, emotions, and way of life.
Learn to understand the connections between:
Organ systems and their meridians
The Five Elements and the changing seasons
Foods and their energetic qualities
Cooking methods and specific health goals
Emotions, energy, and physical well-being
The body’s visible signs through face, tongue, hands, and more
Eastern healing traditions and modern nutritional understanding
The 5 Elements Journey
The Certificate in Culinary Medicine is divided into five sections, corresponding to the Five Elements:
TREE / WOOD → FIRE → SOIL / EARTH → METAL → WATER
Each Element explores a different aspect of the body, nature, food, energy, and the human experience.
All five sections must be successfully completed to receive the Culinary Medicine Certificate.
Throughout the program, you will:
Learn to apply Chinese Medicine Five Elements Theory to cooking, health, and daily life
Develop a deeper understanding of food as medicine
Discover ways to support vitality, balance, and longevity
Learn the foundations of Oriental Visual Diagnosis through the face, hands, palms, tongue, and other physical signs
Explore the relationship between food, emotions, energy, and the seasons
Develop greater awareness of your own true axis and center
Learn practical cooking techniques and seasonal menu planning
Experience the alchemy of transforming what challenges us into medicine
Culinary Medicine in Practice
Each of the five Element sections includes a combination of pre-recorded teachings, seasonal cooking instruction, live cooking classes, and live Q&A sessions.
The pre-recorded material allows you to learn at your own pace, while the live sessions give you an opportunity to cook together, ask questions, and integrate the material into your own life.
TREE / WOOD ENERGY — $350
Spring • Liver • Gallbladder • Growth & Movement
Introduction to Yin & Yang and the Five Elements
Spring / Tree Energy cooking class
Liver & Gallbladder: health, imbalance, and energetic relationships
Discussion of topics such as Hepatitis, Gallbladder Stones, and related conditions
Liver & Gallbladder Meridians
Seasonal Menu Planning for all seasons
2 live-on-Zoom seasonal cooking classes — 3 hours total
2 live-on-Zoom Q&A sessions — 4 hours total
FIRE ENERGY — $350
Summer • Heart • Small Intestine • Connection & Joy
Introduction to Yin & Yang and the Five Elements
Summer / Fire Energy cooking class — 1½ hours
Heart & Small Intestine: health, imbalance, and energetic relationships
Discussion of topics such as High and Low Blood Pressure, Heart Attack, and more
Triple Heater / San Jiao Meridian
Heart Governor / Pericardium Meridian
Tongue Diagnosis
Your Face Never Lies — Facial Diagnosis
Crohn’s & Colitis
2 live-on-Zoom seasonal cooking classes — 3 hours total
2 live-on-Zoom Q&A sessions — 4 hours total
SOIL / EARTH ENERGY — $350
Late Summer • Spleen • Stomach • Pancreas • Nourishment & Centering
Introduction to Yin & Yang and the Five Elements
Late Summer / Soil Energy cooking class — 1½ hours
Stomach, Spleen & Pancreas: health, imbalance, and energetic relationships
Discussion of topics such as Diabetes, Hypoglycemia, Stomach Ulcers, and more
Stomach, Spleen & Pancreas Meridians
Diagnosis of Hands & Palms
Culinary Medicine School Home Remedies
2 live-on-Zoom seasonal cooking classes — 3 hours total
2 live-on-Zoom Q&A sessions — 4 hours total
METAL ENERGY — $350
Autumn • Lung • Large Intestine • Breath & Letting Go
Introduction to Yin & Yang and the Five Elements
Fall / Metal Energy cooking class — 1½ hours
Lung & Large Intestine: health, imbalance, and energetic relationships
Lung & Large Intestine Meridians
Strong & Healthy Lungs
Digestive Distress
2 live-on-Zoom seasonal cooking classes — 3 hours total
2 live-on-Zoom Q&A sessions — 4 hours total
Current Metal Energy Schedule
October 6, 2026 — 4:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Cooking Class
November 3, 2026 — 4:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Cooking Class
November 7, 2026 — 6:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Q&A
November 17, 2026 — 4:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Q&A
Pre-recorded and live-on-zoom Metal Energy teachings will be provided and starting on October 6 and may be watched at your convenience.
WATER ENERGY — $350
Winter • Kidney • Bladder • Essence, Will & Renewal
Introduction to Yin & Yang and the Five Elements
Winter / Water Energy cooking class — 1½ hours
Kidney & Bladder: health, imbalance, and energetic relationships
Kidney & Bladder Meridians
Bone & Joint Health
Women’s Health
Adrenal / Thyroid Imbalances
Sea Vegetable discussion
2 live-on-Zoom seasonal cooking classes — 3 hours total
2 live-on-Zoom Q&A sessions — 4 hours total
Current Water Energy Schedule
January 5, 2027 — 4:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Cooking Class
January 30, 2027 — 6:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Q&A
February 2, 2027 — 4:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Cooking Class
February 16, 2027 — 4:00 PM
Live-on-Zoom Q&A
Pre-recorded and live-on-zoom Metal Energy teachings will be provided and starting on January 5 and may be watched at your convenience.
Tree/Wood, Fire, and Soil/Earth schedules: TBA
Live schedules are subject to change.
The Four Pillars of Culinary Medicine
1. Cooking with Macrobiotic & Holistic Principles
Learn to prepare food that supports balance, vitality, nourishment, and seasonal harmony.
2. Oriental Visual Diagnosis
Begin developing an understanding of how the face, tongue, hands, palms, and other visible signs can offer insight into the body’s condition.
3. An Oriental Approach to Healing
Explore traditional Eastern approaches to health, including food, cooking, lifestyle, seasonal awareness, home remedies, and energetic balance.
4. Philosophy for Wholeness
Explore the deeper relationship between food, health, emotions, nature, and the way we choose to live—bringing body, soul, and spirit into greater alignment.
What You Will Take With You
By completing this program, you will gain:
A deeper understanding of food as medicine
Practical tools for applying Five Elements Theory to everyday cooking and living
Greater awareness of seasonal health and nourishment
An introduction to Oriental Visual Diagnosis
Practical cooking and menu-planning skills
A bridge between Western nutrition and Eastern wisdom
Greater awareness of the relationship between body, emotions, energy, and spirit
Tools to support your own journey toward balance, vitality, and longevity
Personal guidance and integration through live Q&A sessions
What Students Say
“This course far exceeds my expectations. I'm so glad to be learning from her.”
— P.N.
“For the first time, I understand the Five Transformations and how to apply them. Bettina has a great gift of patience and deep knowledge of healing through food.”
— S.N.
“The training with Bettina was outstanding. I’d recommend this program to anyone looking to enhance physical, emotional, or spiritual well-being.”
— Dr. B.M. Mark
Certification
Students who successfully complete all five Element sections and the required homework will receive a Certificate in Culinary Medicine from the Culinary Medicine School, signed by founder Bettina Zumdick.
Course Fee
$350 per Five Elements section
Total for all five sections: $1,750
Fee as of September 1, 2026.
Payment may be made by Venmo, Zelle, PayPal (+5%), check, cash, or money order.
Reserve Your Space
To enroll, please contact:
Bettina Zumdick
bettinazumdick@gmail.com
(413) 429-5610
Cancellation Policy
Payments will be refunded in full, less a $20 processing fee, when cancellation occurs 14 or more days before the start of the course.
No credit or refund is available for cancellations made 13 days or less before the start date, failure to attend, or leaving the program or an individual event early.
Bettina Zumdick reserves the right to cancel a program at any time. If a program is cancelled by the Culinary Medicine School, participants will receive a full refund.
A Call to Conscious Living
We are living in a pivotal moment—personally, collectively, and globally. Each of us is a unique individual, yet inseparably part of a larger whole. Our daily choices ripple outward, shaping not only our own lives, but the consciousness of our communities, our world, and even the universe.
Now more than ever, we have the opportunity to contribute to humanity’s golden dream: a life of Peace, Health, and Joy, with Enough for All. Every action rooted in care and awareness helps usher in the shift in consciousness that so many of us feel is both needed and inevitable.
This course invites you to become a mapmaker of that change—to live with intention, integrity, and vitality.
When you join this course, you lay the foundation for becoming a practicing idealist—someone who not only envisions a better world but lives it, beginning with their own body, mind, and daily nourishment. You’ll learn how to understand and care for your physical body, support healing, and cultivate resilience from the inside out.
Light Lunch To Go: Sweet Potato Salad, Black Bean Burger with Tofu Sour Cream, Cornbread and Cabbage/Carrot Coleslaw