Bosco's 'hearty' lessons will cook up healthy treats

David Knox 1607 - 1607 • Published 19 Sep 2008 12:30 0 Comments

A PEEBLES chef is cooking from the heart. And he is about to revolutionise the NHS.

Bosco Santimano"s You Can Cook company has opened the first ever treatment kitchen in a Scottish hospital.

And today (Friday) he will guide heart patients in cardiac-friendly cooking.

Dr Ian Todd, consultant within the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at the Astley Ainslie Hospital, was behind the project.

Dr Todd told the Peeblesshire News: 'We spend a lot of time explaining to patients why and how they need to change their health behaviours - the next stage is to actually help them do it.

'We"ve done something similar with exercise classes so we thought why not try a more hands-on approach with diet.'

The classes are aimed at identifying the link between a healthy diet and a healthy heart. The patients will be shown which ingredients to choose, including foods that are low in saturated fats and cholesterol.

Bosco"s company supplied the hospital with the required specifications for the new kitchen.

This week the chef, who is originally from Goa, launched the initiative by serving up a healthy banquet for nurses and doctors.

And today the first class will take place - with 18 patients from the cardiac unit signing up for the lesson.

Bosco told us: 'Diet is a big factor in preventing heart disease.

'I"m hoping to show patients that they can enjoy a simple and healthy diet, but not at the expense of their tastebuds.

'I want to show the patients that the food they eat can be as advantageous to their health as any medicines.

'Dr Todd had been looking to do something with diets and cooking when we spoke to one of the hospital"s occupational therapists - it all fell into place from there.'

You Can Cook are also lining up classes for recovering stroke victims as well as diabetics and allergy sufferers.

And they hope to roll the initiative out to other hospital across the country.

Bosco added: 'We hope that other hospitals will eventually pick up on what we are doing.

'Plans are already in place at the Astley Ainslie Hospital to run classes for patients with other medical conditions.'

The Astley Ainslie Hospital specialises in post acute care and rehabilitation for patients with cardiac disease, strokes and brain injuries.

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 19 Sep 08

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