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ForwardSymposium Session: The Polyphenol Effect: Gut Microbiome, Inflammation, and the Brain - A Research-Based Approach to Culinary Medicine for Cognitive Health
The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in regulating inflammation, with implications for brain health. Dietary polyphenols play an important role through both direct and indirect bioactivities on the host and microbial (meta)genomes. With an aging population and few effective therapeutic options for cognitive decline, preventive dietary strategies to support brain health are critical.
Maggie Moon, MS, RD, and Britt Burton-Freeman, PhD, will provide foundational insights into the bioavailability of and the latest research on polyphenols, the gut microbiome, and inflammation, while providing a bridge to cardiometabolic health. Translating research to practice, learn how to identify uniquely high polyphenol foods and empower patients and practitioners alike to integrate scientific findings into actionable nutrition strategies for optimizing brain health.
This is not a webinar or course for purchase - this is a module for credit claiming for our 2025 Spring Symposium attendees and cannot be purchased or taken by non-attendees. These sessions are exclusive to our Symposium; however, the topics may be revisited in the future in the form of a webinar or self-study course.
Learning Objectives
After completing this continuing education activity, health care professionals will be better able to:
- Describe the intersection of dietary polyphenols and inflammation via the gut microbiome.
- Explain the relationship between inflammation and cognitive decline.
- Identify examples of high-polyphenol foods.
- Counsel clients on practical strategies to incorporate high-polyphenol foods into their diets to support a healthy gut microbiome, reduce inflammation, and improve brain health.
Additional Information
Maggie Moon, MS, RD, is a Columbia University-educated, culinary school-trained, award-winning registered dietitian and best-selling author with clinical training from New York Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia and Cornell Universities. She consults for government agencies, national non-profits, and global brands, and serves on multiple expert advisory boards.
The 2nd edition of her best-selling book, The MIND Diet: A Scientific Approach to Enhancing Brain Function, was published in December 2024. It is fully updated with new tips and tools based on the latest research and reader feedback. This is a book for anyone looking for practical nutrition solutions to enhance cognitive resilience, metabolic health, and mental well-being.
For professionals, Moon authored the Neurologic Disorders chapter in Krause and Mahan’s Food and the Nutrition Care Process textbook, and the Brain Health chapter in The Culinary Medicine Textbook, a comprehensive guide for community health initiatives.
She has shared her expertise with millions through state, national, and international conferences, as well as broadcast, print and online media. She is based in Los Angeles, where she enjoys hiking with her husband, cooking with her octogenarian mom, and creating content for @minddietmeals.
Britt Burton-Freeman, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, and Director, Center for Nutrition Research (CNR), Institute for Food Safety and Health at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech). Dr. Burton-Freeman’s research investigates dietary strategies to address risk factors of cardio-metabolic diseases focusing on plant foods/ingredients and their unique nutritional/phytochemical attributes. Her research characterizes the polyphenol profile of various fruits and spices tracing their metabolic consequences after human ingestion, including their dynamic relationship with the gut microbiome influencing metabolite pools affecting local and systemic physiology and health status.
Dr. Burton-Freeman also studies human variability in response to diet as part of NIH’s Nutrition for Precision Health powered by the All of Us Research Program. Dr. Burton-Freeman is actively involved in multiple professional societies dedicated to health and disease abatement, publishes in top journals and is co-Editor-in-Chief of Nutrition and Healthy Aging. She received her BS in Dietetics from the California State University, Chico; her MS and PhD in Nutritional Biology from the University of California, Davis; and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Internal Medicine at University of California, Davis. Dr. Burton-Freeman has held professional appointments in academia and the biotech industry, leading research programs and teams to deliver on basic and clinical science objectives.
DISCLOSURES
Maggie Moon faculty for this educational event is a consultant for Centrum. All relevant financial relationships listed for this individual have been mitigated.
Britt Burton Freeman, faculty for this educational event, is a board member for NutriScience Innovation. All relevant financial relationships listed for this individual have been mitigated.
The planners of this educational activity have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.
An “ineligible company” includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
In support of improving patient care, Great Valley Publishing Company is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
This activity will also award credit for dietetics (CDR CPEU).
RDs and DTRs are to select activity type 102 in their Activity Log. Sphere and Competency selection is at the learner’s discretion.
Available Credit
- 1.00 CDR