From Galen to the Whisclepius
The statement "Let food be your food and medicine your medicine, unless it concerns culi-clinical and culi-medical nutritional solutions" pays tribute to Claudius Galenus (Galen) — an influential physician from the second century AD whose work shaped medical practice in Europe for centuries.
Galen served as personal physician to three Roman emperors, including Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus — known to many as the antagonist in the film Gladiator.
He drew a clear distinction between food and medicine, yet also viewed them as related and complementary: food primarily supported the healthy body, while medication was applied in cases of illness or disruption.
Culi-Clinical and Culi-Medical Food represent a contemporary interpretation of Galen's idea that nutrition plays a key role in health—enriched with today's precision, creativity, and scientific substantiation, and further complemented by an Epicurean notion: "taste" as a driving force within the food industry.
Within gastrological sciences, taste is described as the most individual impression of the most individual sensory perceptions—elicited by food and drink, and influenced by contextual factors.
This approach transcends the classic boundary between nutrition and care. It frames nutrition as intervention, an integral component of medicine, tailored to individual needs and embedded in a clinical-medical context. Without the claim that nutrition prevents or solves everything.
Galen would likely interpret the addition of Culi-Clinical and Culi-Medical Food Solutions to this statement as a sober refinement of his philosophy — an acknowledgment that appropriate, hyper-personalized nutrition plays a key role within a broader preventive and interventional landscape, albeit with today's precision, creativity, and scientific foundation.
The strength of Culi-Clinical and Culi-Medical Food lies in their transdisciplinary nature: they integrate nutritional science, culinary expertise, and medical relevance into one coherent concept.
On the one hand, they are attuned to sensory, nutritional, and motor needs; on the other, they are presented in a tasteful and appealing way, aiming to support recovery, prevent co-morbidities, and demonstrably improve quality of life.
This approach is the result of transdisciplinary collaboration between academics, researchers, and field experts within CRIGA and the Center for Gastrology.
The Whisclepius — also known as the Whisculaap — was chosen as the symbol for this Culi-Clinical and Culi-Medical approach.
It is a creative fusion of two powerful symbols:
• On one hand, the whisk, representing cooking, stirring, and blending;
• On the other, the Rod of Asclepius, entwined by a serpent, associated with the god Asclepius, renowned for his healing powers.
As early as the Greco-Roman period, Asclepius was venerated as a god of healing, and his staff evolved into the preferred emblem for medical and healthcare institutions worldwide, including the World Health Organization (WHO).
By combining the whisk and the serpent, a visual bridge is created between the realms of gastrology and healthcare — between culinary nutrition as science, craft, and art, and its clinical and medical applications, both preventive and restorative.