Keeping It Fresh

Stony Brook nutritionist shares her back-to-the-basics approach for good health 

By Ellen Cooke

For 35 years and counting, Josephine Connolly-Schoonen has been sharing new recipes for healthy eating and living with Stony Brook patients, students, families and community members … with no end in sight.  

Taking her high school guidance counselor’s advice to follow her passion and get a nutrition degree from Cornell University some four decades ago, Connolly-Schoonen, PhD, RD, has been sharing the latest nutrition research, her joy of cooking, and overall “clean eating, living and being” guidance ever since. Now at Stony Brook Medicine (SBM) for more than three decades, she practices what she preaches and teaches, on the job and off. Her main mission — educating Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) patients, healthcare providers, outpatients and local communities on life-changing, even lifesaving, behaviors — has only grown over time.

“I always loved biology and the sciences, and then I fell in love with nutrition,” said Connolly-Schoonen, who is also executive director of the Renaissance School of Medicine’s Nutrition Division, which offers two graduate nutrition degree programs. “What you eat has an incredible impact on every aspect of your physiology. That’s what I really try to teach patients, or when we do work in the community. It’s also what I’ve role modeled in my own household.”

A big part of her recipe for healthy eating, she said, goes back to basics: “I want to help people understand how unhealthy ultra-processed foods are and how they can wreak havoc inside your body. How important whole foods are. It’s an investment in your health, both short- and long-term, to make those smart choices. And if you have kids, providing healthy meals and being a role model for them is an investment in their health.” 

Connolly-Schoonen has been spreading these messages and expanding the smorgasbord of nutrition offerings at SBM since her arrival in 1989. That’s when she came on board to work on a faculty member’s five-year New York State Department of Health grant. “I started to think about gaps in nutrition service here,” she recalled, “and how to grow programs and services to serve patients, students and communities in a financially sustainable way.”  

What began as a nutrition department with eight inpatient dieticians has evolved into a thriving and ever-evolving enterprise, including a dietician internship program, nutrition therapy for medically complex inpatients, outpatient nutrition therapy services in Lake Grove’s Family Practice Center, and the Target Fitness weight management program that’s been going strong for 25 years. Connolly-Schoonen also oversees dieticians who work with areas across campus, such as Student Health Services, and in a program that helps student-athletes optimize their performance through nutrition. There’s a food pantry and a program known as WIC (Women Infant and Children) that provides healthy food to low-income pregnant women and their children, as well as a flourishing Stony Brook Heights Rooftop micro farm she conceived of and created for SBUH, along with 10 community gardens, back in 2011.

“Dr.Connolly-Schoonen has been a driving force in advancing nutrition in clinical care, education and public health. Her colleagues — and countless students — benefit from her mentorship and tireless advocacy for nutrition as a cornerstone of health and well-being,”
— Sritha Rajupet, chair, Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine

“In my years as an intern and student, Josephine provided countless resources and growth opportunities to help my fellow students and I start our careers,” said Senior Clinical Nutritionist Emily Storge.

And SBUH clinical dietician Sophia-Jo Bluavelt shared, “Josephine’s mentorship has been invaluable, shaping the way I approach my work with both compassion and scientific rigor.”

From soil to substance, Josephine Connolly-Schoonen takes a hands-on approach to nutrition and teaching.

Connolly-Schoonen credits SBM leadership with continuously supporting her ideas and ambitions. And there’s no slowing down for our visionary nutrition expert. Among other endeavors, she’s currently collaborating on research that looks at the effect protein intake has on gut health and even a body’s responsiveness to cancer treatments. ‘“There are so many people struggling with gut health issues right now,” she said. “Inflammatory GI issues — specifically small bacterial overgrowth — can really impact people’s lives. There’s so much work that we need to do.”

Another area she plans to pursue focuses on helping people navigate the complex terrain of making healthy choices, which she said is getting trickier all the time.

“There’s just so much misinformation on the internet and in social media,” she said. “And the food industry spends a lot of money marketing its products, but not necessarily publicizing synthetic ingredients they add for taste or for a longer shelf life. They become ultra-processed foods, which are not nearly as healthy as advertised,” she said.

“Going shopping is confusing, even for people trying to do the right thing!” she added.

Connolly-Schoonen suggests planting a variety of herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano), and a few vegetable plants, when starting a garden.

Connolly-Schoonen said she would like to address these issues by starting a nutrition research and education center. “I’ve drafted a business plan and have presented it to various leaders and potential funders. The center would pursue valuable, interdisciplinary research, and then translate that research into culinary medicine so as to impact how people eat and therefore their health,” she explained. “We also aim  to provide opportunities for interdisciplinary education among medical nursing and nutrition students to integrate nutrition training and patient care in this area.”

Ultimately, she said, “We want to help patients and community members break through the misinformation circulating in all types of media and understand how nutrition really impacts their health and how to use nutrition strategies to optimize it.”

On-the-job nutrition counseling is an outgrowth of Connolly-Schoonen’s lifelong practice of and passion for healthy eating and living, one she’s passed on to her three children, ages 29, 27 and 23, who are now all “fabulous cooks” in their own rights, she claimed.

So, what’s motivated Connolly-Schoonen to continue to make a difference in the field she is so passionate about over all these years?

“I love how my career has evolved into more planning, supporting and strategizing on a vast array of nutrition programs and services. What I still find most satisfying, though, is teaching students and working with patients. It keeps me on my toes to provide the most up-to-date information. The research is always evolving and applying it to patient care is a chance to literally change someone’s life and how they feel about their health. It doesn’t get more rewarding than that!”

Here are some practices Connolly-Schoonen follows and recommends:

Plan healthy meals and bulk-prep meal components for the week and weeks ahead — “I love when my freezer is all packed with glass Pyrex containers of different meal options.”

Put your muscle into meal prep — “I spend a tremendous amount of time chopping fresh veggies. It’s a time commitment but it builds up those arms and counts as physical activity!”

Buy and eat plant-based foods — “I always ask people to select foods that look most like when they were alive — all kinds of vegetables, fruits, nuts. For your budget, and freshness, buy them when they’re in season. And realize that there are vegetables that are always cheaper, like parsnips and turnips, that people just aren’t as familiar with.”

Spice things up — “You can roast anything — beets, turnips, carrots, squash. I peel and chop them and then toss them in bowl with a little olive oil. I always put in a little sea salt, and then I pick a spice such as rosemary for cauliflower and dill for carrots.”

Teach your children well — “We’ve always maintained a strict ‘no soda or candy’ rule in our house and I took my kids grocery shopping from an early age. I would have them help pick out the vegetables with all the beautiful colors. And if they were asking for less healthy options, I would say: ‘I can’t possibly buy that because I love you too much.’ My youngest son once said to me, ‘Can you just love me a little less?’”