Annie Fenn, MD

Hello and welcome to the Brain Health Kitchen! I am a physician, a chef, and the author of The Brain Health Kitchen: Preventing Alzheimer’s Through Food (Artisan 2023), a science-based cookbook and care manual for the brain. My mission is to help you fend off Alzheimer’s and other dementias while still eating delicious food.

I founded the Brain Health Kitchen in 2015. It is still the only cooking school of its kind focused exclusively on helping people prevent cognitive decline through food and lifestyle. Brain Health Kitchen has grown to be more than a cooking school—it is an online resource for information about preventing Alzheimer’s; it’s a newsletter where I write to you twice a week with new recipes and brain health updates; it’s a series of week-long Brain Health Retreats around the world; and it’s a book. Thank you for being here!

Join the Brain Health Kitchen newsletter community here.

My path from physician to chef:

I’m a Board-Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I graduated from the Chicago Medical School/Finch University of Health Sciences and completed a four year residency in Chicago. From the day I delivered my first baby at Cook County Hospital as a third year medical student, I knew obstetrics and women’s health would be my passion. I moved to Jackson, Wyoming shortly after residency and practiced for the next 6 years as a solo doctor. In time, I brought in partners who helped me build a women’s health center focused on obstetrics, gynecology, family practice and pediatrics.

After twenty years as an ob-gyn, I traded in my stethoscope for an apron to pursue my passion for the culinary arts. But it was my mother’s diagnosis with dementia that spurred me to dive into the science of brain-healthy eating to learn how to slow down the disease. 

Cooking is the best way I know, as a physician, to radically improve health.
My cooking classes are packed with easy, delicious recipes using the foods that have been proven to protect the brain from decline. My students learn which foods are neuroprotective, which ones accelerate cognitive decline, and how to prepare foods using brain-friendly cooking techniques.

I have taught the Brain Health Kitchen method of cooking throughout the U.S. and abroad in diverse venues such as women’s and men’s groups, medical schools, churches, and wellness retreats, both in-person and virtually. To date, thousands of participants have enrolled in the hands-on cooking school or learned from me online. Many, many students tell me that Brain Health Kitchen has changed their lives. My mission is to empower you with the information you need to take care of your brain for the rest of your long, vibrant life.