Speaker: Jim Scala

Topic: Explaining Old Wives Tales:

see 8/12 video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j09Jm8ZYeIVlEtoYa7BTzzl5W-5rZiGh/view

Local author and journalist, James Scala will talk about his book, “Making the Vitamin Connection.” He will explain such “old wives tales” as An apple a day keeps the doctor away, fish is brain food and others such as why were British sailors called limey’s? Many people have heard of them, but they don’t know why they originated and the values they pass on.

Author: Jim has written 12 books on nutrition for the public and coauthored two others with experts in similar fields. He has also written many magazine and newspaper articles explaining diet and aspects of health. His books have been translated into many languages and one, on Rheumatoid Arthritis, was even published in Polish.

Education: Jim received his AB degree in 1960 from Columbia University’s IVY League College as a Korean Veteran. He was then awarded a Public Health Service fellowship to earn a PhD in biochemistry from Cornell University in 1964. He followed this with post-doctoral studies at Harvard and Indiana Universities and focused his career on Nutritional Biochemistry.

Research: He has authored and co-authored over 50 scientific papers. He was elected a fellow in the American College of Nutrition, and the American Institute of Nutrition. He was Certified a Nutrition Specialist by the American College of Nutrition and the US Government.

Video: With support from the Shaklee Corporation, he made a four-part video entitled The Nature of Nutrition which is used in schools and most notably at the US Olympic training center.

Special Projects: Jim served as food planner for the Voyager flight he stood with the pilots when President Ragan awarded them the Gold Medal of Freedom. He worked with colleagues and planned food for three Mt. Everest expeditions. He was an advisor on the board of Walt Disney World’s EPCOT center’s Land Pavilion. He served as Nutritionist on the US Olympic Ski Team for two Olympic Games.

Honorary Degree: Hofstra University awarded him an LHD in 1998 recognizing his book Eating Right for a Bad Gut for people with Crohn’s disease. He was the graduation speaker.

Teaching: Jim served as Professorial Lecturer at Georgetown Medical School where he conducted three classes annually for 20 years to first year medical students. He also lectured and taught classes at several universities including the University of, and the College of Medicine at Toledo, Ohio and U. of Oklahoma. He taught a course entitled Contemporary Nutrition at UC Berkeley.