Bradley Willcox, professor and director of research at the Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, coined the phrase “the intersection of healthy aging and technology is in the kitchen.”

So, what does this have to do with a bread-making machine?

“Healthy aging,” Willcox says, means “aging with minimal chronic diseases and high physical and cognitive function.”

What about the “kitchen” part of the equation?

“Food is medicine,” he told me. “It’s an Okinawan expression and it’s true.”

Does nourishing bread count as medicine?

“You bet,” he replied. “Americans eat a lot of bread, and a lot of it is no good. Eating healthy bread made with whole grains is fiber-rich and associated with a lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, various cancers and better gut health.”

It was time, with technology, to make my own bread.

My choice of bread maker, a Panasonic, was hardly scientific. My neighbor Ray Madigan, a yoga teacher and retired nurse, has owned a Panasonic bread maker for over 10 years and toasted me a slice. That was all the empirical evidence I needed.

Panasonic’s latest model, the SD-R2550 in my kitchen, is a high-tech device with 20 preset programs which offers options to bake everything from French bread, brioche and sourdough to dense German-style rye bread. It also will make gluten-free bread, cake, pizza dough and pasta dough.

I was primed. I purchased yeast, whole wheat flour, rye, etc.

I read through the manual and watched YouTube videos. The main thing they drum into your head is to use precise measurements and follow the recipes to the letter. They also insist that you add the ingredients in the proper sequence, i.e., yeast first, then flour, salt, water, butter, etc.

Everything is added to a little bucket-type container with a paddle on the bottom that mixes and kneads the dough. There’s a tiny dispenser if you want to add nuts or raisins. Of course, this device also bakes the bread. There are heating elements, like in your oven.

Each recipe also has a corresponding menu setting on the LED control panel. You set the size of the loaf, crust shade and, if needed, you can program when to begin the process.

I tried my first loaf and, of course, broke a couple of rules. My old-fashioned scale wasn’t exactly an atomic clock when it came to precision, but it was close enough. Panasonic prefers that you weigh most of the ingredients, but I found as long as the proportions were accurate, i.e., three cups of flour, the bread came out fine. (Erring on the side of caution, I later bought a digital scale.)

All the ingredients were added in the prescribed order, but I decided to add some buckwheat (not in the recipe) because I had some in the pantry, so I substituted some wheat flour for buckwheat.

I pushed the button, expecting the machine to start mixing things, but nothing happened. I checked the manual again and was reminded that the device has a double sensor that adjusts for room and internal temperature to calculate how much time the dough needs to rise and rest.

It must warm up for about 30 minutes, and the computer program takes it from there. (Someone had to write a lot of code for this item.)

I experimented with another half-dozen or so recipes. I even made whole-wheat pizza dough.

Once you get used to this machine, all you do is add the ingredients and walk away.

How cool is that? It comes with recipes, but there are also some available online. You can tweak the “formula” a bit, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t always work (i.e., the bread doesn’t rise).

The downside? It’s about 16 by 8 by 12 inches, so it will take up some room on your counter. At $299 on Amazon, it isn’t cheap, but boy, does it make good bread.

If you’re thinking of getting something healthy for your family this holiday season, you won’t go wrong with this appliance.

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Rob Kay is a freelance writer, based in Honolulu, and is the creator of Fijiguide.com. He can be reached at Robertfredkay@gmail.com.