Nourish to Flourish: Food as Medicine
- meredithchubb
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The prevalence of chronic illness has steadily increased over the past few decades, with roughly 90% of the annual healthcare cost spent on chronic illness according to the American Heart Association. Doctors and other healthcare providers are now looking at diet as a way to complement modern medicine in an effort to treat or even prevent certain chronic conditions. Chronic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, and some neurologic syndromes can all be treated with prescriptive diets.
What is FIM?
FIM or Food is Medicine is the idea that utilization of a nutrient dense and diverse diet can prevent, manage, and treat diet related chronic conditions. Maintaining a healthy diet also is the cornerstone to promote health and well-being. Healthy diets rich in nutrients provide our bodies with good muscle and bone strength, maintain cognitive function, aid with digestion, maintain skin and eye health, and boosts immunity. Awareness of what we are putting into our bodies ideally will prevent chronic illness from occurring. However, after they are present, physicians are looking to prescriptive diets or medically tailored meals to help treat and potentially cure the chronic condition.
Types of Diets
For some individuals a particular diet may be recommended based on a diagnosis. Here are some examples of different prescriptive diets and whom they may benefit.
DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) - This diet is designed to help lower blood pressure. It is characterized by foods high in potassium, calcium, and magnesium. It also limits sugars, sodium, and saturated fats. It includes eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, and nuts.
Anti-Inflammatory (Mediterranean Diet) - This diet is designed to decrease systemic inflammation. It is characterized by eating foods high in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin C, polyphenols, and foods high in probiotics. Examples here are fish, whole grains, olive oil, leafy vegetables, some fermented foods, nuts, and seeds.
Low Sodium (salt restriction) - This diet is recommended for those with high blood pressure, heart disease, or kidney disease.
Low carbohydrate - This diet is commonly used for weight loss and reducing insulin levels. It is characterized by limiting total intake of carbohydrates to 50-150 grams of carbohydrates per day, moderate fat and moderate protein. By limiting carbohydrates the body reduces insulin levels causing it to burn fat for energy.
Ketogenic diet - This diet is used for a variety of different disorders including weight loss, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and certain cancers. It is characterized by high fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate intake. This diet is similar to a low carb diet, however it is more restrictive. As the body is deprived of carbohydrates the metabolism changes. Ketone bodies are produced and used as energy instead. Other benefits the ketogenic diet has shown is the potential to reduce free radical damage and increase antioxidants.
Barriers to healthy eating
Barriers to healthy eating include food insecurity, nutrition insecurity, affordability of healthy food, access to healthy food, food marketing, and certain eating behaviors. Food insecurity occurs when food is not readily available, nutrition insecurity occurs when healthy and nutritious food is not available. The average american diet is high in refined carbohydrates and sugar-laden foods. Foods such as white bread, pasta, sugary drinks, pizza, french fries, cereal, instant noodles, and granola bars are all examples of refined carbohydrates. These items are readily available with the longest shelf life and the lowest cost, making them more appealing for those on a budget. Depending on location, access to fresh produce can be difficult. Food marketing can also be confusing. Many products are labeled in a way that makes them sound healthy, however these foods often contain added sugar and preservatives. Fresh produce is often more expensive than canned and organic items can be priced even higher.
Solutions
Start small. Make small changes initially to create big impact in the end. One way to keep the cost of food down is to learn to cook. Home cooked meals are often cheaper than eating out and typically healthier. Buy produce in season. Local fruits and vegetables that are in season are often the cheapest and the most tasty. Produce that has to be shipped half way across the world to land in your nearest grocery store does not have near the nutrients or the flavor of in season produce. Farmers markets are a great place to start to find reasonably priced in season produce. Additionally, there are government resources to ensure everyone can have access to a nutritious diet. The department of health and human services is working on policies and a framework for healthcare and the food industry to work in harmony for the betterment of all americans.
Conclusion
Eating a holistic, natural, and diverse diet has many benefits and can increase quality of life and longevity. With the rise in rates of chronic illness and the increased healthcare costs associated with it looking at diet has become more important than ever. Although there are some barriers, healthcare providers are putting a renewed emphasis on healthy eating as well as using certain diets are treatment regimens. As more research is done the field of food is medicine is sure to continue to increase.
References
Graber, E. (2022, February 22). Food as medicine. American Society for Nutrition. https://nutrition.org/food-as-medicine/
Volpp, K. G., Berkowitz, S. A., Sharma, S. V., Anderson, C. A. M., Brewer, L. C., Elkind, M. S. V., … Gardner, C. D. (2023). Food is medicine: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 148, 1417–1439. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001182
Schwartz, G.L., & Arias, I.M. (2024). Food Is Medicine : The time is now. The American Journal of Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2024
Masood, W., Annamaraju, P., Khan Suheb, M. Z., & Uppaluri, K. R. (2023, June 16). Ketogenic diet. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/
Gropper, S. S. (2023). The role of nutrition in chronic disease. Nutrients, 15(3), 664. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030664
Berg, S. (2020, July 9). 4 ways to help patients with chronic disease make dietary changes. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/prevention-wellness/4-ways-help-patients-chronic-disease-make-dietary-changes
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (n.d.). DASH eating plan. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Anti-inflammatory diet.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2024, September 14). Our vision for Food Is Medicine. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/foodismedicine/understanding-food-medicine/our-vision-food-medicine
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