{"id":489279,"date":"2026-03-22T12:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/489279\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T12:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:49:10","slug":"treating-the-food-we-eat-as-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/489279\/","title":{"rendered":"Treating the food we eat as medicine\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Human health is shaped by far more than what happens in a doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Research estimates that as much as 80% to 90% of health outcomes are influenced by factors outside of medical care, including diet, physical activity and other everyday habits.<\/p>\n

Yet food, one of the most powerful drivers of health, is rarely treated as medicine.<\/p>\n

The concept of food as medicine isn\u2019t new, said UT Southwestern Medical Center\u2019s Culinary Medicine Program director and internal medicine physician Dr Jaclyn Albin in the United States.<\/p>\n

The movement gained traction in the 1980s, when medically tailored meals were provided to patients with advanced HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection during the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) epidemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey found that people who were delivered healthy meals stayed out of the hospital,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey lived longer. They felt better.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine that: a healthy meal helps you heal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings longevity and comfort in a sickness.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:\u00a0Where doctors can prescribe a healthy diet<\/a><\/p>\n

A balancing act<\/p>\n

Studies have found that improving access to nutritious food, whether through medically tailored meals or programmes that provide fresh produce, can help manage diet-related conditions such as heart disease.<\/p>\n

While eating healthier might sound simple, it can feel daunting, or even unappealing, for someone who hasn\u2019t had positive experiences with foods often labelled as \u201chealthy\u201d.<\/p>\n

UT Southwestern\u2019s Culinary Medicine Program co-founder and dietitian Milette Siler said it\u2019s important to consider people\u2019s financial access to food, as well as their emotional and cultural connections to it, focusing not on taking foods away, but on adding nutritious ingredients and enhancing flavour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there a way to take maybe an ultra-processed food that is what you can afford right now,\u201d said the specialist in culinary medicine, \u201cand add some value to it with some foods that, while they might also be processed, are convenient and inexpensive to add nutrition?\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that strategy involves scrutinising nutrition labels \u2013 not so much for additives, although these chemicals added to preserve food can affect health and are important to keep in mind, she said.<\/p>\n

Instead, Siler recommends focusing on a few key markers of nutrient density, such as protein, dietary fibre, sugar and sodium.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery food is going to have drawbacks because it\u2019s grown in a world that is not perfect,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we need to help people understand it\u2019s a teeter-totter.\u201d<\/p>\n

For kids and weight loss<\/p>\n

For parents and caregivers of young children, North Texas child healthcare provider Children\u2019s Health senior vice-president and chief health equity officer Dr Stormee Williams said it\u2019s important to build healthy eating habits early to support better health later in life.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the paediatrician said parents should meet kids where they are by introducing healthier versions of foods they already enjoy, such as a baked apple topped with cinnamon, instead of apple pie.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t restrict the children in your life to what you like and don\u2019t like,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if it\u2019s something that you don\u2019t readily eat, but you have it available, go ahead and serve it to them, because they might like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For people on GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) drugs, whether for managing diabetes or weight loss, North Texas healthcare provider Methodist Health System family medicine specialist Dr Dora Johnson recommends focusing on eating enough protein and multiple small meals a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you lose weight rapidly, you lose muscle mass,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we spoke about protein being very important to incorporate in all your meals, but you also want to preserve muscle mass through weight-bearing and strength training.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:\u00a0The GLP-1 workout: Targeting the muscle loss from taking these drugs<\/a><\/p>\n

Addressing food insecurity<\/p>\n

Health experts say financial barriers and food insecurity remain major obstacles to ensuring people have access to the nutrition they need.<\/p>\n

For example, the Community Health Needs Assessment Report \u2013 a data-driven evaluation of the health status, needs and challenges facing communities in Texas \u2013 is used to help guide health programmes in the American state.<\/p>\n

The 2025 report identified food insecurity and nutrition among the top three health-related problems in the Dallas and Rockwall counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the statistics were astounding, which is why Parkland, partnering with other health organisations and communities, has developed interventions in specific ZIP codes, specifically South Dallas, to try to reverse that,\u201d said Dallas public hospital Parkland Health community integrated health vice-president Jessica Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can imagine that food is a part of that, but it is one part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siler highlighted a partnership at the RedBird Mall in Dallas with Crossroads Community Services, which opened a nutrition pharmacy on-site.<\/p>\n

Patients from nearby clinics \u2013 including UT Southwestern and Parkland \u2013 who are screened and identified as food insecure can easily access the pantry and select food for themselves.<\/p>\n

The screening process takes less than 30 seconds and is done for all patients to reduce stigma.<\/p>\n

The programme\u2019s goal, Siler said, is not just to address food insecurity, but also nutrition insecurity, ensuring people have access to the nutrients they need to support their health.<\/p>\n

Overall, treating food as medicine must be a priority for health providers hoping to change the tides in medical care and prevention of preventable diseases, Dr Albin said.<\/p>\n

That means having thoughtful, sensitive conversations with patients and communities about their relationship with food, particularly for those who have experienced food-related trauma.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve created a void in medicine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to own that we haven\u2019t been a voice for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI blame us, which is part of why training the next generation to do better and to not do harm in their language around food is a huge priority.\u201d \u2013 By Miriam Fauzia and Jamie Landers\/tca\/dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Human health is shaped by far more than what happens in a doctor\u2019s office. Research estimates that as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[616,1991,102,6636,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-489279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-diet","tag-food","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}