Food as Medicine: Digestible Bites – January 2024

January 12, 2024|News, Digestible Bites, Fairfield

The shorter version:

“You are What You Eat” four episode series tracks four sets of twins on two strict diets (one vegan and one “healthy” omnivore) with outlined exercise regimes. The finale reveals the twins’ before and after biometrics! Spoiler: food is medicine!
The World Economic Forum believes, “Right now, food as medicine is having a moment. But for that moment to turn into a global movement, we need to do more to make sure everyone, everywhere, has access to nutritious food and the tools to support their health through nutrition.” They have four recommendations (below).
MIT released a study showing only a very modest impact of food as medicine to treat diabetes. Drat.

The longer version:

Netflix is food as medicine crazy! In addition to Dan Buettner’s Blue Zone series we mentioned in our last newsletter, now there’s an equally intriguing “You are What You Eat” four episode series that tracks four sets of twins on two strict diet and exercise regimes and reveals their before and after biometrics! Spoiler: food is medicine! The series is based on this Stanford study if you want to learn more.
The World Economic Forum believes, “Right now, food as medicine is having a moment. But for that moment to turn into a global movement, we need to do more to make sure everyone, everywhere, has access to nutritious food and the tools to support their health through nutrition. That’s how we’ll make food the medicine of the future – and help more people worldwide lead healthier lives.” They have four recommendations:
- Data: To be truly accessible, food as medicine needs to be covered by public and private insurance or government programmes. And the only way that will happen is if we have conclusive evidence that these programmes both improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
- Tools: While technology allows doctors to prescribe a diet – and patients to fill that prescription with nutritious food – we need to make the process even easier. And the private sector should lead the way.
- Access: Too often, people and communities who would benefit significantly from nutritious food either don’t have access to it or can’t afford it.
- Collaboration: We need even more cross-sector collaboration.
MIT just released a study suggesting we need to keep examining how nutrition can combat a pervasive disease. “A new health care program attempting to treat diabetes by means of improved nutrition shows a very modest impact, according to the first fully randomized clinical trial on the subject.”