Article Review: For a healthier America, we need healthier food

The increasing American population’s rate of chronic illnesses involving obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease is responsible for the rising healthcare costs worldwide due to more doctor’s appointments, hospital visits, and medications prescribed to mitigate the progression of chronic diseases from worsening. Due to the economic instability of healthcare, a shift towards incorporating the “food as medicine” philosophy will become more dominant and crucial. This article focused on the relevance of how applying the “food as medicine” model to food can be a solution to the drastic healthcare costs.

Research shows that food can help prevent, block, and reverse disease as the concept of “food as medicine” recognizes food and nutrition's role in health and wellness which can help stop and manage chronic disease through consuming nutritious foods. However, the American food system puts individuals at a disadvantage by promoting the consumption of “junk food” that causes health complications developing into long-term chronic diseases.

“Several studies have shown that 65-70% of food in a grocery store is unhealthy, based on nutritional criteria. Our groceries contain too much salt, fat, and sugar. We now eat more outside of the home than at home, and that food is just as bad or worse."

The “food as medicine” approach is relevant because of four factors:

Everyone needs food to live and survive.
The correlation between poor nutrition practices and increased healthcare costs creates opportunities for improvement solutions.
Current dietary practices are reducing the quality and length of life.
Several medical practices are becoming more receptive to recognizing the importance of nutrition on health.

These factors fuel the significance of the potential of associating and thinking about food as medicine.

“A 2018 study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that only 12% of American adults are metabolically healthy."

There are several applications for “food as medicine” as the federal government programs that are responsible for providing food and paying for health care for military members and low-income families and individuals in which the Department of Agriculture implements therapeutic food pantries for WIC and SNAP programs that motivate the adoption of healthy food to prevent the high costs of health care. Also, improvements in personalized nutrition therapies for women and general crucial life stages for everyone through food. Technological advancements in food science can improve the flavor and taste of healthy foods with all-natural ingredients to be more enticing than the highly processed items that populate the entire grocery store aisles.

Substituting food instead of medications is a simple and cheap solution that doesn’t come with side effects but can promote clean healthy eating habits by putting nutritious foods into our bodies.

Reference: Gaskin, Ed. “For a Healthier America, We Need Healthier Food.” Boston Herald, 26 May 2024, p. 19.