Food As Medicine: An Old Concept Undergoing a Renaissance
Can dietary interventions effectively treat or slow down the progression of certain diseases?
Takeaways
Suboptimal diets kill
A few therapy areas show health improvements through dietary interventions (not necessarily 100 % plant-based, but plant-oriented): Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Women’s health (polycystic ovarian syndrome & endometriosis)
A 100 % plant-based diet may be effective in treating metabolic syndrome
“There are numerous diseases for which dietary changes should be prescribed as first-line treatment, according to broadly accepted clinical guidelines,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.1
Does this statement inspire you?
‘Let food be medicine and medicine be food’ is an old concept, often attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460 - 370 BC).
It's a fact that access to healthy and nutritious food is a global concern. Even when access isn’t an issue, many of us, including myself, have made poor food choices. We all have our reasons: busy schedules, financial constraints, lack of knowledge, or simply giving in to cravings. But when I started to understand the long-term effects of these choices on my health, it became a personal mission to change. The first step was the hardest, especially when socializing with friends and acquaintances, but it was liberating at the same time.
According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, in 2017, suboptimal diets were responsible for 11 million deaths (more than 5 million occurred among adults aged younger than 70 years).2
The Global Burden of Disease study concludes the following:
The above stats might not surprise some, yet what is fantastic news is the coming back of modern medicine, shedding light on how diets play a role in health maintenance [By the way, it is unbelievable to think that doctors so overlook diet. Or even worse, how poor the diet at hospitals can be...Such a contradiction. But there will be the day hospitals will follow the steps of NYC with their plant-based menus]. Although we are back on track and heading to a new medical era, it is still too early to set fireworks since meaningful dietary intervention rarely happens in practice. This is partly because there are many gaps in evidence, with only a few therapy areas showing health improvements through dietary interventions from clinical trials. We need more of these studies, after all…
Meanwhile, here are some good news.
Cardiovascular disease:
🫀Researchers showed in a meta-analysis that the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) reduces blood pressure. The detected reduction was close to studies on medications such as nitrendipine. The paper concludes that DASH could be an alternative to meds for people with early-stage hypertension.3 The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology recommend DASH to help adults lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
🩸A Mediterranean diet (supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts) lowered the cardiovascular event rates of acute myocardial infarction,4 strokes, and death. At the same time, another study showed lower thrombosis-related risk factors.5
Diabetes
💉300 patients (aged 20–65 years) who have diabetes type 2 got removed from medication and followed a specific diet. Almost half of the participants achieved remission to a non-diabetic state and off antidiabetic drugs at month 12.6
Women’s health
🚺 Although the optimal diet is still unclear, the researchers paved the way for a Mediterranean diet to reduce the severity of polycystic ovarian syndrome.7
🦴 Bone health and mineral status benefit from diets rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products (in contrast to soft drinks, fried foods, meat and processed products, sweets and desserts, and refined grains).8
👩🏻 Women with endometriosis may benefit from dietary interventions to reduce pain and endometriosis-related symptoms.9
Although the diets mentioned in the interventions above are not 100 % plant-based, they are centered primarily on whole grains, fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts, and seeds. For those interested, DASH diet plan (here) and Mediterranean diet plan (here).
Even fewer studies are considering a 100 % plant-based diet today. For instance, according to experts, a plant-based diet may be effective in treating metabolic syndrome; however, there is still a lack of experimental data. In a recent review (2024), researchers state, “Especially vegan and lacto-vegetarian [diets] are associated with a decrease in body weight and waist circumference, an optimization of lipid parameters, a decrease in plasma glucose level and a lowered blood pressure.”10 The authors also call for high-quality randomized clinical trials in this space.
Okay. We get it. We must be patient to read about the positive outcomes of plant-based interventions in health coming out of the labs in the future. Empirically, however, many people I talked to so far already feel the benefits deep down in their systems. Plant-based elite athletes repeatedly share that a plant-based diet represents fast recovery, less inflammation, and more energy. Many testimonials can be found in the New York Times Bestseller book ‘The Plant-based Athlete.’ I highly recommend the read for those interested in a ‘game-changing approach to peak performance.’
With this said, what are the benefits of a plant-based diet in your daily life? Which reasons made you switch? Please feel free to leave a comment below to steer the discussion further. I’d love to hear more!
🍠🌽🥬🫛🥑🍓🍇 Until the following Monday, stay healthy!
Inspiration corner
Today, I’d like to thank my subscribers for being part of my journey. This is my newsletter number 7 already! 🎆
I invite you to bake kale chips to celebrate this milestone, which is my favorite! Kale is a superstar, packed with vitamins A, B6, C, K, folate, fiber, carotenoids, and manganese. Kale is at the top of the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) scale. On top of it, kale leaves are a delightful snack and super easy to prepare. Who doesn’t like healthy snacks? 😋
Prep: Cut off the big kale stems and break apart the leaves. With your hands, coat the kale bits with olive oil (add salt and pepper if you wish. Plein is delicious as well). I like to “massage” the leaves for a few minutes before tossing them in the oven at 200 C. Keep an eye on them, stirring now and then. When they get crispy, they are ready to be eaten. I love to bake potatoes and kale together. It is a nutritious side dish.
This is it for this week, everyone!
Xoxo,
Fernanda
PS1: Other articles you might find interesting:
PS2: Find my archive here! Do you know that clicking in the heart or leaving a comment (see email footer) helps other people discover this Newsletter? Thank you for supporting my work.
Venkatesan P. Food is medicine: clinical trials show the health benefits of dietary interventions, Nature Medicine, 2024 (link)
Murray C. J. L. et al., Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, The Lancet, 2019 (link)
Ali M. K. et al., Effects of Different Dietary Interventions on Blood Pressure, Hypertension, 2016 (link)
Martínez-González M. A. et al., Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts, New England J. Medicine, 2018 (link)
Hernáez A. et al., Mediterranean Diet Maintained Platelet Count within a Healthy Range and Decreased Thrombocytopenia-Related Mortality Risk: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Nutrients, 2021 (link)
Lean M. E. J. et al., Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial, The Lancet, 2017 (link)
Barrea L. et al., Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, Dietary Patterns and Body Composition in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Nutrients, 2019 (link)
Hassan V. et al., Current Evidence on the Association of Dietary Patterns and Bone Health: A Scoping Review, Adv. Nutrition, 2017 (link)
This is an interesting article, and of course, I am entirely on board. I wonder why so many people choose to remain glued to an unhealthy diet despite all of the scientific evidence. I have encountered this issue countless times during my 15+ year journey, yet having that bag of chips or greasy hamburger remains more important in the moment than eating an apple.
A problem might come from the fact that food is used for pleasure and not as a medicine.