Robert Graham Xiao Er Kong
FOOD AS MEDICNE IS YOUR BEST MEDICINE
3 min
Opinion
Restaurants, health institutions and food companies are embracing the power of food as medicine. I am particularly excited to be working in developing medically tailored meals for progressive food companies, like Performance Kitchen. We are exploring innovative ways to help change the food system and influence how we eat all over the world. I believe we all want to eat healthfully, and my goal is to help provide people with convenient, affordable, tasty, nutritionally reliable food, health coaching, nutritional education and empowerment tools to support sustained lifestyle change. That’s so FRESH!
As a chef, I have helped grow the “food as medicine” movement from a fringe idea into a formal recognized discipline called Culinary Medicine. An ever-growing cohort of physicians and healthcare institutions are beginning to recognize the many tangible benefits of making food an integral part of treatment, not just prevention. Research on the power of food to prevent and fight disease is creating a paradigm shift in the way that treatment is provided. Instead of simply prescribing a “pill for an ill,” an ever-growing number of physicians choose to integrate food/dietary changes in their healthcare recommendations.
As a leader in the field of Integrative Medicine I have prescribed “food as medicine” for over 10 years, I have taught over 500 healthcare workers, mostly doctors, how to cook whole food plant-based meals and created the first hospital rooftop garden in NYC. I also co-created, with my wife Julie, FRESH Medicine, an integrative health and wellness center in NYC. FRESH is an acronym for the five ingredients for health: Food, Relaxation, Exercise, Sleep and Happiness.
In 431 BC, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Nearly 2,000 years later, most doctors don’t prescribe food as medicine. Over the past 50 years, as foods became more convenient and processed, people’s weight has risen and health has declined. Sadly, fad diets and food trends have misshapen the way we eat—and unfortunately—the way we look and feel. Isn’t it time for a FRESH start?
Up to 90% of type 2 diabetes cases can be prevented by keeping weight under control, exercising, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking. A mostly plant-based diet, with some carefully selected animal proteins is your best dietary approach for longevity. A diet rich in leafy greens, beans, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, combined with an active lifestyle is the best medicine.
Food is the problem, but also the solution. Food as preventative medicine can keep us healthy. What we eat is the main culprit behind many chronic diseases, and eating a healthier diet helps prevent and treat the most common of these debilitating conditions. While food cannot replace medication entirely, a healthy diet is the foundation for healthier people and the planet.
There is an easy and inexpensive way to move toward this goal: Food. Our food has been slowly killing us. In the US, according to a Lancet report, our diet is both the number-one cause of death and the number-one cause of disability in the United States. Globally, one in five deaths are linked to diet. The 2019 Lancet report concluded, “Among all forms of malnutrition, poor dietary habits, particularly low intake of healthy foods, is the leading risk factor for mortality.”
Chronic diseases, like hypertension and diabetes, are the leading contributor to deaths and high healthcare costs. According to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 86% of healthcare spending in the US is for patients with one or more chronic conditions. Controlling — or even preventing — chronic diseases will make a substantial difference in healthcare costs.
So, Doc, what should I eat? A simple question many people ask themselves often. In medicine, it is one of the most common questions and yet many of us shy away from talking about nutrition, and/or find it difficult to engage with our patients about diet. Avoiding “the” conversation is costly, and our medical training has ill-prepared us for the answers.
WHY FOOD AS MEDICINE IS YOUR
BEST MEDICINE
3 min
Chronic diseases, like hypertension and diabetes, are the leading contributor to deaths and high healthcare costs. According to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 86% of healthcare spending in the US is for patients with one or more chronic conditions. Controlling — or even preventing — chronic diseases will make a substantial difference in healthcare costs.
There is an easy and inexpensive way to move toward this goal: Food. Our food has been slowly killing us. In the US, according to a Lancet report, our diet is both the number-one cause of death and the number-one cause of disability in the United States. Globally, one in five deaths are linked to diet. The 2019 Lancet report concluded,
Food is the problem, but also the solution. Food as preventative medicine can keep us healthy. What we eat is the main culprit behind many chronic diseases, and eating a healthier diet helps prevent and treat the most common of these debilitating conditions. While food cannot replace medication entirely, a healthy diet is the foundation for healthier people and the planet.
Up to 90% of type 2 diabetes cases can be prevented by keeping weight under control, exercising, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking. A mostly plant-based diet, with some carefully selected animal proteins is your best dietary approach for longevity. A diet rich in leafy greens, beans, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, combined with an active lifestyle is the best medicine.
Robert Graham Xiao Er Kong
So, Doc, what should I eat? A simple question many people ask themselves often. In medicine, it is one of the most common questions and yet many of us shy away from talking about nutrition, and/or find it difficult to engage with our patients about diet. Avoiding “the” conversation is costly, and our medical training has ill-prepared us for the answers.
WHY FOOD AS MEDICINE IS YOUR
BEST MEDICINE
In 431 BC, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Nearly 2,000 years later, most doctors don’t prescribe food as medicine. Over the past 50 years, as foods became more convenient and processed, people’s weight has risen and health has declined. Sadly, fad diets and food trends have misshapen the way we eat—and unfortunately—the way we look and feel. Isn’t it time for a FRESH start?
As a leader in the field of Integrative Medicine I have prescribed “food as medicine” for over 10 years, I have taught over 500 healthcare workers, mostly doctors, how to cook whole food plant-based meals and created the first hospital rooftop garden in NYC. I also co-created, with my wife Julie, FRESH Medicine, an integrative health and wellness center in NYC. FRESH is an acronym for the five ingredients for health: Food, Relaxation, Exercise, Sleep and Happiness.
As a chef, I have helped grow the “food as medicine” movement from a fringe idea into a formal recognized discipline called Culinary Medicine. An ever-growing cohort of physicians and healthcare institutions are beginning to recognize the many tangible benefits of making food an integral part of treatment, not just prevention. Research on the power of food to prevent and fight disease is creating a paradigm shift in the way that treatment is provided. Instead of simply prescribing a “pill for an ill,” an ever-growing number of physicians choose to integrate food/dietary changes in their healthcare recommendations.
Restaurants, health institutions and food companies are embracing the power of food as medicine. I am particularly excited to be working in developing medically tailored meals for progressive food companies, like Performance Kitchen. We are exploring innovative ways to help change the food system and influence how we eat all over the world. I believe we all want to eat healthfully, and my goal is to help provide people with convenient, affordable, tasty, nutritionally reliable food, health coaching, nutritional education and empowerment tools to support sustained lifestyle change. That’s so FRESH!
“Among all forms of malnutrition, poor dietary habits, particularly low intake of healthy foods, is the leading risk factor for mortality.”
“While food cannot replace medication entirely, a healthy diet is the foundation for healthier people and the planet.”