August 7, 2023 — The headlines are great. “Pecans: the surprising superfood for obesity prevention and wellness” says one. “Pecans pack a punch in fighting obesity, diabetes and inflammation” according to another. All this magical thinking about pecans comes from a study of mice on a high-fat diet. What does this mean for humans? Mainly it means that the […]
May 24, 2023 — The logic of trying to turn food into medicine simply escapes us. The week, the Washington Post has a new twist on food as medicine – telling us to eat our greens if we want better mental health. It leaves us with mixed feelings. On one hand, we’re all in on the concept of finding […]
April 6, 2023 — The agendas people have for food and eating behaviors can make us dizzy. One rallying cry is that food is medicine. Presumably, that makes eating therapeutic. But not if we do it in a problematic way. Then we have an eating disorder. In fact, recent analyses of data from the Global Burden of Disease say […]
February 22, 2023 — Has the FDA bitten off more than it can chew? Two presidents ago, back in 2016, the FDA told us the agency had begun work to “redefine the term ‘healthy’” for food labels. Good luck with that is a fair summary of our reaction at the time. Seven years later, the quest to define objectively […]
February 14, 2023 — It’s official. Food Is Medicine can now take chocolate under its wings. It only took five years, but the FDA has rendered regulatory judgment to officially permit the following claim for the health benefits of chocolate: “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, although FDA has concluded that […]
January 23, 2023 — In plain view, we have an interesting study of contrasts in cultural concepts for healthy eating. Americans have our Food and Drug Administration looking for criteria it can use to award a claim of “healthy” to some foods and not to others. For example, a freshly baked French baguette won’t qualify. Not enough whole grain. […]
October 30, 2022 — An apple a day keeps the doctor away. This 19th-century Welsh aphorism is a few steps behind the current zeal for medicalizing food. Food is medicine advocates are eager to see doctors prescribe produce, medically tailored groceries, or meals. It’s a big-tent concept that feels a little bit like a faith healing revival. Certainly, nutrition […]
October 10, 2022 — Sunday at FNCE brought us a fireside chat with Sara Bleich, the first ever Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity. Make no mistake about it, this is big. Because without secure access to genuinely nourishing food, it will be terribly hard to close the gap in health that comes from chronic diseases – including […]
September 1, 2022 — Just this week, the White House set its date for its big Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. It will be a full day on September 28. The agenda – as defined by conference pillars – sticks to safe concepts that should find broad support. But the same cannot be said for nutrition activists with […]
