Food Isn’t Medicine

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As an NHS doctor with personal experience of how damaging diets can be, he believes every one of us deserves to have a happy, healthy relationship with food and with our bodies. His message is clear: we need to fight weight stigma, call out the lies of diet culture and give ourselves permission to eat all foods.

According to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the core of a healthy diet is built on high intakes of a variety of nutrient-dense foods and beverages, including: Clare Collins, a nutrition and dietetics professor at the University of Newcastle, says she would like to see nutrition managed care plans – similar to the mental health treatment plans currently subsidised by Medicare – that give people access to dieticians and nutritionists who can help overcome at least some of the barriers to healthy eating. The simplest approach would be to subsidise access to fresh vegetables. “[Vegetables] have such a powerful effect from a health perspective, yet there is such a common perception that they’re unaffordable – and these days they potentially are in some communities,” Lambert says.

Thus, while “food as medicine” may support disease management by improving symptoms and slowing disease progression in some diseases, it must not be used as a stand-alone treatment, rather in conjunction with appropriate medical therapy. Fueled by misinformation Foods that proponents claim have medicinal properties, often due to supposed high levels of a particular micronutrient or biomolecule — sometimes referred to as functional foods — are of particular interest by people who consider food as medicine. At the moment, a Medicare-subsidised chronic disease management plan – for management of diseases such as type 2 diabetes – includes the option of a single appointment with a dietitian as one of a large variety of allied health professionals available for limited number of subsidised appointments. A common example is grapefruit juice, which doctors often advise should be avoided when taking some medications, although some research shows that it may enhance the effect of cholesterol-lowering statins. This book is exactly what we need right now. In a world where misinformation is spread easily online, it's brilliant to have a knowledgeable doctor like Josh cut through the scaremongering and diet culture that we see every day. It's definitely a must have! Lucy Bee (@lucybeecoconut)

It's refreshing knowing there's a doctor out there fighting to break down a lot of the shame-driven decisions we make, and that food holds no moral value over us. Sarah Nicole Landry (@thebirdspapaya) The prevalence of chronic diseases has increased worldwide, along with associated healthcare costs. The reasons for this are myriad, complex, and not yet well understood. Some research has shown that a diet rich in added sugars, saturated and trans fats and excess sodium may induce chronic inflammation — an underlying risk factor in the development of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, poor gut health, and other chronic diseases. No, no and absolutely not - NHS doctor and nutritionist Joshua Wolrich is on a mission to set the record straight. They’re a little bit further ahead than us in terms of using this food-as-medicine concept and providing healthy meals and groceries to particularly disadvantaged communities,” Lambert says. She would like to see these approaches aimed at Australians with health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and those who are overweight or obese, “because those three big diseases drive the majority of chronic illness in Australia”.The point here isn’t to totally discredit nutrition. Of course a nutritious diet can positively impact your health! The Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that a healthy dietary pattern is associated with a lower risk of certain chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, bone disease, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. But they never claim that any dietary pattern alone, like Whole 30 or paleo, can prevent or cure disease. And they never mention superfoods, because these don’t exist—no one food has the power to make or break your health. “Food can be used to prevent onset of a disease up to a certain point,” Johnson says. But again, there are no guarantees because of all the factors at play. Dr Joshua Wolrich routinely does an incredible job of sorting fact from toxic fiction. A must-read for those wanting to unlearn the toxic ideologies and beliefs we have been taught about ourselves by the diet industry! Stephanie Yeboah (@stephanieyeboah)

I love Dr Joshua Wolrich because of his no BS drive to make the world a better place. His advocacy mixed with his knowledge is wonderful. Kenzie Brenna (@kenziebrenna) Medical nutrition therapy is a part of evidence-based health practice that uses diet and food to support the treatment of diseases, and it is a clear demonstration of the role that diet and food play in managing chronic disease. The development of chronic diseases continues to be complex and may be attributed to non-diet-related causes, including genetic risk, exposure to environmental toxins, or autoimmune conditions. However, it can also be a source of misinformation and sharing of unverifiable information, especially where “food as medicine” or alternative medicinal therapies are concerned.It is worth noting that conventional, Western medicine does prescribe dietary and lifestyle changes as a first-line treatment for some conditions, notably polycystic ovary syndrome ( PCOS). Likewise, observational studies identified that a healthful diet during breast cancer treatment may reduce negative symptoms caused by cancer treatment, including nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Cost-effective For instance, an increase in dietary fiber supports lower blood sugar levels in persons with pre-diabetes or diabetes, reducing the occurrence of nerve and blood vessel damage associated with high blood sugar levels. Decades of scientific findings support the integral role of diet in health management, which should not be understated. Social and economic factors aren’t the only health determinants that are somewhat out of an individual’s control. We all have unique genetic predispositions—some people are simply born more at risk for certain conditions, like heart disease, than others. Environmental factors also play a role. Sunlight, dust, chemicals, metal, plants, animals, and other things we’re exposed to daily can contribute to the onset of pretty much every illness, from kidney disease to infertility to skin cancer. And of course, disease can be random. A 2017 report in Science found that about two-thirds of cell mutations that lead to cancer are caused by random DNA replication errors, while only a third are caused by inherited genes, environmental factors, or behavior. (Although yes, some cancers are more directly linked to behavior; for example, smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer.) Even diseases that are more strongly linked to lifestyle, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, can occur in people with no known lifestyle risk factors.

One study suggests that a modified Mediterranean diet can reduce pain, fatigue, and discomfort in persons with lipoedema, a condition where there is an abnormal accumulation of fat in the lower extremities. Emma was one of the study participants. “I would open up these boxes and it was things that I hadn’t eaten in a long time or things that I just didn’t think were an option,” she says. Instead of a burger for breakfast, she started eating fruit; instead of chips, she had nuts and seeds.

Josh's desire to educate others stands upon a foundation of compassion that we might experience more freedom and take our opportunity to question the damaging messages we so easily absorb. Anna Mathur (@annamathur) Food as medicine” is a practice built on the knowledge that food and diet play important roles in disease prevention and management. The reason why we use food as medicine is because healthcare needs to shift,” he says. “Within healthcare itself, healthy food and honestly just healthy physical activity does not get anywhere near enough attention it should get.” The “food as medicine” approach to health management challenges the construct of conventional medicine, which relies primarily on technological medical advancements to manage health and disease with pharmaceutical drugs. Today, he's a passionate advocate of health and every size and keen to bust the endless myths about what we consume and how we consume it, restrictive eating and ‘cure-all’ supplements or diets.