In a complex study on mice, published Nov. 2021, comparing 40 different treatment protocols, although we cannot state with certainty that it would be the same with humans, the authors imply that they are led to believe that it should. The study found that diet and food had a much more pronounced and powerful effect on metabolic health and aging than pharmaceuticals.

This research out of the University of Sidney suggested that the makeup of our diet could be more powerful than drugs in keeping conditions like diabetes, stroke, and heart disease at bay.

The lead author, Dr. Stephen Simpson stated, “We discovered dietary composition had a far more powerful effect than drugs, which largely dampened responses to diet rather than reshaped them.”

The study also stated: “Dietary composition has a powerful impact on the hepatic proteome, not just on metabolic pathways such as mitochondrial function and RNA splicing.” They also stated that food and diet had a particularly powerful effect not just on metabolic pathways, but also on fundamental processes that control the way our cells function.

The study talked about how the drugs only targeted specific nutrient sensing, while food and diet influenced many factors, including genes, particularly those that make proteins, as well as upregulating the mitochondria, which produces cell energy. It was shown that diet and food fundamentally reshaped / changed aging and metabolic responses unlike the drugs. It was also noted that diet had a profound effect on the liver.

The key is to support the innate power of the body and one of the best ways to do that is with food. By the way, the research also stated: “the drugs mainly acted to dampen the cell’s metabolic response to diet, rather than fundamentally re-shaping them.”

“Approximately 50% of American adults have at least one nutrition-related chronic disease.”

“The prevalence of obesity in the United States (U.S.) population is a staggering 42%, and rates of nutrition-related chronic disease are climbing across the globe.”

“Food pharmacy, also coined “food farmacy,” is a component of the “food is medicine” initiative, which aims to integrate or coordinate nutrition interventions with the healthcare system.”

“Prevention-focused diet and lifestyle modifications could have a major beneficial impact on health in the U.S.”

“Despite well-established links between nutrition and chronic disease, the global and U.S. healthcare community has failed to implement effective strategies at-scale to improve dietary intake for the prevention, management, and treatment of nutrition-related chronic diseases.”

“Existing research on the efficacy of the food pharmacy model shows that these programs have been effective in improving patient understanding of nutrition and removing barriers to healthy eating, and in turn may have a significant impact on diet-related health outcomes.”

[Note: these statements, as well as the review referenced in the journal, is not directly referring to the FoodPharmacy™ program, but the process of using food as an intervention in healthcare.]

The report lists 4 Strategic Goals to answer over the next 10 years:

1. What do we eat and how does it affect us?
2. What and when should we eat?
3. How does what we eat promote health across our lifespan?
4. How can we improve the use of food as medicine?

Dr. Francis S. Collins, head of the NIH states at the beginning of the report:

“How can we improve the use of food as medicine?”

“What should we eat to stay healthy? Answering this question seems like it should be easy, but each of us knows that it is not. Dietary recommendations issued over past decades have aimed to guide what we eat to promote good health. But for many of us, these one-size-fits-all, “eating right” strategies have been frustrating to figure out and put into practice.”

“What if each of us had individualized, actionable dietary recommendations that helped us decide what, when, why, and how to eat to optimize our health and quality of life?”