Food as Medicine

There is some truth to the old adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
"The most important dietary changes you can make, almost no matter what your health condition is, is to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables," says San Francisco Primary Care Doctor, Hilary Segilman, MD, MAS, who is the Senior Medical Advisor & Lead Scientist at Feeding America. Segilman has made it part of her life's work to help people with food insecurity -- a state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. She was recently a keynote speaker at a panel discussion at Renown Health.
According to work done by the Truckee Meadows Community Coalition, more than 60,000 residents of Washoe County must make decisions on whether to buy healthy food or pay for another basic need, like shelter or transportation.
It’s a community problem that those in need and those who have resources, can both work to solve.
"We know that fruits and vegetables help prevent cardiovascular disease, prevent obesity, prevent diabetes, prevent many types of cancer, and so as a health professional, we always advocate for a healthy diet."
Segilman says it is much less costly in the long run to prevent chronic health issues with a healthy diet and healthcare providers are becoming increasingly aware of how significant food insecurity is for their patients. "There are a lot of ways in which your healthcare provider may be able to support you if you are able to bring this issue up with them", says Seligman.
In some communities, doctors are writing prescriptions for fresh produce that residents can take to their local food banks.
Here in Northern Nevada, Renown Health has formed a partnership with Urban Roots on an educational garden that is growing produce for a prescription food program through the Northern Nevada Food Bank.
So far, one of the hoop houses at the Renown/Urban Roots farm is growing kale, chard, beets and carrots for the prescription food program.
Evelyn Iverson, a manager and volunteer at the Saint Michael Food Pantry, in Stead, picked up fresh kale and chard for the weekly free food distribution at the Church. "This is for the people who have diabetes and high blood pressure,” says Iverson. “We are happy that this program is also helping us.”
“Other resources, include social workers who can help connect you to local food pantries and food banks, says Segilman.
“And if you have the resources, there are also many nonprofits who are supporting people who are food insecure every day and those are organizations you should consider supporting.”

[kristaellow]

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be that food. So much of what I teach my client is about this very thing, and yet the mindset to switch away from what they have been told is monumental. One person at a time, it will get better!

[getwellbe]

Food really IS medicine-- healthy foods have medicinal properties! 🎉 So important to aim for (and it's okay to not always do so!) organic, GMO-free and clean foods. when you eat conventionally grown foods, you’re also ingesting toxins (including pesticides) added to them in the production process, or from environmental pollution. Many of these toxins cause an invader-fighting response from your white blood cells, which contributes to inflammation! Also, given that your gut microbiome impacts everything from your immune system to your skin to your brain function to your digestion, and even your mood and mental health, it’s so important to eat foods that are beneficial for it. 🙏