The well-known adage “prevention is better than cure” is credited to the Dutch Renaissance cleric and philosopher Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus). The phrase reminds us that it is easier, more advisable, and generally cheaper to take steps to avoid a problem in the first place than to deal with the consequences after it has occurred. For many people, a new trend called “food as medicine” is a way to address health challenges before they occur. As a result, food journalist Donna Eastlake explains, “‘Food as medicine’ is big and growing fast.”[1] Even people already experiencing health challenges can benefit from this new trend.

According to Eastlake, “Chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease make up a huge portion of healthcare spending, with research showing that better nutrition can cut those costs by up to 40%, while also decreasing hospital admissions and re-admissions.” With healthcare costs spiraling, the food-as-medicine movement should gain popularity with the American public. The University of Florida’s Meredith Bauer, reports that the United States is in the midst of an epidemic of obesity and Type 2 diabetes and scientists from her institution believe it’s high time the challenge be addressed.[2]

What is Food as Medicine?

Nutritionist Sue Kenneally told Eastlake, “There is good evidence that an unhealthy diet is a big contributor to heart disease, diabetes, many forms of cancer, bowel problems, and many other conditions besides, and that following a healthy diet can help prevent these conditions, to slow down their progress if you already have them, and sometimes even reverse them.” Unfortunately, too many of us follow the Mary Poppins rule that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!

As Kenneally notes, eating right is one strategy that can help prevent the onset of chronic diseases. To that end, Andrew Hanson, a University of Florida professor of horticultural sciences, told Bauer that a sense of urgency needs to be generated so that we can collectively solve the health crisis.  He told her, “This isn’t business as usual. We’re taking a public-interest view. This is the kind of thing we all need to be talking about. It’s too important not to.” The food-as-medicine movement is one way to generate both interest and commitment.

Science writer Meghan Rosen reports that eating right takes a little bit of self-control and making smarter dietary decisions. She explains, “The good news is making dietary improvements … is not complicated. The bad news is most people aren’t doing it.”[3] She adds, “Foods don’t have to be unconventional to benefit the body. And diets don’t need to be restrictive to be effective. Rather than simply cutting foods from people’s diets, it may be more important to focus on what we can add.” Jaclyn Albin, a physician at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, told Rosen, “Nutrition work historically has too much been about what needs to come off the plate. [Instead, we need to ask], ‘How do we get the missing good stuff back on?’”

Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

How many times as a child did you hear the advice, “Eat your fruits and vegetables”? It turns out it was good advice. The staff at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health explains, “Vegetables and fruits are an important part of a healthy diet, and variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients you need to be healthy. Eat plenty every day. A diet rich in vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood sugar, which can help keep appetite in check. Eating non-starchy vegetables and fruits like apples, pears, and green leafy vegetables may even promote weight loss.”[4]

Despite being widely advised, according to Christopher Gunter, chair of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, eating your fruits and veggies is too often taken for granted. He told Bauer, “As a discipline, horticulture and the science of fruit and vegetables have been largely ignored in this conversation. Our goal is to move the needle on health with fruit and vegetables.” He believes horticulture research and practice can and should be equal partners with nutrition and medicine.

Besides fruits and vegetables, Rosen reports that diets should include whole grains, nuts and seeds, and legumes. She explains, “They’re foods that are nutrient dense and lack added salt and sugars. Scientists have hailed their benefits for decades. New research continues to support this.” The problem, she notes is that “there’s a Grand Canyon–sized gulf between what dietary guidelines recommend and what U.S. adults are actually eating.”

Concluding Thoughts

Rosen reports, “Albin and other researchers around the country are working [to improve dietary health by promoting] ‘food is medicine’ or ‘culinary medicine’ programs. These programs are built around the idea that access to nourishing food matters so much that it should be integrated into health care.” Not only are researchers and companies in the healthcare space promoting healthy diets, according to Eastlake, some of them “are taking a more clinical approach to food as medicine [by] developing dietary solutions aimed at managing specific diseases.” Eastlake also reports that “functionality” is becoming more popular in the food sector. She reports, “The global functional food and beverage market has been valued at over $281bn and is forecast to be worth over half a trillion by 2028.” The market is already seeing many changes in the consumer packaged goods sector to accommodate consumers using weight loss drugs, like GLP-1.[5]

Science journalist Noelle Toumey Reetz writes, “A growing body of research finds that the key to improving health won’t necessarily be found in a pill, but in the foods we can choose to eat every day.”[6] That sums up nicely the philosophy underpinning the food-as-medicine movement. Increasingly, consumers look for the functional health benefits provided by the foods they eat. A 2024 survey conducted by Euromonitor found, “30% of consumers were happy to pay more money for foods with health and nutritional properties.”[7] According to the survey, “Shoppers increasingly see food products as the sum of their ingredients and their properties, rather than a final processed product — an investment in a healthier, longer life.”

Footnotes

[1] Donna Eastlake, “What’s next for unstoppable ‘food as medicine’ trend?” Food Navigator Europe, 3 April 2025.

[2] Meredith Bauer, “Florida scientists champion ‘Food Is Medicine’ movement to tackle national health crisis,” UF News, 28 May 2025.

[3] Meghan Rosen, “Want to eat healthier? Add to your diet, rather than limit it,” Science News, 20 June 2025.

[4] Staff, “Vegetables and Fruits,” T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

[5] Stephen DeAngelis, “How GLP-1 Medications are Changing the Grocery Sector,” Enterra Insights, 25 February 2025.

[6] Noelle Toumey Reetz, “Food as Medicine: Going Beyond Basic Nutrition,” Georgia State University Research Magazine, May 2025.

[7] Augustus Bambridge-Sutton, “The health needs driving functional food demand,” Food Navigator Europe, 9 April 2025.