Medical schools across the country are adopting the idea that food is medicine. Countries that eat better tend to have lower levels of obesity and disease. Those whose diets have worsened over time have populations that are increasingly unhealthy. Many of us grew up with diets full of sugar, processed foods with chemicals none of could pronounce. Many of the snack foods we eat have high calories, sugar, salt and very little nutritional value. Is it any wonder so many Americans are so unhealthy years later? Chiropractors for years have advised patients about nutrition and advised them also on how to stay healthy. Medicine is just now following this path by including cooking classes in medical schools to doctors understand why healthy food is so important to our health. The medical school at Tulane University has been teaching cooking since 2012. The evidence-based curriculum that embraces a simple tenet: Food is an essential part of health care. Now more than 60 medical schools, residency programs and nursing schools use a version of Tulane’s curriculum adapted by the American College of Culinary Medicine. The movement they are following is known as as Food is Medicine. RFK Jr. has jumped on this bandwagon in the current administration but unless these ideas turn into actual policy and people adapt it along with food companies, we cannot get healthier. The idea of treating disease with food has been around since the 1980’s where the aids related wasting syndrome was treated with food. The idea that food is medicine is not new and our country figured out years ago how to increase food production using science. Now we need to improve peoples health by helping them eat better with better quality food that is affordable. I have written about this previously on past blog posts. All the medical experts have their own ideas on how to reduce the costs of healthcare. None of them have succeeded without healthier diets and healthier Americans. Healthier Americans require less medical attention, less medication and can lead healthier and more active lives without having to visit the medical system, something few doctors think about. Imagine, if we redesigned the healthcare system into a wellness system beginning with the food we ear. Check out the NY Times article below Can Food Actually Be Medicine? These Doctors Say Yes