Food Is Medicine
Fixing the American Health Care System By Repairing Our Relationship to Food
I’m not sure I learned proper nutrition until I was pregnant with my kiddo and had a wicked craving for Raisin Bran cereal. Now, I love me some raisin bran, but the power of that craving was out of this world. I was consumed by it, couldn’t stop thinking about raisin bran. So, I went out and got a box of bran flakes with raisins. Then, I called my doctor.
“You’re deficient,” she said. “If it’s raisin bran you’re craving, you’re probably a little constipated. Your body is telling you it needs fiber.”
Whodathunk? I was constipated, I did need the fiber. After two bowls a day for about three days, the craving (and my pesky constipation) disappeared. That’s when my research into food truly began, and what I uncovered led me to a life rooted in terrain theory and true wellness.
A Failing System
While the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the monumental failures of the American health care system in helping individuals protect themselves against disease and devastating medical debt, the American health care system has been failing for decades. There is a strong link between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 disease severity and death. In fact, nutritional deficiencies are the most common causes of depressed immune system function, and many struggle with vitamin D deficiency, especially in winter months without proper sun exposure.
A 2021 study conducted at the New York University School of Global Public Health found that "Consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased over the past two decades across nearly all segments of the US population." Ultra-processed foods are consumable products that are industrially manufactured and ready to eat or heat, include a long list of additives, and are mostly without whole foods. It's unsurprising that of the top twenty-five most sold food items in the United States, chicken nuggets, doughnuts, potato chips, cookies, and soda all made the list. While the Centers for Disease Control reports causal links between malnutrition and preventable chronic diseases, fast-food sales are growing faster than the US economy.
While many Americans expect their health care providers to understand the importance of nutrition for disease prevention and management, most would be surprised to learn how few hours, usually less than 20 hours, of nutritional training most doctors receive. In fact, education for allopathic providers mostly leaves out training for the number one cause of preventable death: malnutrition. Health care providers may contribute to diet-related chronic diseases and deaths due to sheer ignorance about the importance of nutrition. But health care providers are also at the mercy of predatory prescription drug marketing from the same pharmaceutical companies that profit off American malnourishment. Big pharmaceutical companies usually spend more money on marketing than research and development.
Keeping our immune systems healthy through proper nutrition is the best defense against disease. Fixing the American health care system and protecting ourselves against the next pandemic requires us to look at the food we put into our bodies daily. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on government agencies to keep us safe.
The Folly of Government Intervention
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal regulatory body tasked with ensuring food additives are safe for human consumption, but the FDA is failing. In 1958, Congress passed an exemption from safety testing for food additives that were "generally recognized as safe." This exemption allowed food manufacturers to bypass safety testing for common ingredients like vinegar, salt, and vegetable oil. But the FDA proposed and finalized a broader food safety exemption in 1997. Now, food manufacturers aren't required to conduct independent safety reviews before using chemical additives in processed foods. American foods may contain up to 14,000 chemical additives, many of which are banned in other countries. Additionally, the FDA relies on funding from drug companies, receiving almost three-quarters of its funding directly from drug marketers.
Big Food is also guilty. There are many federal agricultural subsidies to help pay for the production of corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, sorghum, dairy, and livestock, the products of which are often converted into highly refined grains, high-fat and high-sodium processed foods, and high-calorie juices and soft drinks. Ultra-processed foods filled with chemical additives are the most affordable food choices for many American families because agricultural subsidies keep ultra-processed foods artificially cheap.
And the most troubling issue with all of this is that while GRAS food additives are on the rise, that rise corresponds with an increase in chronic conditions.
The True Cost of Poor Health
Poor nutrition choices account for $50 billion in health care expenses in the United States each year. They account for about 20 percent of the total costs from heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, three diseases that account for nearly a million deaths each year combined.
Americans have a chance to fix the health care system and bring economic prosperity to our households. We can greatly reduce malnutrition, prevent disease, and free ourselves from the devastating financial consequences of poor health.
It starts with changing how we eat.
Living Well: Starting a Terrain-Focused Lifestyle Practice
When you come to terms with the fact that food is medicine, you must also recognize that every bite of food you put into your mouth is either medicine or poison—a daunting reality. But making sustainable, incremental changes to ween yourself off the Franken-food system and into true health.
When I started my terrain-theory lifestyle, I started a backyard garden the same year, and I did this intentionally as part of homeschool learning for my kiddo. But staring at all those veggies made me want to eat them. Eating them made me feel good. Feeling good allowed me to see how I could do better. Rinse and repeat.
The good news is that it’s 2023, and you don’t have to go full DIY like my great-grandparents did.
Here are a few things I did that you can start doing today.
Trash the Numbers. Avoid synthetic food dyes, flavorings, and perfumes, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. If the ingredients include numbers (e.g. red 40), it's junk. Get rid of it.
Raise a Food Forest. Plant (native) fruit trees and shrubs, and if you haven't started gardening already, make this your year to raise food for yourself, your family, your neighbors, even your local food shelf. Share the wealth, share the health.
Shop Local + Organic. Visit farmer's markets, co-ops, and rub elbows with your local farmers and gardeners. We need them around, and they have extensive knowledge most are willing to share about the food system. Just ask.
Cook and bake from scratch. I now make all my sandwich bread from scratch using about six basic ingredients—far fewer than grocery stores loaves. Need a recipe? Send a note! And remember to practice patience with yourself as you learn the art of breadmaking, because it isn’t easy.
DIY your personal and home care products. I used to buy kitchen and bathroom surface cleaners, but I’ve switched to a solution using orange peels and vinegar. Need a recipe? Send a note! (This recipe really is easy. I didn’t even have to buy a container, just used an empty glass jar that would otherwise have gone to recycling.)
Do you practice any of these wellness activities already? Have a favorite wellness practice? Let me know in the comments.
Happy thriving!
<3 Fal