Food is NOT medicine
Way back in 2011 I was listening to a radio program that proclaimed that “Food is Medicine” and in response I wrote a blog that included this:
“As a dietitian I think food is very important and there are certainly better and worse choices you can make with your food and meals. But it’s not JUST food that will maintain your health. What about exercise and activity, your genes, whether you smoke or use drugs? How you handle stress? What about that 50 year old woman who called me baffled as to why she got cancer even though “I’ve always eaten right.”
Let’s put food in its place…on the table — not in the medicine cabinet.”
I still believe this, food is not medicine and food shouldn’t be treated “as” medicine. Again and again over the years I have seen even more clearly what I consider to be the risks of treating food like a medicine:
- Could it encourage disordered eating and unnecessary food restriction?— Orthorexia — ”… people with orthorexia become so fixated on so-called ‘healthy eating’ that they actually damage their own well-being.” https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/other/orthorexia
2. Could it encourage people to forsake researched and proven tests and medications, attempting to use food to treat illnesses and diseases?
A good example is cancer. While headlines brag about “Cancer Fighting Foods”, in reality no individual foods have been shown to cure cancer. Certainly, eating a healthy diet may be complementary to proven treatments for cancer such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, (Alternative cancer diets | Coping with cancer | Cancer Research UK ) but using food or specific diets as an alternative to evidence-based treatments could prove (unnecessarily) fatal. ‘Alternative’ cancer treatments linked with 250% higher risk of death, study finds (advisory.com).
3. Does it mean that people are told or encouraged to seek out foods with specific labels because of a “health halo” ?
Whether this is the USDA organic symbol or a 3rd party certifier like the Non-GMO project or even just certain language like “natural”, “gluten-free” or “plant-based” what are the financial implications of purchasing food that bears these sorts of labels? For example, food labeled as organic is generally more expensive — even though there may be little or no nutritional difference. (Good news if you buy organic food — it’s getting cheaper — MarketWatch )
What’s the bottom line?: Let’s keep food on the plate and in perspective — and not in the medicine cabinet.
While having healthy eating habits is important; it is only one piece of the whole picture when it comes to good health, disease prevention and the treatment of illnesses and diseases.