Nutrition experts call on Congress to advance the “Food is Medicine” movement.

Providing nutritious meals to vulnerable populations can save lives and curb health care costs, experts said during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee hearing on Primary Health and Retirement Security on Tuesday .

“Poor nutrition is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States … causing more harm than tobacco use, alcohol, physical inactivity and air pollution,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, director of the Food Institute is Medicine. at Tufts University in Boston.

What this means, in reality, is that not being able to access healthy food is “literally deadly,” Mozaffarian said. And while thousands of Americans know their diets are making them sick, many feel powerless to fix the problem.

Witnesses argued that food IS medicine, which is why producing prescriptions, medically tailored meals, and counseling programs have been shown to significantly benefit patients with diabetes, depression, pain, and other chronic problems.

Erin Martin, MASM, a gerontologist and founder and director of FreshRx Oklahoma, a nonprofit food prescription program, said many healthy eating initiatives were carried out out of necessity.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a North Tulsa doctor found that even his diabetes patients, who adhered to their medications and medical appointments, were seeing their health decline. The life expectancy of residents in North Tulsa is at least 8.5 years shorter, on average, than residents of South Tulsa, and the community hasn’t had a grocery store in 14 years, Martin said.

In 2021, FreshRx Oklahoma launched a pilot program to provide residents with type 2 diabetes locally grown produce twice a week for 12 months, as well as four to six cooking and nutrition classes each month. Program participants also received quarterly health checks, Martin explained.

Produce is purchased using prepaid debit cards and farmers market coupons, and through online shopping models, depending on the community

Of the first 300 participants in the program, 80% saw their A1C levels drop an average of 2.2 points — with one participant dropping 8.2 points in less than 6 months. Another participant lost 116 pounds and reversed her type 2 diabetes.

Jean Terranova, JD, senior director of policy and research for Community Services in Boston, said her organization provides medically tailored meals to thousands of people in Massachusetts and neighboring states.

As part of these services, a nutritionist assesses all participants on their health and dietary needs, access to food and ability to support themselves. Participants receive weekly meals for themselves and their families from one of 16 meal plans, plus snacks like fresh fruit and yogurt, as well as milk, and nutrition education and counseling.

One 66-year-old participant, a man named Chuck, lost 50 kg and avoided leg amputation after taking a diabetic cardiac diet through the program.

A 2019 JAMA The study on the program showed that it led to a net savings of 16% in total health care costs, as a result of fewer emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and emergency transports.

When asked about the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists and where they fit with food, Mozaffarian cited a report by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the HELP Committee, which indicated that if half of Americans qualify for GLP-1 agonists actually got them, the US would double its national spending on all prescription drugs combined.

“We just can’t afford those drugs, as effective as they are. So we have to integrate nutrition and ‘food is medicine’ and lifestyle along with GLP-1 to be able to mitigate that loss, he added.

Terranova thanked the Chairman of the Subcommittee Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Sen. Roger Marshall, MD, (R-Kan.) on bills he and other senators introduced that would require federal agencies to publish nutrition best practices, expand access to medically tailored meals through centers community health and to provide the elderly with healthy meals.

In terms of legislative action, Terranova asked Congress to increase funding for the NIH to explore the benefits of medically tailored meals, and Martin asked the HELP Committee to integrate prescription drug programs into federal health programs.

Mozaffarian encouraged Congress to support “meaningful funding” for the NIH to launch the Nutrition is Medicine Centers of Excellence and called for “meaningful nutrition education for physicians” in coordination with national accrediting and licensing organizations responsible for medical education.

Finally, Mozaffarian noted that while the U.S. will never eliminate processed and packaged foods, there are ways to make them healthier. His hope is that as Food is Medicine takes root, it will change the incentives for how food is produced.

“Right now we’re pouring money into health care and taking money away from every other priority,” he said. “If we put a little money into food, we can start to reverse that cycle and make food healthier.”