Since the beginning of time, we've eaten food to sustain ourselves.
Later, as cooking methods developed, we started eating for pleasure. Now, food is becoming widely recognized as a pillar of good health care.
That's because, in part, what defines good health and good health care is more than just the medications, doctors, and technologies you have access to.
It's about your entire lifestyle - from stress levels, to sleep habits, to activity level, and, of course, your diet. (More))
Many physicians are recognizing the vast benefits a healthy diet can have on patients. One Waco physician on the Baylor Scott & White medical staff says he regularly discusses diet with his patients - saying, "It truly is the best medicine."
For patients with Type 2 diabetes, for example, making dietary changes is essential to living their best life and the first thing many doctors will prescribe.
While food cannot replace traditional medicine, the health care community has begun to embrace diet as a critical determinant of your health and an effective method of managing many chronic diseases.
Food as medicine is a growing movement in and outside of health care - and for good reason.
A study published earlier this year in the esteemed medical journal The Lancet concluded that a fifth of deaths around the world were associated with poor diet..that is, a diet that is high in sugar, salt, and trans fats...and low on vegetables, seeds, and nuts.
Of course, being healthy and receiving quality health care doesn't stop with a good diet...but it certainly starts there.
