Center For Food As Medicine & Longevity

The Center for Food as Medicine & Longevity is a nonprofit organization working to bridge the gap between traditional medicine and the use of food as medicine in the prevention, treatment, and management of disease while also increasing access to these treatments, thereby creating a more equitable food system that will improve health outcomes. There is overwhelming evidence demonstrating the impact of food and diet on health, specifically among food-related diseases. Whether or not a poor diet can cause damage to the body should no longer be debated, as evidence supports the potential causal relationships between dietary factors and diet-related diseases such as ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. While diet has the potential to cause disease, it is also capable of building, maintaining, and restoring health. Access to nutrient-dense food is a critical component of food justice, as well as the emerging field of health equity. Food insecurity and access to nutritious food were urgent problems before the pandemic, impacting 13.7 million Americans in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has increased significantly and is now one of the most prominent health crises and health equity challenges in the United States, impacting as many as one in four Americans. There is a large amount of research available to demonstrate the efficacy of different foods and dietary interventions on specific diseases and conditions. However, more robust clinical trials are needed to provide comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness of diet in the treatment of a variety of disease states. The Center for Food as Medicine & Longevity aims to bridge the gap between traditional medicine and the use of food as medicine in the prevention, treatment, and management of disease while also increasing access to these treatments, thereby creating a more equitable food system that will improve health outcomes.