What Does “Food is Medicine” Really Mean? Eating Disorder Considerations

What does “Food is Medicine” mean?

“Food is Medicine” is a shortened version of “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. It is a widespread misquotation attributed to Hippocrates, which potentially confuses food and medicine by attributing pharmacological properties to food [1,2].

Glenn and Hu [3] raise potential pitfalls and challenges with the phrase, suggesting it could be mistaken for a wellness trend promoting quick fixes. They caution that it risks over-medicalisation of food, overemphasising its biochemical and health-promoting properties, and exaggerating the effects of specific foods or nutrients. All of which may contribute to unrealistic expectations, misinformed dietary choices, public confusion, and scepticism.

Through the above initiatives, Food is Medicine considers practical applications of medical nutrition education while addressing health insecurity [6].

Potential benefits of Food is Medicine approaches

Food is Medicine approaches have positive effects on food insecurity and cost savings, diet quality, blood glucose, hypertension, body weight, disease self-management, and self-perceived physical and mental health [1,5].

For example, participation in medically tailored meals has been associated with fewer days of poor mental health [7], decreased depressive symptoms, and less frequent sacrificing of food for health care or prescriptions [8].

Weight-centric framing and its implications

Many Food is Medicine interventions emphasise the benefits of weight loss and reduced BMI. For example, in a scoping review of 30 papers by da Fonseca et al. [9], twelve papers assessed weight-related outcomes, with eight reporting statistically significant reductions in body weight, BMI and waist circumference.

The emphasis of many Food is Medicine studies on weight loss reflects the weight-centric paradigm of health care, which largely uses weight as a proxy for health. It fails to acknowledge the substantial evidence supporting the Health at Every Size® (HAES®) approach [10], and the improvements in health, including psychological well-being, lifestyle behaviours, and some cardiometabolic outcomes, that may be achieved without weight loss [11]. 

The weight-centric emphasis of Food is Medicine initiatives may promote weight stigma and body dissatisfaction, which are known risk factors for eating disorders [12].

The potential harms and considerations for mitigating harms in initiatives need to be explored further to avoid inadvertently reinforcing behaviours and cognitions characteristic of eating disorders. 

Considering Food is Medicine in eating disorder treatment

Interestingly, in the context of eating disorders, the idea of Food is Medicine carries a different meaning than in general health contexts.

Unlike many other mental health conditions, where medication can be an important part of treatment, medication alone is often less effective for people who are significantly underweight or undernourished [13]. Therefore, for individuals with eating disorders, regular and adequate eating becomes essential not only for physical recovery but also for supporting psychological healing and the effectiveness of medication. Therefore, food and normalisation of eating patterns are often considered the first-line “medicine” of choice in the treatment of eating disorders [14].

Therefore, unlike the medical contexts of Food is Medicine mentioned above, in eating disorder care, the phrase means that eating is medically imperative for recovery and precedes other treatment options, including medications in many instances.

Reclaiming joy in recovery

While adequate nourishment is essential, the phrase Food is Medicine can make eating sound purely functional, as though food serves only a medical purpose. Although food is necessary for survival and health, eating is also much more than that. 

Eating and the foods we choose are shaped by social connection, culture, enjoyment, and emotion. In eating disorder recovery, therefore, we need to consider not only nutrition but the broader experiences of eating. This is a space where culinary nutrition can play an important role, supporting not only nourishment but also the reintroduction of enjoyment, meaning, and connection to food.

I’d love to hear your views on this topic in the comments below.

Authors disclaimer

I am a researcher in the field of culinary nutrition and eating disorder treatment. I share these reflections as part of my reflexivity practice to help dismantle misconceptions and promote dialogue that supports compassionate, evidence-informed care.

References:

1. Boggild, A. K. (2024). Editorial: Food as medicine. Frontiers in Nutrition, 11, 1490232. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1490232
2. Cardenas, D. (2013). Let not thy food be confused with thy medicine: The Hippocratic misquotation. e-SPEN Journal, 8(6), e260–e262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnme.2013.10.002
3. Glenn, A. J., & Hu, F. B. (2025). Perspective: Food is medicine: Hype or hope? The Journal of Nutrition, 155(11), 3654–3662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.08.025
4. Mozaffarian, D., Blanck, H. M., Garfield, K. M., Wassung, A., & Petersen, R. (2022). A Food is Medicine approach to achieve nutrition security and improve health. Nature Medicine, 28(11), 2238–2240. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02027-3
5. Mozaffarian, D., Aspry, K. E., Garfield, M., Kris-Etherton, P., Seligman, H., Velarde, G. P., Williams, K., & Yang, E. (2024). “Food is medicine” strategies for nutrition security and cardiometabolic health equity: JACC state-of-the-art review. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 83(8), 843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2023.12.023
6. Short, E., Akers, L., Callahan, E. A., Cliburn Allen, C., Crespo-Bellido, M., Deuman, K., Dimond, E., Hollowell, C., López, M. Á., & Anderson Steeves, E. (2025). The role of registered dietitian nutritionists within food is medicine: Current and future opportunities. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 125(8), 1075–1084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2025.03.004
7. Berkowitz, S. A., Delahanty, L. M., Terranova, J., Steiner, B., Ruazol, M. P., Singh, R., Shahid, N. N., & Wexler, D. J. (2019). Medically tailored meal delivery for diabetes patients with food insecurity: A randomized cross-over trial. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34(3), 396–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-018-4716-z
8. Palar, K., Napoles, T., Hufstedler, L. L., Seligman, H., Hecht, F. M., Madsen, K., Ryle, M., Pitchford, S., Frongillo, E. A., & Weiser, S. D. (2017). Comprehensive and medically appropriate food support is associated with improved HIV and diabetes health. Journal of Urban Health, 94(1), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0129-7
9. da Fonseca, P. G., Siqueira, L. C., Raposo, A., Alslamah, T., Albaridi, N. A., Saraiva, A., & Guimaraes, N. S. (2025). From kitchen to health: How culinary workshops influence eating habits, autonomy, and wellbeing in adults–A scoping review. Frontiers in Nutrition, 12, 1653406. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1653406
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11. Mensinger, J. L., Calogero, R. M., Stranges, S., & Tylka, T. L. (2016). A weight-neutral versus weight-loss approach for health promotion in women with high BMI: A randomized-controlled trial. Appetite, 105, 364–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.06.006
12. McEntee, M. L., Philip, S. R., & Phelan, S. M. (2023). Dismantling weight stigma in eating disorder treatment: Next steps for the field. Front Psychiatry, 14, 1157594. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1157594
13. Reinblatt, S.P., Redgrave, G.W., & Guarda, A.S. (2008). Medication management of pediatric eating disorders. Int Rev Psychiatry. 20(2): 183-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540260801889120
14. Muhlheim, L.  (2018). Why food is medicine for people with eating disorders and how family-based treatment can help teens. https://www.newharbinger.com/blog/self-help/why-food-is-medicine-for-people-with-eating-disorders-and-how-family-based-treatment-can-help-teens/