Close

National Research

We believe food heals.

Peer-reviewed research demonstrates that medically-tailored meals and nutrition therapy improve health outcomes and our health system as a whole. Please explore the links below for established and emerging research on the many ways Food Is Medicine Interventions improve health, reduce strain on the overall healthcare system, and lower healthcare costs.

Food as medicine? It’s not as simple as it sounds.
Perspective by Daphne Miller, Washington Post, January 8, 2023

Association of National Expansion of Insurance Coverage of Medically Tailored Meals With Estimated Hospitalizations and Health Care Expenditures in the US
Kurt Hager, MS; Frederick P. Cudhea, PhD; John B. Wong, MD; et al

2021 Research Summary
Collected by the Food Is Medicine Coalition

Association Between Receipt of a Medically Tailored Meal Program and Health Care Use
Seth A. Berkowitz, MD, MPH; Jean Terranova, JD; Liisa Randall, PhD

Medically Tailored Meal Delivery for Diabetes Patients with Food Insecurity: a Randomized Cross-over Trial
Seth A Berkowitz; Linda M Delahanty; Jean Terranova; Barbara Steiner; Melanie P Ruazol; Roshni Singh; Naysha N Shahid; Deborah J Wexler

Food Is Medicine: Providing Medically Tailored Meals to Community Members with Disease-associated Nutritional Risk Supports Stable BMI and Decreased Hospitalization
Jule Anne Henstenburg; Claudia Parvanta; Laura Pontiggia; Sue Daugherty; Nicole Laverty

Rising Food Insecurity and Health Inequities Highlight the Urgent Need For Medically Tailored Meal Support
Andrea Pedroza-Tobias

A “Food as Medicine” Program and It's Effects on Healthy Eating and Cooking Confidence
DeAnna Nara; Linda Thompson; Allan Johnson; Oyonumo Ntekim; Chimene Castor; Julius Ngwa