Food is medicine

University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Barriers to healthy eating contribute to substantial health harms, yet clinicians have had limited tools to address them. Food‑as‑medicine interventions seek to prevent or manage clinical conditions by providing healthy food resources and addressing nutrition‑related barriers. The article outlines the major categories of FIM, including medically tailored meals, grocery prescriptions, and nutrition counseling, and summarizes recent trial evidence on their impact on utilization, mortality, and chronic disease risk. It also discusses implementation challenges and future research directions for integrating nutrition into clinical practice.