10/21/24 –
On Nutrition
The idea that food is medicine has been around for centuries, even if there’s doubt about its origin story. (The Greek physician Hippocrates, the “father” of Western medicine, allegedly wrote, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” but there’s no actual evidence of that.) Technically speaking, food is not medicine, as medicinal drugs can do things to the body that food can’t, unless perhaps you are treating a nutrient deficiency, but nutrition does play a role in health.
While food as medicine can have some literal applications (more on that in a minute), the modern application of this idea is often focused on preventing illness and disease. And some people will benefit more than others…