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Food as Medicine, A Prescription to Improve Your Health

Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” -Hippocrates

Food and eating can mean so many things—it’s nurturing, pleasurable, fun, communal, comforting. It signifies culture, community, tradition and family. But what is food really all about?

eating a hamburger

For many Americans, food is something more than nourishment and fuel.  Junk foods have become a recipe of chemical compounds that may taste good but have little of any nutritional value. Salt, sugar, fat and artificial colors and additives are processed into foods to make them more appealing, have a longer shelf life and cheaper to produce. However, food should be whole, real, grown and raised humanely.

Food has also become big business and has become so complicated. But it doesn’t have to be. It can really come down to a simple concept: the result of the nutrition you consume is really your state of health. Basically, if you eat better you’ll feel better!

For most people, Mediterranean-based menu that is rich in extra virgin olive oil, lean fish and seafood and fresh fruits and vegetables is a key in a food as medicine approach.

Young girl with fruits.

A Mediterranean meal plan can help with weight management and assist in remedying common health problems like arthritis that are associated with inflammation that is often a reaction to eating the wrong kinds of food. Plus, sticking with Mediterranean food choices will give you more energy and all around improved wellness.

It’s easy to start eating the Mediterranean way wherein the PathwayFIT® genetic test (which recommends this meal plan) from Pathway Genomics can help. Be sure to look into it. The key is to prepare and shop smart. To get you started, here’s 10 tips to get you started now:

  1. Replace butter with olive oil or canola oil
  2. Eat plenty of nuts, seeds and fruit
  3. Load your plate with leafy greens
  4. Eat whole-grain bread, pasta rice and other grains
  5. Go vegetarian for dinner a few nights a week
  6. Add beans and lentils to your weekly menu
  7. Have fish twice a week
  8. Eat more chicken and poultry—less red meat
  9. If you drink, limit yourself to a glass or two with a meal
  10. Eat fruit for dessert

Here’s to feeling better!

Article Submitted By Community Writer

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