Food is Medicine: The potential of medically-tailored meals

If a doctor’s referral could give you easier access to healthy food in the same way that a script can do for medication, what could it mean for our health and the healthcare system?

This is the question that The George Institute for Global Health is asking in their promising study, “Food is Medicine for type 2 diabetes.” In this ongoing clinical trial, patients with type 2 diabetes are provided meals suitable for their medical nutrition needs (i.e. medically-tailored meals) in addition to their usual care. The study aims to find out whether this could be an effective way of improving the management of type 2 diabetes and reducing the risk of heart disease, particularly among those facing food insecurity.

The meals in the study are pre-prepared and home delivered. By getting food in this way, study participants are able to access the foods that they need in a way that’s more affordable and convenient.

Able Foods meals and The George Institute

Able Foods is proud to be one of the meal providers for the Food is Medicine study*. This means that some study participants are able to choose from a range of our meals, such as the Chicken & Apricot Tagine, Roast Beef & Seeded Mustard Gravy, and Chicken Chow Mein.

At Able Foods, all our our main meals are designed according to our Magic 8 Nutrition Guidelines: That means they have all the good stuff, because they are designed to be nutritionally balanced, portion controlled, and to have controlled amounts of sugar, saturated fat, and sodium. 

Research into food prescription programs, where subsidised food is used as a medical tool to treat obesity and chronic health conditions, is growing in countries like the United States¹, but this study by The George Institute is the first of its kind in Australia.

The George Institute is a leading independent medical research institute that aims to improve the health of millions worldwide with innovative prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases and injury.

The intersections of disability, diabetes, and food security

There’s a two-way relationship between chronic disease and disability, where having one can increase the risk of developing the other. Of the one in five Australians who have disability, 11% also have diabetes, and people with disability are at least twice as likely to develop diabetes.²

Because having disabilities and diabetes can have impacts across one’s daily life–including lost work days, increased medical costs and decreased mobility–it also makes it difficult to access the food one needs to stay healthy.

If successful, this research will help justify the need for Food is Medicine interventions that give doctors in Australia a new, effective way to manage type 2 diabetes and reduce the risk of heart disease. Researchers expect the program to be as effective as other therapies, to be preferred by patients, and to be as cost-effective as many existing drug treatments.

To learn more about the clinical trial, visit The George Institute webpage.