Food as Medicine: Nutrition for Prevention and Longevity

Diet has been identified as the single most important risk factor for morbidity and mortality in the United States, yet most health care providers spend relatively few hours learning about nutrition during their formal training. The limited nutrition education that is offered in medical and health professional programs is often primarily didactic and focused on the biochemistry of nutrients and health consequences of deficiency states—content that is of limited use in a clinical setting where the majority of the population faces over-nutrition due to high intake of ultra-processed, calorie-dense, high saturated fat-laden foods. This Food as Medicine: Nutrition for Prevention and Longevity course is designed to serve as a nutrition educational opportunity.

• Review the current challenges in nutrition research and the challenges of disseminating accurate nutrition information to the public.
• Explain national and global nutrition recommendations and basic nutrition principles.
• Distinguish differences between health-promoting and health-harming foods.
• Describe the dietary pattern recommended by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine for disease prevention, treatment and reversal.
• Apply the concept of the dietary spectrum when making nutrition recommendations.
• Discuss nutrition therapy scope of practice.
• Review the scientific evidence of popular diets.

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