You are what you eat.
We’ve all heard that. But it’s a little more complicated; you are what you eat, process, absorb and fail to eliminate correctly. Digestion and nutrient absorption are fundamental aspects of our health, and understanding the gut microbiome is now a cutting edge of medicine.
A study published in June 2021 in the journal Nature described advances in the understanding of the pathways in which gut bacteria affect mood in mice. When germ-free mice were administered Enterococcus faecalis, their corticosterone levels dropped, and their social behaviors improved. The abstract states, “These studies suggest that specific gut bacteria can restrain the activation of the HPA axis and show that the microbiome can affect social behaviors through discrete neuronal circuits that mediate stress responses in the brain.”
More research must be conducted to understand the connection to human systems, but this alone is a fascinating development. And one of the factors to affect the population and distribution of the gut microbiome? Food. We are what we eat.
A movement aiming to put the concept that “Food is Medicine” front and center is forming. There are numerous articles, interest groups, and companies launching, that are pushing this concept toward the mainstream. When we create a social media post with the hashtag #Foodismedicine, we find ourselves in the company of folks from The Mayo Clinic, Emery and Henry Colleges, Center for Health Policy and Law Innovation at Harvard Law, and so many others.
North Carolina Public Health Pilot Plan
INM is deeply invested in this approach through two of our own programs. One is our North Carolina Public Health Pilot Program, done in partnership with Standard Process, Inc. Our program, a 12-week interventional research study conducted with 25 participants from a primarily minority county in rural North Carolina, will focus on food and education to increase the participants’ health literacy.
Our study aims to test the theory that with the food as medicine approach, participants can turn the tide away from chronic disease and learn strategies to employ beyond the study timeframe that will continue to accrue health benefits. Through weekly group sessions and one-on-one communication with a naturopathic doctor as a teacher, the study participants will be provided information to help them become their own “Health CEO.” Without knowledge about how and why we become diseased and what to do to prevent it, the course toward chronic disease is all the more certain.
In addition to group video sessions, whole foods-based supplements, and reference materials provided, we will be using a gamification app, 1Huddle, to increase and assess learning retention and provide healthy competition with other participants.
Connection with Naturally Well
Our other program is INM’s Naturally Well, our childhood nutritional education program, designed to be a combination of hands-on and video learning formats to make 4th graders ambassadors for changing the trajectory of their own health, their family's health, and, by extension, the health of their communities. Kids are curious about how their bodies work, how food determines health, and how they can help themselves and their parents become healthier and more energetic. This program helps feed their curiosity.
