Food As Medicine

Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

–Hippocrates, 400 AD

Not long ago, one of my kids fell ill and I had to take them to the emergency room. Diagnosing the problem took some time (they’re fine now), so we had to spend the night in the ER waiting for a specialist in the morning.

I was dozing in a lounger next to the bed where my child was asleep when an orderly arrived with breakfast. He handed us two foam containers with a cup of grits (plain), scrambled eggs, and two shriveled sausages.

Not exactly healing foods. Sausages are highly processed meats, grits are high-glycemic and the eggs—the least offensive--contained just enough protein to keep us alive. This hospital breakfast was a bland collection of institutional calories; cheap and easily portable.

It reminded me of 1996 when I worked for the Ornish Program to Reverse Heart Disease at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. The French chef who accompanied Dr. Ornish to train hospital cooking staff on how to prepare nutritious low-fat plant-based meals, toured the enormous kitchen and returned pale and shaky. He cried in frustration, “Zey do not even have a stove!” and wondered out loud how he would feed 40 people during a weekend retreat.

That was 25 years ago. And today, obviously, not much has changed with hospital fare. It’s an irony: You’re supposed to get better in a hospital, not have acid reflux. Instead of fresh fruit and leafy green vegetables to support healing, we’re fed processed red meat, eggs from a gallon jug, and reconstituted grains.

Natural food stores like the co-op are often the first place people go when their doctor gives them an unwelcome diagnosis, or they want to make a lifestyle change, or maybe change their diet before they have to take prescription meds.

And we’re here to help. In fact, personal health is why a lot of co-op staff get into the business in the first place. We want to guide you to foods that are not only support your immune system and less taxing on your arteries, but also taste good.

Think of CCM when you or someone you love ’re looking for alternatives to the Standard American Diet. We can point you in the direction of foods that are nourishing and supplements that support your optimum health.

Troy Bond
Community Co-op Market CEO