Food For Thought

Ironically, as I sat with a growling stomach flicking through the TV channels one evening, I accidently happened to switch over to Channel 4, on which the first episode of The Food Hospital was being broadcast. A group of healthcare professionals have been trying to help patients, with diseases from psoriasis to ankylosing spondylitis, that have not been successfully treated with conventional medicine by instead using the power of food to help relieve symptoms.

One example particularly stands out, that of a young boy whose life was plagued by severe migraines, despite him taking prescription drugs (as they had begun to lose effectiveness over time). The dietician instructed his mother to cut amines out of his diet (by avoiding food like citrus fruit) as amines are thought to be involved in migraine pathology. As well as this, MSG, additives and colours were removed.

After a period of time (8 weeks if I remember correctly), he returned to the Food Hospital for a review and the professionals were told that he had not suffered a single migraine since the diet plan was rolled out, a huge drop in morbidity considering he had migraines every couple of days at times. Astonishing findings.

Thanks to my fourth year project that focuses on critical analysis of media (mainly studies), I was myself quite sceptical at first. Here, the study cannot be considered totally valid as it was not done in appropriate conditions required for a study; for one thing, the participants weren't monitored over the test period for variables. However seeing as the only change that was made was the diet, this instils a little hope in the possibility of the use of food as medicine.

Although concrete evidence proving the effectiveness of dietary changes in relieving disease symptoms is scarce, it has been long known that diet can play an extremely important role in some conditions. It has been proven that early-stage diabetes, for example, can be reversed by an appropriate diet. Some diabetics can even be controlled on diet alone and lifestyle changes are becoming increasingly important in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease for instance.

Surely it won't be long before food becomes a new mainstay of alternative medicine?