The urgency to address diet-related chronic conditions has never been greater – Type II diabetes, hypertension, obesity and other chronic diseases are reaching epidemic levels not only in the United States but also in nations around the world. However, we hold the power to reverse these trends. And it begins with clinician education.
For over 20 years ACLM has been at the forefront of equipping clinicians with comprehensive food as medicine knowledge and practical tools firmly grounded in rigorous scientific research to effect systemic change.
ACLM serves as a bridge between the concepts of “food as medicine,” emphasizing the therapeutic potential of healthy eating habits, and “food in medicine,” highlighting the integration of nutrition within the healthcare system to improve patient outcomes.
Through research, education and clinical integration, ACLM contributes to advancing the understanding and implementation of lifestyle-based approaches to achieve optimal health, with an emphasis on the pivotal role of nutrition.
“The momentum for Food as Medicine is an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of nutritious food to make a lasting impact on health and chronic disease. We need to wrap around this effort a healthcare workforce educated and trained in nutrition as a therapeutic intervention. That is how we can give FAM staying power.”
– Cate Collings, MD, ACLM Past-president for MedScape
Evidence overwhelmingly supports that prescriptive whole food, plant-predominant dietary interventions are efficacious for treating—and even reversing—chronic diseases among adults and children alike.
ACLM is committed to setting the standard for clinical practice guidelines in lifestyle medicine, rooted in the principles of food as medicine and aligned with global nutrition clinical practice guidelines. Our approach is evidence-based, forward-thinking, and poised to shape the future of healthcare.
ACLM’s brief questionnaire will allow your patients to track their usual diet over the last 4 weeks. Download and use the PDF version or use the design elements to build your own screener.
An important new study by ACLM has found that there is considerable agreement among major organizations regarding the benefit of consuming minimally processed whole plant-foods to treat and prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
ACLM sponsored and editing a special issue on Food as Medicine in Frontiers in Nutrition, with over 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles relevant to the use of food and nutrition in clinical practice.
In a 22-article supplement to the Journal of Family Practice introducing the field and implementation of lifestyle medicine to family medicine physicians, two articles focused on nutrition: “Nutrition and Disease Prevention” with first author Michelle E. Hauser, MD, MS, MPA, FACP, FACLM, DipABLM; and “An Approach to Nutritional Counseling” with author Thomas M. Campbell, MD, DipABOM.
Providing healthcare professionals with a strong foundation in Culinary Medicine — including what constitutes a healthy diet and how to find, obtain, and prepare healthy and delicious food — is a key part of supporting patients in achieving better health outcomes and putting food as medicine into practice. Access this comprehensive, complimentary curriculum.
Food as medicine holds the transformative power to effect systemic change within healthcare and beyond. By integrating evidence-based dietary interventions into clinical practice, healthcare systems can shift from a reactive model focused on treating symptoms to a proactive approach centered on treating, preventing and even reversing chronic diseases.
Empowering interdisciplinary clinicians throughout the U.S. to integrate lifestyle medicine principles into practice holds the potential to reduce the burden of chronic disease while simultaneously bolstering clinician resiliency.
As part of our commitment alongside the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, up to 200,000 clinicians nationwide can now access foundational training in lifestyle medicine and food as medicine at no cost.
The Lifestyle Medicine National Training Initiative is making accessible lifestyle medicine training and certification to 1,400 Federally Qualified Health Centers across the U.S.
For over two decades, ACLM has been at the forefront of developing clinician training and certification in evidence-based food as medicine principles, bridging the critical gap in current clinician education.
Tools and support to help patients use food as medicine are critical to patient success.
ACLM has compiled a number of downloadable print resources including our free Food as Medicine Jumpstart Guide and a Whole Food Plant Based Sample Menu Plan that contain delicious recipes, tips and advice that can be used to augment your food as medicine.
As the leading authority in lifestyle medicine, rooted in nutrition, ACLM’s community of experts consistently add to the wealth of knowledge on Food as Medicine principles.
