In just twelve months, the number of scientific studies on "food is medicine" jumped by 68 percent — and that's not even the most striking number in the new report from the American Heart Association.
The annual report, Advances in the Food Is Medicine Field 2026, reviewed 57 research studies published between July 2025 and June 2026. Among them, the number of randomized controlled trials — the gold standard in medical research — quadrupled in a single year. That surge matters because it means doctors now have hard evidence for something many have suspected for decades: that the meals on a patient's plate can be just as powerful as the pills in their medicine cabinet.
Food is medicine, or FIM, is a growing field where doctors prescribe healthy meals and groceries the way they'd prescribe medication. The idea is catching on in both science and government. Sixteen states now have approved Medicaid waivers or are considering them to support these programs, and six states are using a special Medicaid authority to deliver food services directly to patients. At the federal level, food is medicine funding jumped by $24 million in the 2026 spending bill — a more than fourfold increase since 2024.
The results so far are encouraging. State Medicaid evaluations found that people in food is medicine programs used fewer hospital services, made fewer emergency department visits, and racked up lower health care costs. Medically tailored meals and groceries showed especially promising results, helping to improve blood pressure and hemoglobin A1c — a key measure of blood sugar control — sometimes dramatically when paired with nutrition counseling or community health worker support.
Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, put the shift in perspective: "Food is medicine science has moved beyond the question of whether these interventions are feasible and effective to how they can be most beneficial for individual patients and communities."
That's the field's new frontier. The strongest outcomes came from programs that did more than hand out food — ones that combined meals with diabetes education, motivational interviewing, and care navigation. Researchers also found that people engage more when programs respect their cultural preferences and fit their schedules. In other words, there's no one-size-fits-all prescription for a healthy plate.
Kevin Volpp, the scientific lead for the American Heart Association's Health Care by Food initiative, says the next phase will focus on matching the right kind of food intervention to each patient's needs, preferences, and circumstances — an essential step for keeping people engaged and making a lasting difference.
The evidence is young, but it's growing fast. As more states sign on and funding climbs, the message is clear: America's health care system is finally learning to take food seriously.