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I’ve been seeing my family doctor for over 20 years. She cared for me during my pregnancy and has since cared for both myself and my now young-adult son. During my visits I have discovered that my doctor is a woman like me – a skier and cyclist, active, engaged, seemingly quite healthy and fit. I appreciate her care and expertise.

But one growing area of concern for me is a distinct lack of information or recommendations over the years pertaining to nutrition. This seems strange, considering what I would assume is her personal approach to food as an athletic, fit woman. So imagine my shock when, while researching this article, I learned that doctors in the UK and the US receive on average only 11 hours of nutrition education throughout their entire medical education – and Canada is not much better. Suddenly, it made sense why I was receiving no guidance in this area.

Food as Medicine – The Science

In our highly medicalized western culture, food as medicine is only just hitting the mainstream as a concept. However, not only can food be a conduit to health, but it can also make us sick. Food is well known to be one of the most major contributing factors in the development and prevention of chronic disease.

It’s well documented that people who do not consume adequate, nutritious food have poorer health outcomes than those who do. On the flip side, according to a decades-long study involving over 120,000 people, consuming a diet filled with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes can reduce risk of early death by as much as 20 per cent. It can prevent disease.

The study made clear that people following healthy eating patterns are also less likely to die from cancer, cardiovascular illness, and respiratory and neurodegenerative disease.

With so much science supporting food as both a health risk and a health driver, why do doctors routinely ignore the power of food, both good and bad?

Doctor, Heal Thyself – With Food

Doctors, like all of us, are just human. Believe me, I had a grandfather and now have three siblings who are doctors, and I’ve learned through the years that they’re just like the rest of us. They have been taught important knowledge through education and experience, but if they do not continually enhance their knowledge and question what they have been taught, they can be just as much in the dark as the rest of us, or worse, working with outdated information.

As Dr. Margaret Rundle wrote for the CMAJ blog, “In my four years of medical school, I was surprised to find we were exposed to only about 20 hours of nutrition education. I recall it being primarily only about what are vitamins, minerals, carbs, fats; nothing about dietary interventions.”

This lack of education leaves doctors scrambling to add personal knowledge to their practices, but as a profession that focuses largely on curing illness as opposed to preventative measures such as nutrition and exercise, they have scant official resources to help.

Even if nutrition is something they are personally interested in, physicians report not feeling confident enough to counsel their patients about their diets. 87.2 per cent of Canadian medical students surveyed said that their undergraduate medical program should dedicate more time to nutrition education. 

Many survey respondents said they were somewhat comfortable with their knowledge of basic nutrition concepts and the role nutrition plays in disease prevention. However, they felt ill-equipped in counselling patients about nutritional requirements to treat specific diseases and conditions. Additionally, they, like many of us, have trouble identifying credible sources of nutrition information.

What’s Next?

Some patient-centric MDs are sitting up and taking notice. Here in Canada, Dr. Rundle is working with the University of Toronto on an accredited nutrition education for practicing MDs. Additionally, she started the Rundle-Lister Lectureship in Transformative Nutritional Medical Education as well as the Food as Medicine event series that seeks to address the knowledge gap in continuing medical education in nutrition. She also envisions a day when physicians can refer to a university-affiliated “go-to” information website where they can update their knowledge, and patients can get safe, reliable information.

While the average Canadian cannot control what upcoming doctors are taught in medical school and beyond, we can, for the most part, be in full control of what we put into our bodies. We can also start challenging our doctors to talk with us about nutrition as part of an overall healthcare plan or for specific diseases. And if you don’t have a doctor currently, it’s even more important to take action with your nutrition in order to stay as healthy as possible.

Bookmark The Health Insider’s Nutrition Section to get inspired with healthy recipes and learn about the latest in nutrition and health.

There’s a lot you can do on your own to inform yourself and get inspired. Eating healthily for preventative purposes isn’t brain surgery, but it does require ongoing learning, an interest in your own health and in making the effort to buy or produce – and cook – your own healthy food. The more you enjoy sourcing and preparing fresh, nutritious food, the more you will enjoy the process of leveraging food as medicine for better health.

But the reality remains; those of you still lucky enough to have a doctor in Canada likely don’t have one who can confidently advise you about preventative nutrition or a diet to help combat a specific disease or condition,

Now more than ever, it’s up to you to make it happen. A great place to start educating yourself is with Dr. Casey Mean’s book Good Energy. Drop us a line at info@thehealthinsider.ca and let us know what is working for you.

~ Read more from The Health Insider ~

The information provided on TheHealthInsider.ca is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. TheHealthInsider.ca advises consulting a medical professional or healthcare provider when seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.

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