George Mason University community health students share their insights from nutrition professor and registered dietitian Raedah Basiri for their Honors College project exploring nutrition interventions for chronic disease.

The concept of food as medicine is gaining traction as a way to prevent and manage chronic disease. During an Honors College consulting course (Honors 260), community health student Janay Hopgood and a teammate interviewed Raedeh Basiri, assistant professor of nutrition and a registered dietitian, to inform their approach.

Their project challenged them to develop an innovative solution to improve long-term health outcomes and prevent chronic disease among a health care organization partner.

"We aimed to integrate nutrition into health care by leveraging technology, community partnerships, and data-driven strategies to promote healthier lifestyles and advance health equity," Hopgood said. "Dr. Basiri helped us better understand which avenues of research and implementation were realistic, challenged common misconceptions, and provided thoughtful feedback. Most importantly, she created a space where we could openly discuss our developing concept and draw upon her knowledge and experience."

Here are six insights that Hopgood and her partner developed from their interview with Basiri:

1. Personalization matters.
   Effective nutrition interventions start with collecting comprehensive data to understand the whole person, including their food access, finances, lifestyle, physical activity, and living environment. One-size-fits-all recommendations rarely work, Basiri said.
   
2. Start small.
   Bombarding people with too much nutrition information at once isn't sustainable. Introducing small, personalized changes gradually is more likely to improve health outcomes.
   
3. Nutrition is too often overlooked in favor of medication.
   Basiri highlighted a gap between nutrition research and clinical practice. When lifestyle changes don't produce immediate results, patients often get moved to medication despite strong evidence supporting the long-term benefits of dietary interventions.
   
4. Real-time feedback encourages behavior change.
   Basiri said technology can help patients better understand how food affects their health, especially for those with limited access to a physician. Continuous glucose monitors provide real-time feedback that can increase compliance, while artificial intelligence tools can help deliver similar personalized guidance.
   
5. Weight-loss medications still need nutritional support.
   Although GLP-1 medications are effective for weight loss, Basiri noted that they can also contribute to issues such as malnutrition, hair loss, and bone density loss. Nutrition support, she said, can help ensure patients don't "solve the problem and create another one."
   
6. Trust is the foundation of lasting impact.
   Basiri emphasized that successful nutrition programs are built on trust, both between nutrition practitioners and patients, and between nutrition practitioners and other health care professionals. Positive outcomes are most likely to create that trust, leading to more referrals and greater demand for nutrition-based services.