Nutrition in medical education: Health effects, scientific evidence — and the best diet

There is solid scientific evidence to support lifestyle changes as a way to treat chronic conditions. That includes nutrition — and the Mediterranean diet rises above the rest. School of Medicine Greenville Professor Jennifer L. Trilk, PhD, FACSM, DipACLM, discusses the state of science and the best food pattern to build around for doctors and patients.

Trilk is a co-author of “Proposed Nutrition Competencies for Medical Students and Physician Trainees: A Consensus Statement,” published in JAMA Network Open. The authors’ goal was to recommend nutrition competencies in medical education to improve patient and population health. She is the co-founder of the Lifestyle Medicine Education Collaborative, which has published free medical education curriculum materials on lifestyle medicine.

Jennifer L. Trilk, PhD, FACSM, DipACLM: When we look at the evidence around nutrition and lifestyle medicine, so, the scientific, peer-reviewed evidence, there's strong, significant associations between whole-food, plant-based food patterns and an improvement in chronic disease. There are randomized, controlled trial evidence out there, good research groups and research programs that look at more of a longitudinal comparison between a high-processed food and a whole-food, plant-based food pattern, that demonstrate that there's an improved improvement in most indices and health. A1C, blood pressures, lipid profiles, et cetera, with more of a whole food pattern. The most scientifically evidenced food pattern — so if you think about the Mediterranean diet, South Beach diet, the keto diet, all of these different diets that come up — the most evidence-based one is the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet is really looking at whole, fresh foods, nonprocessed foods. It does not rule out animal-based proteins. It certainly rules out processed foods. Through the years, as we navigate ourselves through the evidence of what is the healthiest food pattern? Is it being 100% whole food, plant-based and not getting animal products? Is it something that is having some animal products in there? It really is much more dependent upon the processed foods, the high-sugar foods, the low-nutrient-dense foods.