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Utah Business

Lois M. Collins writes:

Alma Rivera, 35, is expecting her first child next month. But during the pregnancy she developed gestational diabetes, so her doctor decided she and her baby would benefit from specialized nutrition counseling and access to food that’s good specifically to counter diabetes. The doctor sent her with a prescription to the University of Utah Health Food Pharmacy.

Oswald “Oz” Hutton, 60, of Salt Lake City, has battled hypertension, arthritis and chronic pain. What you eat makes a difference there, too, so the U.S. Marine Corps veteran opted into nutritional education and access to high quality produce courtesy of a program that’s a partnership between the Rockefeller Foundation and the Veterans Health Administration.

Those two programs — and scores of others — are part of the “Food Is Medicine” movement, the belief that what people eat helps determine their health on many levels.

“If you think about the drivers of health, dietary risk factors are shown to be the most important modifiable risk factor for chronic disease and death. Yet in health care, we don’t really talk about that much,” said Dr. Amy Locke, whose many titles include chief wellness officer at University of Utah Health, professor and co-director of the Driving Out Diabetes Initiative at the Osher Center for Integrative Health.

Read more about the “Food Is Medicine” movement and how it’s affecting healthcare in Utah.

More in Utah

Sen. John Curtis advocates for unity, career adaptability and responsible governance during his address to BYU students

Sen. John Curtis urged students to find common ground, prepare for career unpredictability and seek out responsible governance in an address at BYU on Monday morning.

Speaking in a green suit and tie for St. Patrick’s Day, Curtis answered questions ranging from the job market to his mission to Taiwan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here are some key points of his address:

“If you get away from compromise and work toward common ground, you will be able to do marvelous things,” Curtis said. “And there’s not a single person on this campus that you don’t have some cross section with.”

Read more about Curtis’ thoughts on inspiring the next generation of public servants.

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