美国国家公共电台 NPR--Doctors normally prescribe medicine and now some are prescribing meals

Doctors normally prescribe medicine and now some are prescribing meals

Transcript¹

A study finds medically tailored healthy meal delivery reduces the risk of patients ending up back in the hospital. These meal programs are benefiting people with diet-related conditions.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Doctors prescribe medicine. That's a basic part of their job. But some doctors are now also prescribing meals, what they call medically tailored meals that are aimed at treating or managing chronic² medical conditions. And as NPR's Allison Aubrey reports, there is new evidence to show how beneficial the meals can be for people with a diet-related illnesses, like diabetes³ and heart disease, which affects millions of Americans.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE⁴: About two years ago, Michelle Pagoni (ph), who's now 58, was hospitalized after she took a bad fall in her home in Castro Valley, Calif.

MICHELLE PAGONI: I fell out of my bed, and I broke my pelvis. And I ended up in the hospital, you know, in rehab.

AUBREY: During her stay, her health care providers realized that her blood sugar was elevated. Already diagnosed with diabetes, the condition was not well controlled. And she told a nurse how she was feeling.

PAGONI: Sluggish⁵ - you know, just get tired and not want to do anything.

AUBREY: That's when a nurse at Kaiser Permanente told her that for her condition, food could be a medicine. Eating the right kinds of meals, she was told, could help manage her blood sugar. And the nurse helped sign her up to receive free meals paid for by her health plan. The meals are prepared and delivered by an organization called Project Open Hand in Oakland.

ANA AYALA: I've heated up one of our medically tailored meals.

AUBREY: Ana Ayala is vice⁶ president of programs at Project Open Hand, which was founded in the early days of the AIDS epidemic⁷ to nourish AIDS patients. Now needs have shifted as diet-related diseases have become so common. The group partnered with the state of California several years back to launch the first statewide medically tailored meal program in the U.S.

AYALA: This is one of our most popular recipes. It is our wellness meal. And it is a beef stroganoff atop a whole wheat rotini.

AUBREY: The group's chef has worked with nutrition professionals to develop meals that are low in refined carbohydrates⁸, high in protein, with plenty of vegetables.

AYALA: Wonderfully vibrant⁹, colorful medley¹⁰ of green beans and broccoli¹¹ and cauliflower.

AUBREY: This smells wonderful.

AYALA: It does smell wonderful. I agree.

AUBREY: Every week, Project Open Hand packs up thousands of these meals and delivers them to patients around the region, including to the home of Michelle Pagoni. The meals are portioned precisely¹² for weight management.

PAGONI: I do think these meals are helping¹³ me lose weight. They're helping my leg chiggers.

AUBREY: Pam Schwartz is executive director of community health at Kaiser Permanente, which recently committed $50 million to bolster¹⁴ its Food Is Medicine initiatives.

PAM SCHWARTZ: Health care across the nation is moving in this direction. There's quite a buzz about Food Is Medicine and also the role of health care and being part of the solution.

AUBREY: Pilot studies show that providing healthy meals to help nourish people with Type 2 diabetes can help reduce medical costs and improve patients' A1C, a measure of blood sugar. And Schwartz says Kaiser Permanente's latest research adds more evidence.

SCHWARTZ: In the spring of 2020, we launched three medically tailored meal studies for patients who were recently discharged from our hospitals.

AUBREY: Patients received 10 weeks of medically tailored meals. A control group received usual care, with no meals. They were followed for several months after discharge. Turns out, receiving the meals was associated with lower mortality and fewer hospitalizations for heart failure.

SCHWARTZ: I wasn't surprised, but I do know that health care needs more studies for us to be able to understand how to scale.

AUBREY: Michelle Pagoni says having healthy meals delivered has helped her change her diet, away from cookies and chips.

PAGONI: It's amazing that I'm eating vegetables over my junk food. Cooked carrots - and another one I'm actually eating is Brussels sprouts¹⁵, and I'm starting to enjoy.

AUBREY: She's learned a new way to eat, and it's changed her outlook.

PAGONI: The way I'm feeling now is I have more energy, and the food is just helping me all around.

AUBREY: And her health care providers say if she can build on this momentum¹⁶, this is the promise of food as medicine.

Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MEN I TRUST'S "TAILWHIP REVISITED")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

8 carbohydrates   

n.碳水化合物，糖类( carbohydrate的名词复数 )；淀粉质或糖类食物

参考例句：

• The plant uses the carbohydrates to make cellulose. 植物用碳水化合物制造纤维素。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All carbohydrates originate from plants. 所有的碳水化合物均来自植物。 来自辞典例句

9 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

10 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

11 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

12 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

15 sprouts   

n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。