Food and Exercise as Medicine
This is not a substitute for direct care by YOUR doctor. Confirm with your doctor before doing any of the following.
- A healthy diet and regular exercise not only helps prevent disease, but also helps treat disease
- Try to limit foods that are ultra processed
- Recognizing ultra processed foods can be difficult, but if the ingredient list is long, many of the ingredients are not easily recognizable as food, and the expiration date is months or years in the future, the item may be ultra processed
- Exercise is a form of medicine that affects all aspects of health
- Most adults should aim for 150-300 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week IF CLEARED BY YOUR DOCTOR
Lane MM, Gamage E, Du S, Ashtree DN, McGuinness AJ, Gauci S, Baker P, Lawrence M, Rebholz CM, Srour B, Touvier M, Jacka FN, O'Neil A, Segasby T, Marx W. Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ. 2024 Feb 28;384:e077310. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2023-077310. PMID: 38418082; PMCID: PMC10899807.
The best ways to identify processed foods. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-best-ways-to-identify-processed-foods. Accessed on June 6, 2025.
Thompson WR, Sallis R, Joy E, Jaworski CA, Stuhr RM, Trilk JL. Exercise Is Medicine. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2020 Apr 22;14(5):511-523. doi: 10.1177/1559827620912192. PMID: 32922236; PMCID: PMC7444006.