American Heart Association Awards $1.2 Million in Food as Medicine Research Grants

The American Heart Association (AHA) has awarded nearly $1.2 million in planning grants to 12 scientific researchers as part of its Health Care by Food™ initiative, focusing on developing clinical trial protocols for food-based medical interventions.

The grants will support researchers in creating detailed protocols to test how food interventions like produce prescriptions and medically tailored meals can effectively treat, manage, and prevent chronic diseases. With an estimated 90% of the $4.5 trillion annual U.S. healthcare costs attributed to diet-related chronic conditions, these research efforts could significantly impact healthcare strategies.

Dr. Kevin Volpp, scientific lead for the initiative, emphasized the importance of designing research that addresses potential insurance coverage considerations. The planning grants provide researchers one year to design and prepare documentation for larger-scale clinical trials, with the ultimate goal of determining the most effective food intervention approaches for specific populations.

This initiative builds on the AHA's existing work, which currently includes 23 small-scale clinical trials exploring food is medicine research. By emphasizing human-centered design and behavioral science, researchers aim to increase program engagement, retention, and improve health outcomes.

The Health Care by Food initiative, launched in 2022, is supported by funding from organizations including The Rockefeller Foundation, Kroger, and the Walmart Foundation. The research seeks to develop cost-effective strategies that could fundamentally transform how chronic diseases are approached in medical treatment.