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Providing people with nutritious foods can improve the management of chronic metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. However, most studies of "Food Is Medicine" programs have only looked at their short-term impacts—on the scale of weeks to months.

A new study led by Mass General Brigham researchers shows that a longer-duration Food Is Medicine program through the Mass General Brigham Revere Community Health Center's Food Pantry was associated with dose-dependent improvements in cardiometabolic health in adults. They found that patients who received weekly plant-based grocery packages for an average of 2.7 years showed dose-dependent reductions in diastolic blood pressure, body weight and body mass index (BMI). Results are published in Preventing Chronic Disease.

"Our results suggest that plant-based food interventions are promising and, in the future, should focus on longer durations for improving cardiovascular and metabolic health," said senior author Lauren Fiechtner, M.D., MPH, division chief of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at Mass General Brigham for Children and senior health and research adviser at the Greater Boston Food Bank.

The study is closely tied to a longstanding collaboration between Mass General Brigham Revere Community Health Center and the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), which has provided nearly 379,000 pounds (172,000 kilograms) of food to MGB Revere this year alone.

7 years. The food packages were designed by a dietitian based on the USDA 2020 Dietary Guidelines and consisted of fresh fruits and vegetables, canned beans, nut butter and whole grains sourced from the GBFB and other food access organizations.

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