Food as medicine--cost-effective health care? The example of omega-3 fatty acids.

The United States accounts for more than 51% of the dollar 430.3 billion expended on pharmaceutical products worldwide each year. Yet, in comparison to other advanced industrial societies, the United States has relatively worse health outcomes across many measures. This disparity challenges the perceived efficacy and cost effectiveness of pharmaceutical agents in promoting the public health. Before access to prescription drugs, our society first needs access to low-cost, nontoxic, non-expert-dependent interventions to ensure basic health outcomes. Food may represent the most cost-effective means of promoting public health. This article introduces the topic of food as medicine by discussing briefly the evidence base for omega-3 fatty acid-rich foods as modulators of physiologic pathways. It provides background on the physiological role of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, discusses their roles in disease and disease prevention, and looks at changes in food production in this country that have led to a decrease in omega-3 consumption. It also recommends dietary interventions to remedy omega-3 deficiency and asserts that now is the time for our state and our nation to more aggressively fund research into medicinal foods.