A study by researchers from Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s top health insurance and medical services provider, the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University’s Gerald J. The findings demonstrate that integrating a Food is Medicine approach into clinical care can improve both diabetes outcomes and patient food and nutritional security. The research will be published in a journal circulation.
This trial shows that food-based support can help lower blood sugar levels more than the medical care that low-income patients receive. Our findings suggest that addressing access to healthy foods may play a meaningful role in diabetes treatment, especially for patients facing economic and social barriers. ”
Dr. Claudia Nau, lead study author, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Office of Research and Evaluation Research Scientist
This study was a randomized controlled trial conducted within Kaiser Permanente Southern California to examine whether medically regulated grocery delivery can improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Researchers enrolled 460 Medicaid-insured patients with persistently elevated blood sugar levels treated at 12 medical office buildings across Southern California. Participants were recruited from November 2021 to July 2022 and followed for 6 months.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive usual care or support that included one of two monthly deliveries of medically tailored groceries (averaging about $135 or $175), weekly home deliveries of healthy food tailored to household size, culturally tailored recipes, and access to nutritional counseling over the phone. The researchers used electronic health records and participant questionnaires to compare changes in blood sugar levels and diet-related outcomes.
Key findings include:
- Participants who received medically formulated food products had greater improvements in blood sugar levels than those receiving usual care, with an additional 0.40 point reduction in HbA1c over six months.
- Among those who received groceries, the odds of being food secure increased by nearly 215 percent and the odds of being nutritionally secure increased by 365 percent.
- The improvement in blood sugar levels was similar whether participants consumed higher or lower levels of the medically formulated food product.
The results of this study add to the growing “Food is Medicine” literature by providing randomized controlled trial evidence that medically tailored grocery programs can improve both clinical outcomes and food-related conditions that impact health. By focusing on a Medicaid-insured population with persistently poor glycemic control, this study helps fill an evidence gap and supports the integration of food-based interventions into routine diabetes care.
“These trial results further demonstrate that healthy foods can be a powerful tool in the treatment and management of chronic diseases,” said lead author Dr. Darish Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts’ Friedman School. “Incorporating Food is Medicine programs, such as medically tailored groceries, into Medicaid benefits recognizes that nutrition is a fundamental component of health and can lead to improved patient outcomes.”
“For too long, nutrition has taken a back seat in medical practice, even though poor diets contribute to enormous disease burdens and health care costs in the United States and around the world,” said Dr. Jason Wu, director of nutritional sciences at the George Institute for Global Health and co-principal investigator of the study. “In addition to informing local policy, including policies for health systems and payers designing Food is Medicine benefits, we hope this study will inspire policymakers to begin investing in and testing similar programs around the world.”
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Reference magazines:
Nau, C. others. (2026). Effects of the “Food is Medicine” intervention on glycemic control in Medicaid patients with type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial. circulation. DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.125.077982. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.077982
