MEDFORD MA – If we truly are what we eat, a new study suggests, medically tailored meals could make millions of people feel better and also lower their future health care costs. It also indicates Pennsylvanians could benefit more than others.
Researchers at Massachusetts-based Tufts University say “nutrition-based food prescription programs” are now being designed by registered dietitians to meet nutritional needs of individuals with complex health conditions. The dietitians have been successful so far in improving a range of health outcomes for patients with diet-sensitive conditions.
A Tufts team created a simulation based on those results and during April (2025) published its findings in the journal, Health Affairs. They include a surprising prediction.
Nationwide implementation of tailoring foods to support millions of Americans with diet-sensitive conditions could save about $32.1 billion in health care costs in the first year alone,” it proposes. Medically tailored meals also might prevent more than 3.5 million hospitalizations annually related to complications from diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, the findings noted.
The simulation was run 1,000 times to account for uncertainties. Once finished, a state-by-state analysis showed a net health-and-cost benefit for medically tailored meal programs across the country. It also noted “important variations based on each state’s health care costs, infrastructure, policies, hospitalization patterns, and rates of diet-sensitive conditions.”
Pennsylvania Would Benefit, Model Shows
“These results emphasize the potential for policymakers to integrate medically tailored meals into health care coverage at scale,” according to study first author Shuyue (Amy) Deng, a Tufts doctoral student in its Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Cost savings were indicated in 49 of 50 states, she says, possibly reducing both financial and health burdens. Among all states, Connecticut showed the highest annual per-patient savings at $6,299. It was followed by Pennsylvania ($4,450), and Massachusetts ($4,331).
Alabama was the only state where implementing medically tailored meals would be cost-neutral, but still yield health benefits for residents.
Researchers estimate more than 14 million Americans across the country would qualify for receiving medically tailored meals.
Those figures run from a high of 1.22 million people in California, to about 18,000 in Alaska. People receiving greater benefit likely would be those who have both a diet-sensitive condition, like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, or cancer; and limitations in day-to-day activities, such as preparing meals or going shopping.
Good Medicine, Good Economics
“Our findings suggest medically tailored meals are not just good medicine … they’re good economics,” says study senior author Dariush Mozaffarian. He also directs the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts’ Friedman School.
“States are excellent incubators for health care innovation,” Mozaffarian observes. “Investing in medically tailored meals could transform care for vulnerable patients in every state, while creating substantial health care value.”
Photo by Alonso Nichols provided to Travels With The Post by Tufts University
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