The Four Levels of Healing Through Food

Going Beyond the Prescription to True Transformation

When it comes to food and healing, most people stop at the basics—what to eat, what not to eat, what nutrients to add or avoid. And yes, food as medicine is powerful. But if you stop at the prescription and don't attend to the other levels, unhealthful dietary habits will surely return.

Our food choices are influenced by far more than just hunger or nutrients—and in turn, they influence more than just our physical health. To truly heal through food, we must engage with it on multiple levels: physical, emotional, communal, and planetary. Each level unlocks deeper meaning, stronger connections, and more sustainable change because the more invested we are, the more likely we will eat for our health and wellbeing. 

"Food isn't just fuel—it's medicine for the body, balm for the soul,

connection for the community, and hope for our planet. When we heal 

on all these levels, transformation becomes not just possible, but inevitable."

LEVEL 1: PHYSICAL HEALING—FOOD AS MEDICINE

This is where most dietary advice starts—and where too many stop.

Food is an effective intervention tool at the physical level. The right diet can reduce inflammation, regulate blood sugar, correct nutrient deficiencies, and support disease management. Prescribing dietary patterns, macro- and micronutrient adjustments, or therapeutic foods is essential.

But food is more than what we can touch. If we focus solely on correcting a micronutrient deficiency or managing a macronutrient imbalance without taking into account one’s cultural connection with food for example, we're shortchanging the full power of food. Food is about connection, culture, memory, and influence.

LEVEL 2: EMOTIONAL HEALING—YOUR FOOD STORY

Every person has a food story—whether they realize it or not.

This is the narrative formed by how you were fed, what food meant growing up, and how you now use food in your daily emotional life. Do you eat when you are sad? Do you celebrate with food? Avoid certain foods out of fear or shame?

Food is deeply tied to identity, comfort, and memory. Healing on this level means exploring the emotional relationships you have with food. When we understand someone's food story, we can help them re-author it—with more intention, more compassion, and less guilt.

During the many focus groups I conducted with individuals who wanted to lose weight before setting up the Weight & Wellness Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock, I often heard comments like, “in my family, I am the fat one," or "I am the ugly duckling." Individuals have lived with the identities placed upon them by friends and family for decades.

LEVEL 3: COMMUNITY HEALING—FEEDING EACH OTHER

Food is love, support, and connection.

We cook for new parents, bring meals to those who are grieving, and gather around food to celebrate life's moments. Community-based food healing is about training local food leaders—like those in Food Coach Academy—to guide, cook with, and support others where they are.

Healing isn't only top-down or expert-driven. It happens when neighbors support neighbors. When people feel seen and nourished by someone who speaks their language, knows their culture, and shares their table.

Just look at how Chef Jose Andres shows up to support communities that have recently gone through a disaster to see how powerful a community can be in supporting health through food.

LEVEL 4: PLANETARY HEALING—FEEDING OUR FUTURE

Our individual food choices have a global impact.

From climate change to water use, packaging waste to soil depletion, the food system is one of the largest drivers of planetary health—and illness. Healing at this level means helping patients and communities make choices that are good for their bodies and the Earth.

It's about teaching how to reduce waste, eat more plant-forward meals, and understand that sustainability and health are deeply interconnected. In my conversation with a university professor, he told me that just teaching a nutrition class for graduate students had little to no impact on their diets until it was tied to 'bigger reasons why' - like planetary health, the treatment of animals and farmers, especially migrants. These planetary reasons did help to change the diets of graduate students for the better.

So let's not forget that when we work with individuals about food, they have physical and emotional needs rooted in community and connected to the planet we all share.

Changing the world one tasty bite at a time,

Dr. Deb