Food Rx: Using food as medicine
The best way to manage diabetes is by making lifestyle changes that promote good health and supplementing with medical management as needed. Adding healthy foods to your diet regularly can help you live a healthier life while keeping your blood sugars closer to the target range. Fresh fruits and vegetables are sometimes expensive and difficult to access.
The goal of the Food Rx program is to help people with diabetes in the community improve their health. Food Rx has been shown to help patients lower hemoglobin A1C, lose weight, reduce emergency department visits, and decrease medical expenses.
Food Rx participants will regularly meet with the dietitian for diabetic nutrition education and help them choose healthy foods. A Community Health Advocate (CHA) is available to help patients connect with services they may need such as:
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
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Meals on Wheels
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Moveable Feast
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Health insurance
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MTA mobility bus transportation
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Housing
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Disability income
Healthy cooking videos
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Episode 1 - What do I do with this vegetable?
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Episode 2 - Super Foods
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Episode 3 - Plant-based diet
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Episode 4
Upcoming events
Healthy Cooking Class Series
MedStar Health, in collaboration with the American Heart Association, will hold hands-on cooking classes designed to create healthy meals from Food Rx pantry staples.
Classes will be held at the Joy Wellness Center in Baltimore, MD on the following dates:
- Wednesday November 20, 2024
- Wednesday January 22, 2025
- Wednesday February 19, 2025
Joy Wellness Center
2800 Kirk Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21076
Food Rx Community Partners
Participating MedStar Health entities
Contact us
443-777-2000 or 443-777-8300 - for Food Rx at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
443-444-5463 - for Food Rx at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital
410-355-3191 - for Food Rx at MedStar Harbor Hospital