Medicine
What if memory could be edible? In fact, it already is—each of us consumes and creates this “edible memory” every day. Consider the sheer scale: the average meal weighs about 667 grams. Three meals a day amount to nearly two kilograms, or 14 kilograms a week. Over the course of a year, that’s about 730 kilograms of food. Across the average lifespan of 73 years, a person consumes an astonishing 60,000 kilograms—roughly the weight of ten African Bush Elephants, the largest land animals on Earth. These numbers are not just impressive statistics; they are reminders that our bodies, our moods, and even our memories are constructed meal by meal. Ancient wisdom recognized this truth. In East Asia, the phrase “약식동원” (yak-sik-dong-won) teaches that “medicine and food share the same origin.” Similarly, Hippocrates advised, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Both traditions reveal a principle that modern science continues to confirm: food does far more than fuel the body—it has the power to heal both body and mind.
Food as Memory and Therapy
Close your eyes and picture your favorite dish. Perhaps it’s a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup that soothed you through your first winter flu, or a towering ice cream sundae your younger self drenched in chocolate syrup and rainbow sprinkles. Almost instantly, an emotion stirs. Psychologists call this nostalgia, and research shows it genuinely boosts mood. Food tied to memory acts as a bridge, reconnecting us to moments of safety and joy. A simple bowl of porridge or a slice of cake becomes more than nutrition; it is an edible memory, quietly reminding us we belong. In an age where loneliness is one of the fastest-growing mental health challenges, comfort foods are not indulgences but therapy. Across cultures, people instinctively turn to warm soups or sweet treats during times of stress, not as escapism but as emotional medicine.
Food as Connection
Food also heals by bringing us together. Eating has always been a ritual of sharing. From Korean banchan to Italian family dinners to Middle Eastern mezze, meals are structured as communal experiences that affirm belonging. Modern research supports this cultural wisdom. A study from Oxford University, “Breaking bread: the functions of social eating” by R.I.M. Dunbar, found that the frequency of shared meals strongly correlates with life satisfaction; those who ate together more often reported stronger social networks and less loneliness. In a world where isolation fuels depression and anxiety, communal dining functions as preventive medicine. Cooking for a sick friend, feeding a child, or breaking bread with neighbors all become acts of empathy. Food, in this sense, is not only nourishment—it is a language of care.
The Gut–Brain Connection
Science is now uncovering just how deep this link runs. Inside the gut lives a vast ecosystem of microbes that communicate directly with the brain via the vagus nerve and chemical messengers—what researchers call the gut–brain axis. Remarkably, about 90% of serotonin, the neurotransmitter most tied to happiness, is produced in the gut. This means diet directly influences mood. Fiber-rich vegetables, fermented foods, and healthy fats cultivate a balanced microbiome, producing compounds that stabilize mood and reduce inflammation. Processed foods and sugars, by contrast, disrupt this system, fueling anxiety and depression.
The evidence is striking. In the landmark SMILES trial in Australia, patients with depression who switched to a Mediterranean-style diet saw dramatic improvements: one-third went into remission, compared to just 8% of those who received social support but no dietary change. Similar studies in young adults confirm that dietary improvements alone can significantly reduce depressive symptoms. Researchers have even developed an “Antidepressant Food Scale” listing the most effective foods—leafy greens, berries, nuts, legumes, and seafood—all ordinary ingredients that, when combined, build resilience in both body and mind.
Cycles of Diet and Mood
The relationship between food and mental health is cyclical. Poor diet can worsen mood, while poor mood can distort diet. Depression may blunt appetite, while anxiety often drives cravings for sugary or salty comfort foods. These quick dopamine surges ultimately destabilize blood sugar, leaving the mood worse off. Breaking this cycle is the focus of nutritional psychiatry, an emerging field that integrates diet into mental health care. Alongside therapy and medication, nutrition provides the foundation for long-term recovery. Food, then, is not only preventive medicine but also restorative.
Food Access as Mental Health
If food is medicine, access to it must be considered part of mental health policy. Yet millions suffer food insecurity, the inability to reliably obtain nutritious meals. Research shows that food insecurity correlates with dramatically higher rates of depression and anxiety, sometimes even more strongly than unemployment. Public programs like school meals, food banks, and subsidies for fresh produce thus combat more than hunger; they fight despair itself. In some regions, doctors now prescribe fruits and vegetables, recognizing that therapy alone cannot heal if nutrition is absent. To address mental health on a community scale, we must also pursue food justice.
From the Korean saying 약식동원 (yak-sik-dong-won) to Hippocrates’ timeless counsel, humanity has long understood that food and medicine spring from the same root. Today, neuroscience and psychiatry reaffirm this truth: food shapes memory, fosters community, nurtures the gut–brain connection, and anchors mental well-being. Across a lifetime, we eat nearly 60,000 kilograms of food. Each bite is a choice—to numb or to heal, to isolate or to connect. Food may never replace hospitals, but it forms the foundation of daily wellness. Every bowl of soup, every shared meal, every piece of fruit is an act of care for body and mind alike. In a world searching for cures in laboratories, perhaps the greatest medicine has always been waiting for us—warm, familiar, and already on our plates.
By: Sunwoo Ria An
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