Welcome to the October edition of Whole Health Digest — featuring the latest research and practical tools for advancing whole health, provided by the nonprofit Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH).

In this newsletter, you will discover:

• A new Massachusetts General Hospital study highlighting how a long-term food is medicine program is associated with improved cardiometabolic health​
• AIH’s 2027-2030 Strategic Objectives and Tactics, which serve as a guide for grant seekers
• A new case series, highlighting the impact of Full Plate Living​
• And more

News and Journal Highlights

​Massachusetts General Hospital: Plant-Based Medically Tailored Groceries From a Food Pantry and Adult Cardiometabolic Outcomes​

With grant support from AIH, Massachusetts General Hospital examined the association of weekly plant-based medically tailored groceries with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic outcomes among patients with food insecurity. “Future FIM interventions should focus on longer-term plant-based food packages to improve CKM health. This study is notable for the changes observed over almost 3 years, indicating that FIM interventions may need to extend beyond weeks or months to see sustained, clinically meaningful results.” (Source: Preventing Chronic Disease)

​Food is Medicine as Health Prevention and Medicine: Reflections on the Aspen Health Strategy Group Meeting​

In this perspective piece, AIH CEO Dr. Ron Stout and AIH Senior Vice President Janet Calhoun offer reflections from the 2026 Aspen Health Strategy Group Meeting. “The Aspen Health Strategy Group’s 2026 meeting, cosponsored by Ardmore Institute of Health, focused on Food and Health, including the issue of food is medicine. This commentary argues that the field’s promise is greatest when framed more broadly as Food as Health, Prevention, and Medicine. Food is not only a therapeutic intervention after diagnosis, but a daily determinant of whole-person health, community well-being, and chronic disease prevention.” (Source: American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine)

​Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) in Lifestyle Medicine Practice: An Expert Consensus Statement From the American College of Lifestyle Medicine​

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine recently published an expert consensus statement regarding Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) in lifestyle medicine practice. “There is broad consensus among panel members that implementing SMAs highlighting lifestyle medicine has high patient satisfaction, is reimbursable, and can provide high-quality medical care. These specific consensus statements can be used to inform policy and prioritize areas for future research.” (Source: American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine)

​Digitally delivered full plate living: associations with diet quality, body mass index, and participant-reported health measures among participants with paired assessments​

This article examines baseline-to-follow-up changes in diet quality, BMI, and participant-reported health measures among Full Plate Living participants. “Among participants with paired data, Diet ID Quality Score increased from 7.20 to 7.91 (Cohen d=0.26), Healthy Eating Index-2015 increased from 73.87 to 80.24 (d=0.27), BMI decreased from 31.62 to 31.03 kg/m² (d=−0.17), and dietary fiber intake increased by 5.0 g/d (d=0.28).” (Source: Frontiers in Digital Health)

Grants

AIH 2027-2030 Strategic Objectives and Tactics

AIH has released its 2027–2030 Strategic Objectives and Tactics, which serve as a guide for grant seekers to ensure proposals align with AIH’s core focus areas:

1. Translational Primary Care
2. Behavioral Health
3. Community Health

Access the Strategic Plan

Since 2014, AIH has granted over $25 million to whole health projects and initiatives. To learn more about AIH's granting work, click here.

Resources

Full Plate Living

Full Plate Living is a research-based, experience-centered nutrition program that helps people add more whole, unprocessed fiber foods to their meals, and a new case series highlights how impactful the program has been to many. The four case studies included demonstrate that Full Plate Living can help reverse diabetes, aid in medication deprescription, reduce weight, improve lipid profiles, lower liver function test results, and improve subjective quality-of-life measures.

Learn More

ANNOUNCEMENTS

AIH Welcomes Heather Palmer as President

AIH is proud to welcome Heather Palmer, MA, MBA, as President. For more than 30 years, Heather has worked at the intersection of healthcare, philanthropy, and community impact, helping organizations build partnerships and advance initiatives that improve health and well-being.

“We are delighted to welcome Heather to the AIH team,” says Dr. Ron Stout, CEO of AIH. “She brings strong leadership, philanthropic experience, and a genuine commitment to collaboration. We look forward to working with her to advance AIH’s mission, helping people and communities to take better care of themselves.”

Learn More

Events

Popular GLP-1 RA Weight Loss and Diabetes Drugs

This workshop, led by Dr. Jonathan Bonnet, will explore GLP-1RA weight loss medications, how they work, their benefits, their side effects, and how they can be combined with lifestyle changes to optimize weight loss and body composition. Register to join below or share the workshop details with your patients, employees, or community members.

Learn More and Register

HERO CMO Summit 2026

With support from AIH, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) is convening chief medical officers, chief health officers, and corporate medical directors to discuss lifestyle medicine as a strategic lever for better brain health.

Learn More and Register

Lifestyle Medicine Conference 2026

Join AIH at the 2026 Lifestyle Medicine Conference, hosted by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and learn from clinicians, researchers, health system leaders, educators, and innovators tackling today’s biggest healthcare challenges through evidence-based approaches that improve outcomes, reduce disease burden, and help people thrive.

Learn More and Register

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We hope you found today's newsletter informative and inspiring. We'll be back next month with another edition.

Sincerely,

The AIH Team

P.S. This newsletter is offered by Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH), a nonprofit dedicated to improving people's health through the power of Whole Health. If it was forwarded to you by a friend or colleague, and you'd like to receive it regularly, subscribe here.

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