Sixty percent of Americans have a chronic disease and 40 percent have two or more.
Preventative healthcare, such as a healthy diet, may avert or improve these conditions. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They say poor nutrition is a lifestyle risk for chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and others.
One company, WeTheTrillions Public Benefit Corporation, wants to re-engineer preventative healthcare through medical software and customized plant-based meals and snack plans.
Food as medicine
Lamiaa Bounahmidi, the company’s founder and CEO started the company after working as a research and data engineer looking at diabetes. She realized she was working on the end stage of diseases and that the real focus should be on prevention.
She says 80 percent of the costliest diseases are preventable through food. Yet there are very few clinical-grade interventions that are accessible to patients to help them prevent and reverse-manage symptoms and potentially reverse their medical conditions.
Research shows diet plays a significant role in shaping a person’s intestinal microbiome, helping control chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Bounahmidi encourages consumers to redefine how they look at themselves. Instead of seeing yourself as one unit, think of yourself as the trillions of microbes and cells that are inside of your body.
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“We’re going to take pseudoscience out of taking care of yourself,” she says.
Next, think of the human body as a system that can be regulated with quality food. She says the right foods, such as bio-available customized plant-based food combinations, can help patients with chronic diseases manage their conditions. According to studies, plant-based diets have been linked to lower risks of developing coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Personalized approach
WeTheTrillions is the first healthcare provider focused on customizing diets based on an individual’s health profile, including looking at hormonal imbalances and chronic illnesses. The company works with health professionals to help them treat illnesses with diet and lifestyle changes, instead of just prescribing medications.
It all starts with a three-minute online assessment, asking consumers a series of questions to better understand their health, lifestyle, and preferences. Next, the company uses a proprietary algorithm to design specific meals for each person’s unique health needs based on microbiome science, peer-reviewed clinical studies, and behavioral science. They make and deliver all of the meals, which are organic, plant-based, of fine-dining quality and customized to the exact health goals each one has.
The meal plans are particularly targeted for those with health needs including periods, IBS, fertility, menopause, diabetes, and anemia. Consumers are encouraged to keep a food journal and to track their results. Doctors can access a dashboard to see what their patients are eating and how it’s impacting their biomarkers.
“WeTheTrillions provides a unique service to people wanting a customized approach to healthier living,” said Dexter Shurney, M.D., MBA, MPH, FACLM, DipABLM, the president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. “Being able to obtain foods specifically selected, prepared, and monitored to meet their specific health needs is a revolutionary development for consumers, their providers and others.”
Often patients want to eat better or struggle with what foods they should eat. They may have other challenges like portion control, ingredient accessibility, or not having cooking expertise. A meal plan like this removes these obstacles.“We just want to be hands-on 100 percent until [people] reach a sustainable state of health, as they define it with their doctors,” says Bounahmidi, explaining each person has their own well-being needs and goals.