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The food pharmacy is an emerging program model designed to increase the access to and consumption of healthful foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. Existing research on the efficacy of the food pharmacy model shows that these programs have been effective in improving patient understanding of nutrition and removing barriers to healthy eating, and in turn may have a significant impact on diet-related health outcomes. However, efforts to date aiming to evaluate program effectiveness have been small and lack rigorous research methods. More research is needed to adequately assess the longitudinal effects of food pharmacy programs on healthful food intake and diet-related health outcomes. In this review, we outline the strengths and limitations of previous programs and explore possible options to improve the scalability and sustainability of food pharmacy programs.

Poor dietary quality has surpassed all other mortality risk factors, accounting for 11 million deaths and half of CVD deaths globally. Implementation of current nutrition recommendations from the American Heart Association (AHA), American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the National Lipid Association (NLA) can markedly benefit the primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). These include: 1) incorporate nutrition screening into medical visits; 2) refer patients to a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) for medical nutrition therapy, when appropriate, for prevention of ASCVD; 3) follow ACC/AHA Nutrition and Diet Recommendations for ASCVD prevention and management of overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes and hypertension; 4) include NLA nutrition goals for optimizing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and reducing ASCVD risk; 5) utilize evidence-based heart-healthy eating patterns for improving cardiometabolic risk factors, dyslipidemia and ASCVD risk; 6) implement ACC/AHA/NLA nutrition and lifestyle recommendations for optimizing triglyceride levels; 7) understand the impact of saturated fats, trans fats, omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats on ASCVD risk; 8) limit excessive intake of dietary cholesterol for those with dyslipidemia, diabetes and at risk for heart failure; 9) include dietary adjuncts such as viscous fiber, plant sterols/stanols and probiotics; and 10) implement AHA/ACC and NLA physical activity recommendations for the optimization of lipids and prevention of ASCVD. Evidence on controversies pertaining to saturated fat, processed meat, red meat, intermittent fasting, low-carbohydrate/very-low-carbohydrate diets and caffeine are discussed.