Make food thy medicine!
Reviewed by Kerri Millward & Morag Lockley

This is a useful paper emphasising how diet affects health and various ENT conditions. We have known for many years the power of food as medicine. We also know that what we eat can affect our bodies in multiple ways that include producing pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory markers, altering our microbiota and microbiomes, triggering epigenetic mechanisms and changes at cellular levels. Dietary factors rank substantially higher than tobacco smoking as the leading cause of death and disability-adjusted life-years and, despite its importance, the understanding of nutrition and diet’s impact on health by clinicians is limited due to challenges in properly studying nutrition-based interventions and lack of access to large cohorts, substantial funding, and reliable participants. The authors mention the importance of diet in various ENT conditions like LPR, Ménière’s disease, hearing loss, head and neck cancers etc. and the fact that malnutrition can lead to prolonged wound healing and complications, including infection. Vast amounts of literature have been published regarding health and diet, and there are similarities that exist between diets considered to be healthy, with three trends with emphasis on foods that are:
1. Minimally processed and direct from nature;
2.  Comprising mostly of plants; and
3. Animal foods that are the products of pure plant foods.
The above is described in one line by Michael Pollan: to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. Personally- I couldn’t agree more. A good paper to read for all ENT clinicians.

Diet and Health in Otolaryngology.
Juszczak HM, Rosenfeld RM.
OTOLARYNGOL CLIN NORTH AM
2022;55(5):P909-927.