Healthy Meals Supreme Study Shows That Eating Medically-Tailored Meals May Improve the Health of Seniors
May 8, 2019
PRINCETON, NJ–Results of a recent systematic literature review sponsored by Healthy Meals Supreme and conducted by Cedarville University School of Pharmacy show that when seniors receive medically-tailored meals specific for their condition, key factors in their health improve such as blood pressure, cholesterol and non-fat weight gain in malnourished older adults.
Specifically, data demonstrated that when regularly served medically-tailored meals, patients experienced:
- Significantly lower SBP and improved HDL (p<0.001, p=0.044)
- Lower depression rates (65-67% lower odds)
- Significant increases in weight and fat free mass for undernourished (p<0.05)
- Improved protein intake (p<0.05)
- Significant decrease in infectious complications (p=0.008)
The results of the systematic review were presented in a poster presentation, A Systematic Review of Outcomes in Food Provision Studies for Older Adults, this past Friday at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting in Portland, Oregon by Joe Martinez, RPh, PDE, CMS, founder of Healthy Meals Supreme.
Martinez explained, “There is a serious problem with the nutrition and eating habits of older adults. We know from the research that approximately 10% of older adults are living alone and almost 60% are living or staying in long-term institutions. Some are suffering from malnutrition. Others, eating low nutrient-dense, sugary and processed meals, are suffering from the negative consequences of obesity including progression of chronic disease and hospitalization. It is also known that less than 50% of seniors may not follow diet recommendations.”
Obese and malnourished older adults are estimated to have 8.5% higher healthcare costs ($1,496/pp) and account for $4.3 billion in annual costs, respectively.
“So we decided to investigate if the overall health of older people could be improved by regularly providing them with nutritionally appropriate meals,” Martinez added.
Five years of studies were reviewed to find studies where geriatric patients were either provided food or given a coupon to purchase their meals. Studies that fit the inclusion criteria had clinical outcomes extracted and were independently appraised by two researchers.
Dr. Aleda Chen, study investigator and Assistant Dean, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Cedarville University said, “In all, 229 articles were reviewed and 7 studies met the criteria for inclusion and accounted for a total of 714 patients. What we found in the studies is that when medically-tailored meals are regularly made available to older people, they are adherent to their diets and their clinical outcomes significantly improve. We also know from the research that 90% of older adults were satisfied with the meal delivery service.”
Healthy Meals Supreme is the first national, customized, culinary medicine inspired, freshly prepared, delicious, ready-to-eat, home delivery meal service. The goal of the company is to help people take back control of their health by better managing A1C levels, blood pressure and weight loss. This is done by providing specially designed “food is medicine” meal plans.
Though Healthy Meals Supreme is a subscription-based meal service and a subscription is required for pre-orders, a subscription is not required to order for the current week’s menu.
The company was founded by culinary medicine specialist, registered pharmacist, diabetes educator and company president Joe Martinez, RPh, PDE, CMS. World respected endocrinologist Dr. Irl Hirsch is the chairman of the company’s scientific advisory board. WACS Global Master Chef, culinary medicine expert and Johnson & Wales University Dean Emeritus Karl Guggenmos is the company’s senior culinary advisor.