"As what happened with tobacco, this will require a cultural shift, but that can happen," says Nguyen. "In the same way physicians used to smoke, and then stopped smoking and were able to talk to patients about it,I think physicians can have a bigger voic

In general, many lifestyle medicine physicians recommend a plant-based diet—particularly for people with diabetes or other inflammatory conditions.

In Southern California, Loma Linda University School of Medicine is offering specialized training for its resident physicians in lifestyle Medicine—that is a formal specialty in using food to treat disease.

In the same way physicians used to smoke, and then stopped smoking and were able to talk to patients about it,I think physicians can have a bigger voice in it.

Nonetheless, physicians say that they look at the collective data and a clear picture emerges: that the salt, sugar, fat and processed foods in the American diet contribute to the nation's high rate of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The food-as-medicine movement has been around for decades, but it's making progress as physicians and medical institutions make food a formal part of treatment, rather than relying solely on medications.

Physicians who have been on the job for several hours, for example, are more likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients when it's unwise to do so.

While we didn't want to create any unnecessary panic, we did find some concerns that were troublesome, and we thought that parents or at least physicians should be aware of those potential risks.

The students who he's driven have gone on to become physicians, teachers and engineers, but what they've also got out of their time in school is finding a role model and a friend in Wilson.