Updates

Health Beyond Hunger: Food, Chronic Illness, and Healing

September 17, 2025

Published by Nora Thomas

The connections between food and health are undeniable and deeply complex. On a basic level, certain foods can affect different aspects of health. For example, a diagnosis of high blood pressure will likely lead a doctor to recommend decreased red meat consumption. And this makes sense because different foods give the body different nutrients to carry out essential functions. There are also profound connections between food insecurity and health. Although, typically, people think solely of hunger and malnutrition. What is fascinating is that food, and access to food, have a profound effect on the chances of facing chronic illness and how the body recovers.

DIET COMPOSITION AND HEALTH

First, let’s think about diet composition. What we eat is incredibly impactful on our health and immune system. Eating a varied and balanced diet can decrease the risk of obesity, cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. When food options are limited, diets often lack variation and nutrition. This causes food-insecure individuals to face a higher risk of developing chronic diseases.

Then, we can think about food as a tool for health and healing. Access to fresh, nutritious food impacts health and well-being in the short term, but it is also connected to long-term impacts such as major illnesses and health conditions. Diets are a critical tool because they can be modified to prevent chronic diseases and can also be changed once a condition develops to support symptom management. Utilizing food as a tool for your health is a privilege. It requires knowledge, time, and resources, and is extremely difficult when you don’t have as much choice in the foods you have access to.

FOOD INSECURITY IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN OVERALL HEALTH 

Food insecurity is not uncommon. USDA data from 2023 suggests that 13.5% of all households in the United States are experiencing food insecurity, and food insecurity disproportionally impacts people of color and lower socioeconomic status. New research shows that food insecurity is considered a significant socioeconomic factor in overall health and has been linked to higher risks of many chronic conditions. Additionally, food insecurity can lower overall health and mental health in many ways resulting in a decreased ability to respond to disease or illness. In this way, food insecurity creates a double-edged sword. 

In a 2017 study conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, researchers analyzed chronic illness and food security on a marginal scale. They examined 10 chronic illnesses including hypertension, coronary heart disease, hepatitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease. The findings indicate that food-insecure individuals are considered at higher risk for all 10 of these conditions, while low-income is only attributed to 3.

 Analyzing this data on a marginal scale illustrates that households categorized with very low food security had a 40% higher chance of facing chronic illness than households with high food security. Finally, they found that cancer prevalence increases as food security decreases. From this research, the USDA concluded a strong correlation between food security status and chronic health conditions. This research is remarkable because it changes the way that we think about socioeconomic conditions, like food insecurity and poverty, and can better inform assistance efforts.

Let’s shift the lens from illness prevalence to examine illness recovery and outcomes. A 2025 JAMA Health Forum study analyzed mortality rates for individuals with cancer. This analysis includes data from 5603 cancer survivors, over 10% of whom reported experiencing food insecurity. After adjusting for differences in sex, age, and preexisting conditions, the data indicate a 28% increased risk of all-cause mortality for individuals reporting food insecurity. For food-insecure individuals who did not utilize government food assistance, this number rose to 42% increased risk of cancer mortality and all-cause mortality. 

The researchers considered the complex reasons that food itself could contribute to cancer mortality: If food-insecure households lack access to “healthy foods”, like fresh fruits and vegetables, this could contribute to obesity, another factor that increases cancer risk. Another pathway could come from eating foods that cause exposure to carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) which are less commonly found in expensive foods. Finally, food insecurity is linked to financial strain, which means that individuals lacking food access are less likely to be able to afford quality health care or cancer care.

MENTAL HEALTH AND HEALING 

It’s also important to acknowledge that food insecurity greatly impacts mental health, a factor that deeply influences how an individual responds to and recovers from a condition. Individuals facing food insecurity often experience high levels of food anxiety. Worrying about where your next meal is going to come from, or if you are eating enough basic nutrients, are very real fears. For adults, this constant worry can impact overall mental health, and for children, it can actually impact their mental development as well. 

It’s clear how struggling with food insecurity impacts mental health on a situational level, but there is also a direct scientific explanation. It is important to eat a certain amount of nutrients each day because these nutrients provide the body with building blocks and energy so that it can carry out necessary functions. For example, “Insufficient protein can affect mood, cognition, and energy levels due to its impact on neurotransmitter production and nutrient deficiencies like low iron, leading to mood swings, cognitive decline, fatigue, and irritability” (Nourishing the Mind). Furthermore, poor nutrition, as well as stress, can weaken our immune systems and cause an imbalance in the gut microbiota. 

Food security clearly impacts mental health, from stress levels to cognitive function to general well-being. Unfortunately, decreased mental health also affects how our body responds to illness and chronic conditions. 

Studies indicate that higher levels of emotional well-being are beneficial for recovery and even survival. Evidence also supports a link between mental health, specifically depression and chronic illness. People with depression face challenges completing tasks that support their physical health. Depression can also cause bodily changes, like increased inflammation, reduced blood circulation, and increased heart rate, that can increase the risk of developing chronic illness. 

Acknowledging this relationship is important because it illustrates how the connections between food access, mental health, and health are much more complex than initially perceived.

Implications

One key finding of these studies is that food-insecure individuals who did not participate in food assistance were at a 50% greater risk of all-cause mortality than those who did. Furthermore, nearly half of all US adults experiencing food insecurity report not engaging in assistance programs. Assistance programs are so important to health, mental health, and recovery. In fact, one study found that for patients with cancer and food insecurity, access to food vouchers and food pantries in clinics was associated with increased treatment completion, food security, mental health, and quality of life. Acknowledging what barriers are present, whether it is a lack of knowledge about programs, misinformation, inaccessibility, or stigma, is critical to taking steps to improve the use of food assistance programs and ultimately improve food security and health in our communities. 

What Now? 

The goal of sharing these studies is to illuminate why increasing access to nutritious food is so important. These studies show the direct effect that food assistance has on health, reinforcing the positive impacts of rescuing and redistributing food. While these data highlight important trends, experiencing food insecurity does not predetermine someone’s health conditions and outcomes. Food insecurity is a temporary issue that can impact anyone, and gaining access to food can completely turn things around.

The good news is that research is already being done to find out the best way to increase food access! For example, for low-income neighborhoods that are not within walking distance of a store, the most impactful recovery effort is suspected to be walkable food pantries. Additionally, researchers emphasize using a multi-level approach when it comes to food assistance, considering the changes they could make on individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels, to make the strongest impact possible.

YOU can always make an impact!

1. Volunteer with We Don’t Waste! Our mobile food markets are a great way to get involved. You can help hand out nutritious food to your community and make a direct impact. If you’re not local, there are food rescue organizations all over the U.S. that need volunteers that you should check out.
2. Donate to We Don’t Waste. Your contributions help us to continue our efforts to increase food access and education in Denver. 
3. Stop the stigma! Treat everyone with the respect and kindness they deserve. Reducing the stigma helps people feel empowered to get the help they need.