In the days of our kūpuna, healing didn’t begin in a clinic or pharmacy – it began in the loʻi, the imu, the lāʻau garden, and the kai.
Food wasn’t just sustenance, it was lāʻau lapaʻau, a source of renewal, healing, and strength. Daily movement in work and play, harmony within the ʻohana, and spiritual grounding defined the lifestyle. A growing body of research backs this ancestral wisdom with scientific evidence.
Let’s consider type 2 diabetes, where Native Hawaiians have a 30% higher prevalence than the state average. The American College of Lifestyle Medicine published a groundbreaking study in 2023 showing that a whole-food, plant-based diet, combined with physical activity and stress management, reversed type 2 diabetes in nearly 40% of participants within 12 weeks – without medication. Others would deem it “remission” vs. “reversal.”
Regardless of the terminology, these results suggest more than just diabetes management; they demonstrate the healing power of a positive holistic lifestyle – something that medications alone cannot achieve.
A 2019 study in The Lancet, one of the world’s top three medical journals, found that poor diet is the leading risk factor for early death worldwide, ranking above tobacco or high blood pressure. Yet we often overlook it as a serious treatment option. Imagine if your daily dose of poi, weekend lūʻau stew or poke bowl could protect your heart better than a pill.
Turns out that the nutrients in these foods shows it can.
Kalo is not merely a traditional staple, it’s anti-inflammatory and gut friendly. Lūʻau leaves are rich in nitrates, which improves circulation, lowering blood pressure. Limu contains fucoidans, shown to reduce cholesterol, support immunity, and even suppress cancer cell growth. Fish have omega-3 fatty acids that lower inflammation and triglycerides and support heart and brain health. Our traditional foods are medicine.
Studies also show that walking in nature, gardening, breathing deeply, praying, and connecting with others, are all protective of our health as well. A 2021 article in the Journal of the American Heart Association reported that consistent social connection and spirituality significantly reduced heart disease risk. Our kūpuna considered these practices necessary to being pono.
Of course, medications have their place, especially in urgent or advanced stages of disease. But so do ʻai pono, hoʻoponopono, and many of our other traditional practices. Food and positive lifestyle changes work at all stages, preventing, treating and, in many cases, reversing chronic disease – without the side effects.
Reclaiming this healing power requires a mind shift from reactive care to proactive care; to not just be content with disease management, but to aim for disease reversal and to accept kūleana for your own health.
In response to feedback from our community, I recently launched Food RX Blueprint, an evidence-based, culturally grounded resource to empower our lāhui to use food as medicine. As part of this initiative, the Food RX Assistant app (launching in August 2025) was developed as a one-stop tool to explore health topics, receive personalized guidance, and discover cultural healing foods. If you are interested, my website is foodrxblueprint.com
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