Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Coalition for Metabolic Health’s first Capitol Hill briefing on nutrition and chronic disease in the era of GLP-1s. Co-sponsored by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11) and Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-03), the briefing brought together members of Congress and their staffs, physicians, researchers, policy experts, and individuals with lived experience of chronic disease.
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While I was there to share my experience as a physician, I was really representing something much bigger: the thousands of patients in the Toward Health community who have transformed their health through evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle change.
As I looked around the room, I wasn’t thinking about studies or statistics alone, I was thinking about my patients. I thought about those who reversed type 2 diabetes after being told it was progressive and irreversible. I thought about patients who came off insulin after years of believing they never could. I thought about every person who reduced medications, improved their metabolic health, and realized they were capable of changing the course of their lives.
Those stories deserve to be heard far beyond our clinic.
The briefing opened with remarks from Rep. Davids, who captured exactly why these conversations matter: “Our healthcare system is still largely built to respond after people get sick, rather than prevent illness in the first place. What’s promising, though, is that we now have better tools, and growing evidence, to do something about it.”
That statement reflects a reality many of us have experienced firsthand, that our healthcare system has often overlooked one of the most powerful tools we have to disease prevention or reversal: nutrition.
Rep. Smucker reinforced that message, saying: “We know that nutrition-based interventions can help prevent chronic disease, not just treat it. Thanks to the Coalition for Metabolic Health for its work to advance produce prescription policies and to Rep. Davids for her partnership on the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act as we work to improve health outcomes while lowering healthcare costs for millions of Americans.”
Hearing bipartisan support for nutrition-based care was encouraging. It signals that policymakers are beginning to recognize what the scientific literature and our patients have demonstrated for years: improving metabolic health is possible when people are given the right tools and support.
Following those remarks, executive director of CMH Dr. Maya Maroto, Ed.D., M.P.H., R.D moderated a discussion featuring Dr. Bret Scher, M.D. (cardiologist and medical director for CMH), Dr. Caroline Roberts, MD (endocrinologist and medical director of research, Virta Health) and myself. Together, we discussed evidence-based approaches to treating obesity, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases, including therapeutic carbohydrate reduction, ketogenic nutrition, lifestyle medicine, and the role of GLP-1 medications.
GLP-1 medications have become an important part of the national conversation, and for good reason — they can be incredibly effective for many patients. But medications should never be the only option patients hear about. During the panel, I shared what I believe is one of the most important priorities moving forward: “I’d like to both see more coverage of these [GLP-1] drugs and also see more support for patients who want to come off them.”
Patients deserve access to medications when they’re appropriate. They also deserve access to comprehensive nutrition education, health coaching, medical supervision, and lifestyle interventions that may help them reduce or even discontinue those medications over time. These approaches should work together, not compete with one another.
Dr. Roberts also reminded the audience that improving nutrition isn’t simply about education. Access matters: “Another area to make sure to consider is SNAP benefits, support for low-income families, and also penetration of food deserts to make sure that foods are available locally and accessible.” Creating healthier communities requires more than good intentions. It requires making nutritious food and evidence-based care available to everyone.
Dr. Maroto summarized the opportunity well when she said: “Americans would greatly benefit from increased access to evidence-based support that can improve metabolic health. This is where bipartisan leadership can make a real difference.”
That is exactly why Toward Health exists.
Everything we do at Toward Health starts with one belief: people deserve to know all of their treatment options. We’ve watched thousands of patients improve their health through therapeutic carbohydrate reduction and lifestyle change. Bringing that real-world experience into discussions with policymakers is an important step toward making nutrition a standard part of chronic disease care. The success our community has demonstrated is helping change the national conversation.
Every healthier A1c and medication reduced. Every person who avoids progressing to diabetes. Every patient who discovers they have more control over their health than they ever imagined. Those successes are no longer isolated stories. Together, they form the evidence that is helping reshape how chronic disease is discussed at the highest levels of healthcare and government.
I left Washington optimistic. Conversations like this are only the beginning, but they represent meaningful progress. Nutrition is finally earning the attention it deserves, and our Toward Health community has played an important role in making that happen.
Thank you for trusting us with your care, for sharing your stories, and for continuing to prove what is possible.
Together, we’re doing more than changing individual lives. We’re helping redefine the future of chronic disease care.
