200. Can Hospital Food Help Patients Heal? Food as Medicine at Tampa General | Tanuja Sharma, MD

Dr. Tanuja Sharma is a board-certified family and integrative medicine physician and the Medical Director of Integrative Medicine and Arts at Tampa General Hospital. She completed her integrative medicine fellowship through the Andrew Weil Center at the University of Arizona and is leading one of the most ambitious hospital wellness overhauls in the country — from redesigning the patient menu with a Michelin-rated chef to running evidence-based mindfulness, acupuncture, and music therapy programs at the bedside.

TOPICS COVERED
• Why Tampa General Hospital partnered with a celebrity chef to rebuild their patient menu from scratch
• Music therapy, massage, acupuncture, art therapy, reiki, and how TGH gets buy-in across a Level 1 trauma center
• 98% patient improvement in pain and anxiety scores, preliminary opioid reduction data, and the research pipeline ahead
• Tampa Well's food pharmacy, community garden, and free produce programs targeting food insecurity
• MBSR and mindfulness programs: evidence-based stress reduction for staff and patients, and why experience is the best recruitment tool
• Fiber vs. protein: the deficiency most patients have, Blue Zones longevity foods, and how to counsel patients at different performance goals

RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED

• Tampa General Hospital (https://www.tgh.org)

• TGH Integrative Medicine and Arts Program (https://www.tgh.org/services/integrative-medicine-and-arts)

• Tampa Well (TGH Community Wellness Initiative) (https://www.tgh.org/tampawell)

• Geoffrey Zakarian — Celebrity Chef (Iron Chef, Chopped) (https://www.geoffreyzakarian.com/about)

• Mediterranean Diet — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_diet)

• Anti-Inflammatory Diet — Hopkins Medicine (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/anti-inflammatory-diet)

• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_stress_reduction)

• Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (U of Arizona) (https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu)

• American College of Lifestyle Medicine (https://www.lifestylemedicine.org)

• Blue Zones — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_zone)

• Sarcopenia — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcopenia)

• Dietary Fiber — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_fiber)

• Food as Medicine — ASN (https://nutrition.org/food-as-medicine/)

• Refining Health & Performance — refininghealthrx.com (https://refininghealthrx.com)

GUEST SOCIAL LINKS

• Instagram:@tjasharmamd (https://www.instagram.com/tanujasharmamd?igsh=cXprNW04bGt2Zzhr)

• TGH Provider Profile (https://www.getcare.tgh.org/providers/tanuja-sharma-1598133233)

• TGH Integrative Medicine (https://www.tgh.org/services/integrative-medicine-and-arts)

Ready to stop guessing and start performing? Dr. Raja is now seeing patients through his telemedicine practice — limited founding member spots available at refininghealthrx.com