'Medicinal diets' under microscope in The Food Hospital

In a pioneering new Specialist Factual series, Channel 4 will be examining the science behind using food as medicine.

In experiments conducted following the latest scientific evidence, patients suffering from a range of medical conditions and symptoms will be invited to attend The Food Hospital where they will be prescribed specific diets to find out if their health problems can be alleviated or cured by the food they eat.

At the hospital, patients will have detailed consultations with a GP, a specialist consultant related to their condition, and a leading NHS dietitian before they are assigned particular foods, with advice about how to integrate them into their diets. The series will follow the patients as they undertake their new dietary regime and attend follow-up appointments at the hospital where their progress will be monitored.

Specialist Factual Commissioning Editor Tanya Shaw has commissioned independent production company Betty to make the 8 x 60 minute series. She says: "This is an exciting emerging area of medical science which is exploring whether food can provide genuine remedies for ailments. The experiments taking place at The Food Hospital, under the supervision of the medical team, will aim to reveal the untold health benefits and medicinal properties of certain foods, whilst busting myths about some of the widely-held misconceptions and old wives tales."

The experts in the programme include: Mr Shaw Somers, Specialist Consultant Gastrointestinal and Bariatric surgeon; Lucy Jones, who is Senior Specialist Dietitian at the Whittington Hospital, North London and General Practitioner Dr Giovanni Miletto.

Online, The Food Hospital will seek to put science to the test nationwide. As a fully integrated cross-platform project, viewers will be invited to take part in a scientific study into how changes in diet can improve, if not cure, illnesses and ailments.

Betty CEO Liz Warner says: "This series is really ahead of the curve. Increasingly, forward-thinking doctors are taking an integrated approach to medicine and not just using one discipline, but using diet alongside other treatments.  We are really excited about looking at the healing properties of nutrition.  Diet has an enormous impact on our daily lives - and this series might even influence people's shopping lists."