I have been working on food-related issues for a long time to create a game where the possibility of starvation is next to you, but still motivates you to eat better.
I tried changing all kinds of elements to improve this, and as a result, I ended up creating an overhaul mod.
Inoculating with higher-quality food makes you more resistant to infection, and increases your defense and movement speed. This is a modification that has a synergistic effect with the addition of boss characters and the strengthening of infection effects.
Food is chronically in short supply, and to avoid starvation, it is possible to cook and eat inedible things such as insects, soil, paper, and leather, but this exposes you to dysentery and other risks.
However, my method requires too many modifications, and is not suitable for implementation in vanilla.
In general, many DF fans say that the wellness system is easy to understand and the best. Therefore, rather than thinking about it, I think it would be better to revive the wellness system.