Our guest speaker this week, Dr. Katie Hu, is an assistant clinical professor with the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine. She gave an amazing talk about East-West Medicine, specifically focusing on nutritional health. Here's a summary of our workshop:
About Dr. Hu
Dr. Hu attended Miami University of Ohio for college and Washington University in St. Louis for med school. After, she did her residency at UCLA Family Medicine and her fellowship with UCLA Integrative East West Medicine where she currently work. Initially planning to be an academic doctor, she realized that integrative medicine resonated more with her. The clinic for East West Medicine at UCLA allowed her a full hour to work with a patient, unlike typical doctor clinics. This time allowed her to truly attend to a patient's problem and needs by getting to know them and their lifestyle. Growing up, Dr. Hu was exposed to Traditional Chinese Medicine through her family, but was not able to make the connections between the practices and sayings of TCM and the actual basis for health TCM provides until working with the Center for East West Medicine.
About the UCLA Center for East West Medicine
Typically, the patients are either people who prefer more natural methods of recovery, or are people at the center as a last resort, when biomedical methods aren't working or the symptoms of biomedicine and pharmaceuticals are worsening their condition. The center prioritizes optimizing holistic health by getting at the root of the problem and using natural methods of recovery. Moreover, the center encourages preventative practices to encourage better overall health.
Traditional Chinese Medicine: Nutrition
Eastern medicine uses food as medicine first and foremost. The food we consume should be helping our body rather than harming it, especially by causing inflammation. The key principle of nutrition in TCM is to use food as a means to achieve balance and harmony within the body. Our individual diet is based upon our constitution, lifestyle, environment, climate, and season. One of the general tips is to "eat with joy in a relaxed environment" as it promotes mindful eating, allowing one to be more aware of when they're full.
Yin and Yang Theory
Yin and Yang are two opposing yet complementary forces that make up life and create energy. Chinese nutrition, which maintains these ideas of yin and yang aims to rebalance one's dietary habits and nature, adapt to seasonal changes, and improve health conditions. Some foods are considered warming (Yang), such as sweet, spicy, red, or orange food; root vegetables, nuts like chestnut and walnut, ginger, turmeric, and more are considered Yang. These types of food are beneficial for those with chronic fatigue, colds, arthritis, and hypothyroid. Cooling foods (Yin) include bitter, sour, salty, black, white, and blue foods; vegetables like cucumber, bamboo shoots, and seaweed, seeds, fruits like Asian pear and berries, mint/flower/green teas, and more fall under this category. Yin food are beneficial for those with inflammatory diseases, migraines, acid reflux, stress, and menopause.
Animals
Warm (Yang) applies to animals closer to "heaven," such as birds, while cool (Yin) applies to seafood. Land animals like cattle are considered neutral.
Preparation
Frying, grilling, and adding spices fall under Yang while raw or frozen food fall under Yin. Steaming, stir frying, soup, and boiling are considered neutral. What we serve with our food also plays a role. For instance, barley tea is served alongside kbbq to cleanse and detox as we eat greasy, red meat. "Hot" wasabi and ginger is served alongside cold sushi.
Qi
Qi is defined as a vital energy, similar to ATP is western biomedicine. Qi is a fundamental principle in Chinese medicine as the quantity and flow of energy is essential to proper health. Qi deficiency is characterized by fatigue, immunosuppression/immunocompromised, indigestion and food sensitivity, low resilience, and prolonged recovery time. Not having enough energy to process inflammatory foods, like gluten, can be the reason for inflammation and discomfort. Warming foods can help increase one's qi. Qi stagnation, or the lack of flow of qi, is characterized by poor blood circulation, poor digestion (gas, constipation), poor air flow (wheezing), poor menstrual flow and cramps, and muscle tension. Stress especially triggers qi stagnation. Foods that help move qi include pepper, chili, alcohol, garlic, green onion, fennel, and vinegar.
Q&A Takeaways
A big part of being a doctor working in Integrative Medicine is persuading the patient. Generally, people are more skeptical to integrative medicine as it strays for the mainstream idea of health and medical practice. Dr. Hu says she sometimes feels like she's a lawyer trying to convince the patient of the efficacy and benefits of integrative medicine. Because the goal is to not just treat the patient's immediate problem but improve the patient's health more holistically through lifestyle changes, the motivation to make these changes has to come from the patient.
Dr. Hu also encouraged those interested in pursuing medicine that integrative medicine opportunities in the medical field have grown. UCLA even has an integrative rheumatologist, integrative OB-GYN, and more. So if you're interested in both the biomedical sciences and traditional medicine, don't feel like you have to choose between the two! Seek out opportunities that allow you to develop your knowledge of both and use your knowledge to the fullest.
If you'd like to reach out to Dr. Hu and talk with her more, feel free to email her: KHu@mednet.ucla.edu
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