Miscellaneous
For Dr. Colin Zhu, medicine runs in the family. Dr. Zhu's mother practiced Chinese medicine, an ancient practice that focuses on finding balance within the body. Now Dr. Zhu incorporates this philosophy into his own work. "She instilled in me how to look at the person, the patient, in a very holistic way. So, she instilled in me prevention, wellness, compassion, listening to the person. And so those were the values and skill sets that I've brought with me and that's the direction that I took going into medicine," he says. Dr. Zhu is a board-certified physician who practices family medicine in Los Angeles. He also practices lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, and what he calls "thrive medicine," in which he encourages people to live with vitality. He's written a book about his medical practices: “https://www.chefdoczhu.com/my-book (Thrive Medicine: How To Cultivate Your Desires and Elevate Your Life).” Dr. Zhu approaches his patients by searching for the root of their problems rather than treating them at the surface level. For instance, he might connect with a distracted teenage patient about their neglectful home situation instead of simply prescribing anxiety medication. "What I love to do … is connecting the dots for people," Dr. Zhu says. "And usually when people come to me for a certain complaint or problem, there's usually a deeper underlying source to their concern, pain, or struggle, that's not really connected with why they come in." In this episode of the Prosperous Doc, Dr. Zhu chats with our host Shane Tenny, CFP® about the ways that he incorporates his various medicines into his practice, and how culinary medicine can help people live more fulfilled and healthy lives. He also talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in the U.S. healthcare system, and how we as a society can work to improve it. ? Featured Expert ?Name: Dr. Colin Zhu What he does: Dr. Zhu works as a board-certified family physician in Los Angeles, who incorporates culinary, lifestyle, and thrive medicine in his practice. He also hosts the https://www.chefdoczhu.com/podcast (Thrive Bytes podcast). Company: https://www.chefdoczhu.com/ (TheChefDoc) Words of wisdom: "Most of modern medicine is really mopping up what floor instead of turning off the faucet. What I love doing is helping [patients] turn off the faucet." Connect: https://www.chefdoczhu.com/contact (Website) | https://www.facebook.com/TheChefDoc/ (Facebook) | https://www.instagram.com/thechefdoc/ (Instagram) | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeVW6o9F8V5BmCfkkLHUDTw (YouTube) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-zhu-do-dipablm-chef-3905ba60/ (LinkedIn) ? On the Money ?Top takeaways from this episode ★ Find the root of the problem. For Dr. Zhu, prescribing medication is only a small piece of the puzzle in treating a patient's disease. For a patient to truly heal, it's important to discover deeper factors, like relationships, food, or exercise. While in medical school, Dr. Zhu told a diabetic patient to start daily walks in conjunction with his special diet and medication. The result: The patient's diabetes score dropped by three points. ★ Avoid "food outsourcing." Don't trust restaurants — and especially fast food joints — to give you the nutrients you need. Eating out, Dr. Zhu says, is essentially "food outsourcing." Instead, he recommends people make their meals at home so they know exactly what goes into their meals. ★ Lifestyle medicine takes a holistic approach. Lifestyle medicine is based on six pillars: diet, physical fitness, relationships, community, avoiding risky substances, and sleep. When people find balance in these areas, they can live a healthier lifestyle overall. ★ Live with vitality. Dr. Zhu calls this "thrive medicine," or a prescription to live life outside the bounds of a standard recipe. When people follow the thrive...