The Physician’s Perspective: |
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You may have come across one of his recipes or heard him on a podcast or seen him in talks. But really...who exactly is TheChefDoc?
Dr. Colin Zhu is Board-Certified in family practice and lifestyle medicine. He finished osteopathic medicine in West Virginia and received his training in Family Practice afterward in New Jersey and Connecticut. Dr. Zhu is one of the first-class of physicians that has been board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine.
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He studied health-supportive and plant-based culinary arts at the Natural Gourmet Institute and health-coaching at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York. With that said, Dr. Colin became one of the first few chef-doctors in the world.
You may ask yourself why such a circuitous path so far? Well, his main inspiration was his own mother who is a Traditional Chinese Medical physician and that inspired him to go into medical school looking to blend Eastern and Western philosophies of medicine upon entering. However, after following a lot of his own mentors, he realized that no matter what walked through the patient door, there was some component of chronic lifestyle-related factors that accounted for that disease process that was not being taught enough in school and training. So, Dr. Colin decided to take “extra” education into his own hands.
Cooking Up His Career
Dr. Colin Zhu started his career as a locum tenens doctor, which in short, is similar to a “traveling substitute teacher” for doctors!
As a locum tenens doctor, he was able to work with more flexible hours. This means Dr. Colin was able to serve and help others with their medical needs while having enough time to embark on other passions such as cooking, running, traveling and so much more! In fact, he was able to travel from one continent to another during these working years.
With Dr. Colin Zhu's unique expertise and experience, he launched TheChefDoc in 2017 to share such knowledge with a wider audience. He focuses on three components: Thrive Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine & Culinary Medicine. He aimed to create TheChefDoc as a one-stop platform for all the interesting and helpful information on health, well-being, food, and exciting new movements in medicine.
Not long afterward, he was able to write and publish his first book “Thrive Medicine: How To Cultivate Your Desires and Elevate Your Life."
Dr. Colin is also an active speaker and has presented in several conferences and events across the nation and internationally. It has been his mission to empower and teach his audience plant-powered cooking through his workshops. To top it off, he shares his knowledge in alleviating the burden of chronic diseases and guiding people to adopt a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle.
Serendipitously, he has continued to share his expertise in informative and entertaining ways through his own podcast, Thrive Bites. He interviews other health/wellness experts on topics like plant-powered living, emotional wellness, and thriving and provides enriching insights that the audience would love to bring along as a guide.
Since the pandemic, he found another calling to continuously inspire and impact others through self-education. In his latest venture, Dr. Colin Zhu launched a major online course called The THR5 Formula™ Masterclass series. Over 50 experts from the health and wellness industry have gathered to share their expertise in the areas of culinary medicine, lifestyle medicine, personal development, fitness, and sustainability to teach you on learning how to thrive right now.
Recently, Dr. Colin Zhu has embarked in Lifestyle Medicine Medical Consulting and partnered with Plant Based TeleHealth! He is seeing patients across different states and helping deliver plant-based lifestyle medicine to the masses.
Click HERE if you want to know more about Dr. Colin Zhu or his practices.
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Easy Sheet Pan Fajitas
By: The Jaroudi Family
This month we're sharing a recipe from a friend of Plant Based TeleHealth's, The Jaroudi Family.
These easy sheet pan fajitas are quick and can be adjusted to use whatever you have on hand (maybe even some fresh veggies from your garden).
The mixture can be served over a whole grain or salad for a delicious and super healthy meal!
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Ingredients:
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 -15oz can of beans (drained and rinsed)
2 medium peppers, sliced
1 cup corn (frozen or fresh)
1 small onion, sliced
Seasoning:
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cumin
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Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toss the seasoning mixture with sliced mushrooms, beans, peppers, onions, and corn.
Spread out evenly on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
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Caring For Our Largest Organ |
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August is Skin Care Awareness Month. And we should definitely care well for our skin as it is the largest organ in the body!
It covers our entire body and has many important functions.
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Protection -- It’s a barrier that protects all of our organs.
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Regulating body temperature -- Our blood vessels dilate or constrict to regulate blood flow and help us control how much heat we let off or bring in.
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Sensory -- It helps us know if something is hot or cold, and is an indicator of our health. Physicians look at your skin to see if you are pale, dusky, inflamed, etc.
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Biosynthesis -- It synthesizes important nutrients such as Vitamin D.
So, how do we regenerate healthier skin? It starts from within us -- it’s what we eat that is incorporated into the cells. And guess what is good for this very important organ’s cells? A whole food plant-based diet!
A whole food plant-based diet gives us the best nutrients that are filled with fiber to help feed the microbiome. It also helps with antioxidants, which are so important for our skin!
Conversely, diets that contain a high glycemic load, like sugar, can cause our skin to age faster, to be inflammatory, and not grow into its healthier self. So, low glycemic diets as well as avoiding known toxins and triggers is best for your skin.
By removing processed foods and high fatty foods and flooding our body with the nutrients of a whole food plant-based diet (especially green, leafy vegetables, colorful fruits and vegetables, and fiber), skin starts to take on a great look and have a glow to it.
Another thing to remember is that hydration is key to keeping your skin plump and healthy. In the morning, after the shower, you can put a little moisturizing lotion on your skin. The time to apply moisturizing lotion is when you immediately come out of the shower because your skin is full of water from the shower. Hydrating lotions can lock that water into the skin, so it diffuses through the upper layers of your skin, rather than just evaporating off to the air. So, especially if you’re an eczema person, you’ve got dry skin, get that moisturizer on as soon as you step out of the shower for five minutes, and you’ll wind up with better hydration of the skin
Exercise is also key. When you exercise, you increase blood flow and circulation through your skin.
Finally, remember that the sun isn’t gentle. That said, especially in the morning hours when the sun is still low on the horizon and the sunbeams are coming very gently through lots of the atmospheric air, we need some sun on our skin. About 20 minutes of the morning or late afternoon sun on your skin is a wonderful thing. It helps Vitamin D production. It helps our brain, helps our neurochemicals all the way around. During other times -- take care to wear a protective covering. Sunblocks such as zinc oxide or titanium oxide are recommended instead of all the chemicals in sunscreens. Definitely avoiding anything with oxybenzone in it. Also, consider using physical sunblocks such as sun protective clothing and hats.
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