Dr. Julie T. Chen | Silver Magazine

Health

Safe supplements for insomnia

Having trouble falling asleep? Not getting enough sleep and suffering from stress and anxiety? Here is some guidance on safe supplements for sleeplessness. Sleep is essential for the body to heal and for most people how we feel and perform the next day depends on how well we’ve slept the night before. I personally am not at my best if I don’t get a good night of sleep. So, what can you use for insomnia without creating a dependency on medications or supplements? In my clinic of integrative medicine in San Jose CA, I usually recommend a few supplements as a starting point for insomnia. These tend to be safe for the general public and people taking them need not worry about becoming dependent on them. My top three favourites are theanine, magnesium and 5-HTP or L-Tryptophan. Theanine is an amino acid that helps to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation

Dr. Julie T. Chen February 24, 2021

Health

Healthy Holiday Habits

Recognizing that it will take extra effort to keep your cholesterol and sugars normal and keep your weight under control is the first step in achieving your goal of maintaining healthy habits through the holidays. There are a few more things you can do to make sure you get your wish of keeping the extra pounds at bay. These steps will seem basic, but what’s important to keep in mind is that holiday weight gain is usually a result of losing sight of the healthy habits you keep throughout the rest of the year. Being extra vigilant about maintaining your current habits can make all the difference in the world. First, remember to sleep and exercise. Both things are very important for de-stressing and allowing your body’s metabolism to continue to hum at an efficient rate. Lack of sleep and lack of activity may lead to increased appetite. Keeping both factors

Dr. Julie T. Chen December 21, 2020

Health

To cleanse or not? Some tips

I recently had a friend ask me about my opinion on colonics; whether it was safe for her to get a colonic or not. I have many patients who have, on their own, gone to get colonics without first informing me and many of them love the experience because they felt “so clean” afterwards. But, my answer for my friend is that I personally am not a fan of them for my patients. The natural function of our intestinal tract is to cleanse itself. There is no physiological need to further clean above and beyond what it naturally does as its inherent function. Some people may want the colonic because they are constipated but it would be better to place someone who has constipation on a regular bowel regimen, rather than an occasional colonic. Some believe it’s a useful tool for the initiation of weight loss. True—until you resume eating

Dr. Julie T. Chen June 12, 2020

Health

What is integrated medicine?

I am frequently asked by friends and acquaintances what integrative medicine is all about. Since we’ve all grown up in an environment where conventional medicine is the norm, it’s not surprising that this burgeoning field of medicine is at the same time both exciting and confusing to people. The name integrative medicine pretty much describes what this field is about. Essentially, integrative medicine physicians like to integrate both conventional and alternative medicine treatment options into the care of any given patient. I like to explain it as a method of medicine where we evaluate a patient’s therapeutic options. We like to utilize both conventional and alternative medicine options in such a way that we use what we can from both modalities to achieve an optimal health outcome. In order to do this I like to treat the person as a whole. While some believe it is necessary to segment the

Dr. Julie T. Chen April 30, 2020