PROVIDENCE OREGON – Want to reset or refocus on your health? There are four main areas that work together for our overall wellbeing.
Tzumin Weng, N.D., from Providence Bradley J. Stuvland Integrative Medicine Clinic, shares with KATU the importance of sleep, diet, movement and waste elimination. Ignoring just one can affect the other three, so Dr. Weng provides tips for understanding and approaching them all.
Sleep
Dr. Weng encourages her patients to get six to eight hours of sleep. For quality rest, it’s important to fall asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed and sleeping through the night.
To help achieve that, Dr. Weng says the most important factor is putting down your phone or tablet, and turning off the TV, for one hour before going to sleep.
She suggests winding down with activities that are not too stimulating, such as reflection, journaling or gentle yoga.
“That hour is really for yourself,” she says.
Diet
When it comes to the food we eat, Dr. Weng stresses moderation, and advises her patients to really think about how they divide up their plates.
For each meal, one half of the plate should be vegetables – but not starchy vegetables, there will be a place for those later. A quarter of the plate should be lean proteins, including lamb, pork, chicken, or plant-based alternatives like beans or tofu. The remaining quarter of the plate should be filled with whole grains, or this is where you can incorporate a starchy vegetable like potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Eating healthy starts with shopping, and Dr. Weng recommends reading all product labels, especially to avoid any added sugar.
“It’s important not to bring unhealthy food back home,” she says. “Because once it’s in our house, we tend to just think, ‘oh, I need to finish this up.’”
Movement
Dr. Weng uses moderate intensity and maximum heartrate to help patients achieve proper movement and exercise. To calculate maximum heartrate, take your current age and subtract it from the number 220. Moderate intensity is then 65-75% of that number.
For example, if you are 35 years old:
220-35=185
185x.65=120.25
185x.75=138.75
So, moderate intensity movement or exercise for a 35-year-old is having a heartrate between 120 and 138.
The next variable is how long and how often to perform moderate intensity movement or exercise. Since everyone is different, Dr. Weng suggests starting at once per day and building from there, and moving until you have a thin layer of sweat forming on your body.
Elimination
In addition to sweat, Dr. Weng says we also need to pay attention to the other ways our bodies remove of waste and toxins – specifically in the bathroom. If there are issues present, it’s important to get them checked out by your doctor.
New Playground for Former Homeless Families Thanks to Community
The project, Onyx House, now has ten families and over twenty children living in the ten units at the former care home in Pine Hill in Eureka and was the brainchild of Dr. Evan Buxbaum.
Community Members Encouraged to learn Stop the Bleed techniques in April
In honor of Injury Prevention Month, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital is hosting a series of Stop the Bleed courses in April. Learning how to control bleeding could help you save someone’s life.
Integrative Cancer Care Supports Patients’ Mind, Body and Spirit During Cancer Treatment
Providence Swedish Regional Cancer System’s Integrative Cancer Care Program offers patients an array of holistic medicine treatments designed to complement conventional medical cancer care.
In honor of Doctors' Day on March 30, we recognize the significant contributions of physicians and their commitment to providing the most advanced, highest quality care for our cancer patients.
Providence hospitals honored for patient experience, patient safety
Providence Hood River, Providence Portland and Providence St. Vincent each earned Healthgrades honors for outstanding patient experience. Providence Medford was honored for patient safety excellence.
Targeted therapies are the focus of new studies for colorectal and bile duct cancers
New trials available at Earle A. Chiles Research Institute for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER2+) colorectal cancer and patients with cholangiocarcinoma.
SRMH’s Heart and Vascular Institute officially opens second new Cath Lab
On Wednesday, March 1, Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital opened its second state-of-the-art catheterization lab, expanding and enhancing our ability to provide the best cardiovascular care.
Create Life-Changing Results with Providence Medical Group’s Diabetes Prevention Program
Ready to begin building health habits for life? Providence Medical Group is accepting applications for a Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) offered virtually.
Providence ExpressCare available in Anchorage, Eagle River and Wasilla
If you are unable to schedule an appointment with your primary care provider and have a minor illness or injury that can't wait, ExpressCare is a cost-effective alternative.
Providence Saint John’s recognized among Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals
For the second year in a row, Providence Saint John’s Health Center was named among Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals, a program that measures quality, safety, patient satisfaction and other factors.
