Newport Beach, Calif. May 12, 2023 – More than 400 people gathered in-person at Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach and online to celebrate the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute’s 21st annual Women’s Wellness Day (WWD) on May 5, 2023. This year’s theme was “Anchored in Wellness,” which highlighted various whole-health practices for attendees and participants to incorporate into their life to better achieve optimal health. The daylong event featured nationally renowned speakers addressing topics of women’s whole-person health ranging from hormones to headaches, finding inner wisdom, herbs and healthy diet for the mind and body.
Kicking off the event was Shaista Malik, MD, PhD, MPH, FACC, Founding Associate Vice Chancellor for Integrative Health, Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences; Founding Executive Director, Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute; Susan Samueli Endowed Chair in Integrative Medicine; Medical Director, Integrative Cardiology and Cardiac Rehab. Dr. Malik spoke about “Whole-Person Care: Why Now?” and later gave an update on the new Irvine flagship location.
Speakers included:
Keynote William Li, MD, internationally renowned physician, scientist and author, spoke on “Eat to Beat: From Diet to Cancer Prevention.”
Each in-person attendee received both of Dr. Li’s New York Times bestsellers “Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself” and the recently released “Eat to Beat Your Diet: Burn Fat, Heal Your Metabolism, and Live Longer.”
Some of his key takeaways were:
- Metabolism at an older age can be the same at a younger age.
- Everyday foods can be harnessed to activate fat burning systems.
- Foods can activate the body’s own anti-cancer defense systems, including the gut microbiome and immune system.
- Growing evidence shows that adding certain dietary factors may improve cancer patient response to therapy.
Tieraona Low Dog, MD, Founding Director of Medicine Lodge Ranch and Former Fellowship Director, University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, encouraged the audience to follow “Your Inner Wisdom: Your Compass to Well-Being.” Dr. Low Dog touched many participants with her encouragement to embrace exactly who we are.
Some of her key takeaways were:
- Learn to recognize the subtle signals your body is sharing with you.
- Honor your experience and your story.
- Create space for quiet, for stillness.
- Practice mindfulness to deepen your connection to self and others.
Tara Scott, MD, known as the Hormone Guru, shared “The Hormone Symphony: Keys to Achieving Balance Naturally.” Dr. Scott shared her expertise on hormone balancing for women and the importance of incorporating whole-health practices to achieve balance.
Some of her key takeaways were:
- Female hormones are not just about reproduction and pregnancy; they have many other vital functions in your body.
- While fluctuations during perimenopause can be normal, there are ways to ease the transition.
- Stress can affect all of your hormones – especially your female hormones and thyroid.
Five tips to help your hormones stay balanced:
- Sleep at least eight hours every night
- Address movement daily
- Find the tool for stress management that works for you
- Eat whole foods, and minimize consumption of processed foods, sugar and alcohol, to help hormone balance
- Be aware of environmental toxins and minimize your exposure to help prevent hormone imbalances.
Julian Thayer, PhD, Distinguished Professor Psychological Science, School of Social Ecology, UCI, shared his research on “Stress, Resilience and Mental Health: A Neurovisceral Integration Perspective on Emotional Wellbeing.”
Some of his key takeaways were:
- Heart rate variability is a measure of vagus nerve activity.
- Slow breathing can enhance vagus nerve function.
- Better vagus nerve function is associated with better physical and mental health.
Robert Bonakdar, MD, Director of Pain Management at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, discussed “Emerging Integrative Therapies for Migraines.”
Some of his key takeways were:
Learning migraines are:
- the most common cause of disability in women under 50.
- the body’s attempt to recover from oxidative stress.
- associated with metabolic and autonomic dysfunction.
- improved with optimized nutrition.
- improved with individualized mind-body therapies.
Geoffrey Abbott, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and Vice Dean, Basic Science Research, UCI School of Medicine; Samueli Scholar, UCI, spoke about “The Hard Science of Herbal Medicine: Understanding Botanical Therapeutics at the Molecular Level.”
Some of his key takeaways were:
- Our ancestors were using plants as medicine as early as 1 million years ago – long before our species, Homo sapiens, existed.
- We recently discovered that a specific class of proteins (potassium channels) that conduct electrical currents in our bodies are important medicinal targets for metabolites found in plants that we commonly consume as foods and herbal medicines.
- The effects of plant metabolites on the electrical activity in our bodies rationalizes use of herbal medicines for disorders including epilepsy, ataxia, pain, inflammation and hypertension.
- By examining the effects of herbal medicines at the molecular level, we can ultimately improve their use in the clinic and discover new, safe and effective drugs from plants.
- We still have much to learn from ancient and modern use of medicinal plants by indigenous populations, including North American First Nations. By safeguarding their culture and the habitats in which medicinal plants grow, we can ensure their knowledge and the medicinal plant species themselves are not lost forever.
Sanaz Demehry, MS, PA-C, Physician Assistant, Herbalist, UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, UCI Health, guided participants through a meditation exercise, “Connecting to Your Higher Self.”
Some of her key takeaways were:
- Guided meditation leads to relaxation and stress reduction.
- Meditation’s internal focus can often help us understand how we think and feel.
- Consistent meditation practice can lead to the cultivation of a more positive perspective of life’s experiences.
- Meditation practice has been shown to facilitate pain reduction, better sleep, improved mental health and a more positive outlook regarding our daily lives.
- Additional guided meditations can be found in the SSHI Learning Library: https://ssihi.uci.edu/community-programs/learning-library/
In-person guests enjoyed a curated marketplace which consisted of participation from local businesses, healthy meals, experientials, the opportunity to win raffle prizes, as well as photo opportunities, marketplace vendors and gift bags were filled with thoughtful gifts. Programs included key takeaways from each speaker.
Most importantly, the participants left having learned tactical information that will benefit their personal health and wellness journeys. Returning emcee Megan Stirrat, Senior Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch, guided participants throughout the program of the day with a light-hearted touch of humor, declaring it “The best day ever!”
Presenting sponsors were Lisa Argyros / Argyros Family Foundation, Laura Khouri & Michael K. Hayde, and UCI Health.
Visit the WWD Event page for more information on the speakers and event.
About the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute
The UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute is reimagining healthcare, complementing conventional treatments with integrative services that are informed by science and incorporated into the training of future health professionals to advance a model of team-based, whole-person care that helps patients achieve their best health. It is the Samueli Institute’s mission to transform healthcare through the practice of integrative health by conducting rigorous research; promoting evidence-informed treatment modalities; educating the public on wellbeing practices, providing individualized, patient-centered clinical care; and providing services to the community that focus on obtaining optimal health.
