Pallas Care’s USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology interns, Yanyi and Yueran, recently interviewed nutritionist Sophie Hung about her A Healthier You Journey program. Pallas Care believes that a balanced and complete diet has great potential to enhance the wellness of our clients, employees, and their friends and families. Sophie’s focus on working with first-generation immigrant communities aligns with Pallas Care’s mission to provide tailored, culturally competent care to our clients.
Sophie is a Registered Nutritionist and has been guiding clients for over 12 years. She received her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her Masters in Public Health from Loma Linda University. Moreover, she is a Certified Personal Trainer and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Sophie grew up in Hong Kong and has studied in Spain, Mexico, Peru and Argentina. In addition to English, Sophie speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish. As a Registered Nutritionist and Certified Personal Trainer, she has helped hundreds of clients lose weight, build muscle, control blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and plan balanced vegetarian meals.
Pallas Care: Why did you want to work as a nutritionist? What is your background?
Sophie: I realized that my family has a lot of genetic predisposition to illness. Basically all my relatives on my dad’s side have diabetes, and my grandmother had a stroke and was bedbound for over 10 years. One time I saw my uncle and he gave me a huge mooncake tin full of all the medication he needed to take, and he would have no appetite after taking it. All these scenes made me sad and scared, I was afraid that I might get stroke and diabetes in the future too. But genes are only part of the cause of disease, the rest we can prevent through healthy nutrition and by reducing stress, so then I started to focus on nutrition. Another reason is that when I was a student at UCLA, the menu in the dining hall would have some nutritional knowledge on it. I enjoyed reading these labels, and that got me interested in nutrition.
Pallas Care: Please give us an overview of your offerings and the communities you serve.
Sophie: I am currently running the A Healthier You Journey program. I am mainly engaged in one-on-one counseling and providing nutritional advice, especially for first-generation immigrants. They usually neglect their own health due to taking care of their families and children. These health problems slowly emerge as they age and affect their quality of life, and it is usually the children of the elderly who come to me for counseling for their parents. As a dietitian, my job is to understand my clients’ health conditions, assess them and develop personalized meal plans, and stay in touch with them to help them modify the nutrients in their daily diets, as well as to better monitor their body indicators, such as blood glucose levels. In addition, I have found that first-generation immigrant groups generally have limited English proficiency and differences in eating habits from the West, and Western health counselors may not be able to communicate well with them. However, there are very few Chinese-speaking nutritionists, which is a gap in the market. I am now training partners in the hope that I can better meet the needs of different communities.
Pallas Care: Can you share an example of your approach?
Sophie: I will first talk to my clients to understand their dietary habits, lifestyle and health condition, and do a holistic assessment. Then, I will formulate a personalized meal plan and help them gradually improve their eating habits through continuous communication and adjustment. A typical case is a diabetic patient whose A1C is over 10% (normal level is below 6.5%). Her daughter approached me and hoped that I could help her mom. The doctors at the hospital told her not to eat refined carbohydrates like pasta, but she had a hard time adapting to such recipes and often felt hungry and tired. By slowly teaching her the right way to eat and after participating in my nutrition program, she told me she learned how to eat well and stay in good spirits while controlling her blood sugar.
Pallas Care: That’s great! Please tell us more about some of the health challenges faced by immigrant communities?
Sophie: The health problems faced by immigrant groups are closely related to their living environment and cultural habits. They may neglect their health due to work, family and other reasons, leading to an increased risk of some chronic diseases, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. At the same time, due to language and cultural barriers, they may have insufficient knowledge of the Western healthcare system and nutrition, and need additional support and guidance.
Pallas Care: What are the partnership opportunities for Pallas Care and A Healthier You Journey?
Sophie: Both organizations have potential clients in the Chinese-American community in Los Angeles. Pallas Care provides culturally-competent personal home care, and A Healthier You Journey provides dietary and nutritional guidance, including transitioning from medication to dietary therapy, and reducing medication dosage. A Healthier You Journey can also educate Pallas Care’s personal care attendants in how to prepare healthy, nutritious meals that meet their clients’ cultural and medical needs.
Pallas Care: As an experienced nutritionist, do you have any health tips you would like to share?
Sophie: Most of my diet is vegetarian and protein-based. When it comes to cooking utensils, I am careful not to choose plastic ones, but usually glass and ceramic ones. In terms of cooking methods, I recommend not to use too much water when cooking, as water can lead to loss of nutrients in the ingredients. Stir-frying and steaming are healthier. For snacks, I recommend buying organic nuts, grass-fed beef jerky, salmon and tuna packs. I also recommend consuming some organic soy milk for protein on a regular basis.
Check out A Healthier You Journey’s website for other nutrition and wellness advice and tools: https://ahealthieryoujourney.com/
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