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NUTRITIONAL MEDICINE
255
April15
Nutrition
The Sunshine Vitamin
I caught up with Dr Loo at the CHI clinic in leafy Rochester Park. What
came first, I wondered, her interest in nutritional medicine or her joining
the well-known holistic practice? But she’s quick to confirm that she
was attracted to CHI because its founder, Dr Kim Hayes, has such a
deep interest in this field.
Tell us a bit about your background.
I did my medical training at University College Dublin, and then worked for a
while in Singapore before moving to Toronto, Canada, where I lived for some
time. Last year, family reasons brought me, my husband and our three-year-old
son back to Singapore, and I joined CHI. One thing I’ve learnt frommy overseas
experience is that there’s no one right or wrong way of practising medicine; it’s
practised differently in different societies and in different healthcare systems.
What’s it like to work with CHI’s team of holistically oriented GPs?
There are so many advantages to working with a group of colleagues, each of
whom has different types of experience; there’s a lot of discussion between us
and we are continually exchanging information.
Our approach to patients here is a bit different, too. We deliver medicine in
the way I like it to be delivered: taking the whole person into account, rather than
merely prescribing medicine for a particular symptom. We get to the bottom of
what is causing his or her un-wellness.
Here’s a GP with a holistic approach, one who
highlights the value of exposure to sunshine,
underlines the importance of vitamin D for so many
aspects of our health, and dots both of the i’s in
“nutrition”. The soft-spoken DR HUI VOON LOO talked
to Verne Maree about her special interest in nutritional
medicine as part of a well-rounded family practice.
Preach to the converted! – explain
why sunlight is so good for us.
There’s so much that is good about
sunlight, so many connections between
light and health, and science is
discovering more of these every day.
By now, everyone should know that we
need to expose our bare skin to sunlight
– making sure never to burn, of course!
– in order for it to make the vitamin D
that is then absorbed naturally into the
body. Direct midday sunlight remains by
far
the best source of this ultra-important
nutrient.
Not only that, but exposure to bright
midday sunlight also plays a part in
regulating the sleep cycle, and a good
night’s sleep is vital for good health.
What’s more, vitamin D is involved in
the regulation of many different genes
that govern the functioning of every
tissue in the body – including bone
metabolism, immune system function and
neuromuscular activity.
Rules!