Portrait: John La Puma

John Joseph La Puma

MD
Professional Focus Dr. John Joseph La Puma is board certified in Internal Medicine specializing in nutrition and healthy aging. He has extensive experience in leveraging nutrition and lifestyle changes to optimize wellness, manage weight and improve chronic health conditions. Dr. La Puma's medical interests include nutrition, food science, lifestyle medicine, weight management, healthy aging, longevity, and wellness. He is passionate about educating patients on managing diseases such as cholesterol and diabetes through healthy eating, optimizing health for longevity through food, fitness, sleep, supplementation, nature exposure, and community, and supporting patients who overeat or stay sedentary due to anxiety and eco-anxiety.

After graduating with honors and receiving his undergraduate degree, Dr. La Puma earned a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He then continued his training with a fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics and General Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics.

Dr. La Puma is the Clinical Director and Founder of Chef Clinic Nutritional Medical Corporation in Santa Barbara, where he currently serves as a consultant. He is the Founder and Co-Founder of ChefMD, Alternative Medicine Alert, and La Puma Farms, which is a biodiverse urban certified organic regenerative educational and teaching farm. He also created mynaturedose.com which is a scientifically based intentional walking program for people with anxiety.

Dr. La Puma is a pioneer in his field and was one of the first physicians in the United States to teach cooking and nutrition courses to medical students and was the first to teach culinary medicine courses to senior medical students. He has written seven books, edited three others, and authored or co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, five book chapters, and 250 other published works. Dr. La Puma is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and has lectured at renowned institutions such as Harvard University and Stanford University.

Member Feedback:
"Dr. La Puma was very thorough and has a great connection with his members. I appreciated that he clearly did a lot of research prior to meeting with me. He also did not rush me and took plenty of time to talk through my problem with me."
Conditions
Adult onset diabetes
Anxiety
Diabetes type II
Dysmetabolic syndrome
Eco-anxiety
Healthy aging
High cholesterol
Hypercholesterolemia
Insomnia
Insulin resistance syndrome
Malnutrition
Metabolic syndrome
Nutrition
Nutrition status related to chemotherapy
Obesity
Osteoarthritis
Vitamin deficiency
Weight management
Procedures
Culinary medicine
Dietary supplementation
Glucose tolerance test ( GTT )
Managing nutrition during cancer treatment
Nutritional counseling
Vitamin supplementation
University of Chicago | Clinical Medical Ethics and General Internal Medicine
Fellowship
University of California Los Angeles | Internal Medicine
Residency
Baylor College of Medicine
Medical School
Board Certifications
American Board of Internal Medicine
Place of Work
Clinical Director and Founder | Chef Clinic Nutritional Medical Corporation | Solo | Current
Languages
English
Links