Clinical Nutrition

UCLA Health Approach to Clinical Nutrition

The UCLA Center for Human Nutrition stands at the forefront of clinical practice and nutrition research. We provide individualized nutrition care and focus on helping you understand how nutrition affects your health and wellness. Our services are guided by our philosophy that food is a powerful medicine.

At our center, you’ll find:

Personalized nutrition: Partnering with you, we tailor care to your unique needs. We assess your background, metabolic, social and behavioral factors that affect your health. Our team then provides custom nutrition guidance and movement plans that progress with your goals.

Medical and nutrition experts: Our team includes specialized dieticians and doctors with additional training in nutrition. We also have psychologists and nurses who support you throughout your care.

Empowering resources: While your health depends partially on your genes, your nutrition and exercise play an even more significant role. We give you the resources and knowledge to take control of your health and live a full, active life. Our physicians and dieticians offer one-on-one counseling and group classes, both in-person and virtually.

Advanced, specialized programs: We have several focused services, such as clinical nutrition for cancer, medical weight management, metabolic diseases. We are one of the few health systems in the nation to offer outpatient nutrition services for tube feeding (enteral nutrition) and total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

Attentive care: We closely monitor your health and stay in touch with you through our patient portal, myUCLAhealth. You can upload your dietary intake and physical activity to myUCLAhealth or the mobile app, MyChart. Any concerning changes or data alerts our team to reach out to you immediately.

Conditions Our Clinical Nutrition Team Treats

Our specialists understand how nutrition can help manage health problems, and how health problems affect your nutritional needs. Our team cares for people with a range of conditions, such as:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Low body weight or muscle mass
• Metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol
• Gastrointestinal disorders, including tube feeding or TPN
• Obesity and weight gain
• Women’s health including nutrition during and after pregnancy, during menopause and with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)

Our Clinical Nutrition Services

Our specialists use food as medicine to help prevent long-term chronic diseases. The right foods can reduce your risk of developing disease and improve your longevity. We also use food to help treat existing diseases and improve your overall health. We offer a variety of services and programs to help you achieve your healthiest self.

Clinical Nutrition Clinic

We provide one-on-one nutrition counseling for a variety of concerns in our Clinical Nutrition Clinic. Our nutrition plans may include phytonutrient-rich plants, quality protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and supplements to support your health.

Weight management programs

Conversations about weight often revolve around calorie intake and physical activity. But weight also depends on many other factors, such as:

• Environment
• Food quality
• Genetics
• Gut microbiome (microorganisms in your gut that help with digestion and immunity)
• Hormones
• Sleep
• Stress and mood

We consider all these factors when helping you manage your weight. Our specialized services include:

• Center for Obesity & Metabolic Health (COMET) 
• Healthier Weight Management Webinar Series
• Medical Weight Management Program
• Weight management and women’s health

Cancer prevention diet and nutrition for cancer patients

We specialize in cancer nutrition to help prevent cancer and improve quality of life during treatment. We assess your current diet and recommend changes to lower your overall risk of developing cancer.

Our team also offers nutritional guidance as you navigate cancer treatment in our Santa Monica Cancer Care clinic. We look for ways to improve your symptoms during treatment and maintain your weight and muscle mass.

Outpatient nutrition for tube feeding or TPN

Our physicians, dieticians and nurse specialists work closely together to optimize your nutrition when you can’t eat by mouth. Our team cares for people who need tube feeding or TPN for many different reasons, such as cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

Inpatient nutrition

We often provide nutrition services during your hospital stay. Our specialists offer support for:

Bariatric (weight loss) surgery: We see you immediately after bariatric surgery to manage your diet and medications.

Transplant qualification: Our specialists offer weight loss regimens in the hospital to help you qualify for a transplant.

Tube feeding or TPN: We optimize your nutrition and comfort with tube feeding or TPN. Our team ensures you have a smooth transition from the hospital to home.

Leading-edge nutrition research

We offer eligible patients the latest care options through our research and clinical trials. Our research has greatly advanced our understanding of weight loss medications. We continue to develop new weight loss therapies and optimize the use of nutrition for good health.

We are one of five U.S. centers involved in Nutrition for Precision Health, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative. This initiative aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help us predict what type of nutrition will be most beneficial. Using AI, we hope to match people’s genetics, biology and health needs with the right foods for highly individualized care.

Clinical Nutrition Treatments We Offer

Our specialists provide the full range of nutrition treatments to support your health and wellness. We focus on long-term and consistent treatment for lasting results. Depending on your needs, we may provide:

• Comprehensive nutrition plans
• Lifestyle interventions
• One-on-one or group nutrition counseling with a doctor or dietician
• Psychologist-led group counseling

Weight loss treatment

Weight loss medications may help you achieve and sustain weight loss. Our team provides medications and monitors your health throughout your weight loss journey.

We also work closely with bariatric surgeons if you opt for weight loss surgery. We help you meet your nutritional needs and goals before and after surgery so that you experience long-term weight loss benefits.

Meet Our Team

Our specialists include doctors (endocrinologists and hospitalists), dieticians, psychologists and nurses who specialize in nutrition. You can rely on our team for evidence-based care to help you maximize your health and achieve your goals. Meet our expert team.

Contact Us

Call 310-825-7921 to request an appointment with a clinical nutrition specialist at UCLA Health. To reach the Medical Weight Management Program, please call 310-825-8173.