Pouya Shafipour, MD, MS

Board Certified Family Medicine Specialist

Dr. Pouya Shafipour is a Family Medicine Specialist, Primary Care Physician, and a Weight Loss Specialist based in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Shafipour specializes in dietary, nutritional, behavioral, and exercise counseling to manage obesity and medical conditions related to excessive weight gain or loss. Dr. Shafipour received a BS in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, an MS in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University, and an MD from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. He completed his internship in general surgery at UC Irvine and a residency in family medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and became board certified in family medicine in 2008.

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Forum Comments (2)

How can I gain weight?
Weight gain requires a healthy diet high in complex carbohydrates, fruits, and healthy protein along with exercise to help build lean mass. Usually I recommend adding some protein shakes and healthy snacks to help with weight gain while preventing abdominal fat building.
I've tried everything and can't lose weight!
There are many common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. People usually try to lose weight using a mixture of intense exercise and low-calorie diet, which often makes them hungry and cranky and leads to them breaking the diet and either failing to lose weight or even gaining more weight. Calorie counting without taking into consideration the quality of calories is another common mistake. Eating your food at certain times is also critical to guarantee hormonal balance and optimal fat loss. People also often consume too much protein to lose weight. Unless you're a competitive athlete or lift weights daily, you do not need to consume tons of protein to keep your metabolism going or improve it. Excess protein intake has been linked with higher risk of cancer development in the long term and healthier societies, such as Blue Zones, do not consume a lot of protein daily.

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