The Needed community is made more full with the presence of one of our local practitioner partners, Katya Mosely, L.Ac. Katya is an acupuncturist and herbalist who is passionate about building community through human connection. With the goal to take Traditional Chinese Medicine out of the fringe and into the mainstream, she founded Spirit Gate Acupuncture + Wellness, in West Los Angeles, where she specializes in supporting women through the arc of fertility through postpartum. Katya strengthens and empowers women, helping them prioritize their health, sleep, nutrition, hormones, and mindset. Inspired by ancient medicines and their direct benefits for modern life, Katya works to make anxiety, pain, and chaos manageable, and helps to transform challenging experiences into strength and opportunity. She is a dedicated mama to two sweet gals, 5 and 7, and a happy wife of almost 10 years.
How did your nutrition journey start?
It started with loving food. I used to help my mother in the kitchen as a young girl and somehow that evolved into binge watching the TV Food Network in my 20s. With time, my respect for nutrition deepened, making me truly appreciate the smell, taste, and appearance of food. Lucky for me, it so happens that beautiful food is also usually the most colorful, in season, and good for you.
My decisions about food are powerful, bite-size statements about how I intend to treat myself, what matters to me, and what satisfies me.
How do you feel nutrition plays a role in your commitment to personal wellness?
Eating well requires us to listen and interact honestly with our bodies. It is a daily opportunity for physical mindfulness. I’m someone who needs protein with every meal because it helps to anchor my nervous system and allows me to think clearly. When I’m feeling sluggish or blue, eating or drinking something from the earth helps to perk me up and feel energized again. By simply noticing what we crave, avoid, like, or dislike, and the different impact different foods have on us, we are taking cues from our bodies. Acknowledging those cues, learning how they relate to our systems, and making nutritional decisions based on our unique individual constitutional needs, makes our commitment to nutrition satisfying.
What role do supplements play in your approach to nutrition?
I try to get most of my nutrients directly from whole unprocessed foods, but even when I’m trying, sometimes that’s not enough (hello, vitamin D!). I’m an odd bird in that it’s extremely difficult for me to swallow pills and capsules, so I try to load my smoothies up with healthy powders, and my countertops are filled with tincture bottles. The relatively new way our food is irrigated and grown means that we’re short on many minerals and nutrients that our bodies evolved with and relied on for thousands and thousands of years. Supplements play a key role in bridging that gap.
What are your go-to daily supplements?
Vitamin D, vitamin K, B-complex, and chlorophyll are non-negotiable. When my immune system is low, I add a lypo-spheric vitamin C; when my digestion needs a boost, I add in a probiotic; and when my stress feels harder to manage, I reach for ashwaganda. My smoothies have collagen, maca, bee pollen and all the seeds I can get my hands on (hemp, flax, chia, roasted sesame, etc for their fiber and omegas).
What dream product do you wish existed, but you can’t seem to find?
A high quality, bioavailable multivitamin in tincture form.
We are interested in exploring nourishment at the intersection of food, family, community. Can you tell us a story about an especially nourishing meal that you had alone or shared with others?
I’ll always remember the first meal I had after we brought my younger daughter home. We were fairly new to our neighborhood, and a neighbor saw us driving up the hill on our way back home from the hospital. She asked if we had dinner planned, and we said no. A few hours later, this mama I barely knew had dropped off homemade beef and vegetable stew with a freshly baked French baguette. She knew the importance of eating warming, hearty meals in the first days postpartum, and I was so deeply touched that she went out of her way to prepare that meal for us.
How does community impact your personal nourishment?
When I eat alone, I am usually just eating for sustenance and energy but when I’m eating with friends or family, it truly becomes an event. There are few things I love more than a long, multi-course meal shared with people I love. It’s around the table that people slow down, put their phones away, and spend hours story-telling and sharing.
What books have influenced your personal nutrition education the most?
There have been many, but the first that comes to mind is Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford. I was introduced to it in grad school, and it does a fantastic job of explaining Chinese Medicinal theory and the healing properties of food. I love that the index is organized by ingredient and ailment, making it a comprehensive and accessible reference.
