Dr. Lifestyle

Dr. Lifestyle was founded by Dr. Melissa Mondala and Dr. Micah Yu in 2019.

They are husband and wife with a mission to educate, empower, and heal. They began their work through social media, community veg fests, and lifestyle medicine lectures. They created an Instagram account in 2018 which was used to advocate lifestyle medicine to the general public.

Over the years, their account has transformed and grown. They realized they didn’t have to wait to have their lifelong dream of establishing a lifestyle medicine private practice in Southern California. Dr. Mondala practices Direct Primary Care and Dr. Yu practices Direct Rheumatology.

They believe that lifestyle medicine should be the foundation for healthcare. Both physicians provide healthcare to their patients with an integrative approach. They believe that pharmaceutical drugs should be used when appropriate but lifestyle medicine should be the first line.

Due to their extensive study, devotion, and passionate work, they have been invited to speak internationally and serve patients throughout the US and world.

Dr. Yu is an integrative rheumatologist who incorporates complementary medicine with traditional rheumatology.

He is triple board-certified in Rheumatology, Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. He obtained his MD from Chicago Medical School and holds a Masters in Healthcare Administration and Biomedical sciences. He completed his internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Loma Linda University in Southern California. He is also part of the Andrew Weil Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona. In addition, he has also taken courses in functional medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine.

Dr. Yu has a very unique perspective on autoimmune disease and arthritis as he is both a patient with arthritis and physician. Dr. Yu was diagnosed with gout at the age of 17 and later diagnosed with spondyloarthritis as well. He is able to understand his patient’s medical problems from a patient perspective. The foundation of his practice is to combine allopathic medicine with complementary medicine. He works with his patients to come up with a treatment plan that not only fights the disease but also is aligned with his patient’s goals.

He currently runs an integrative practice in Newport Beach California practicing integrative rheumatology along with his wife, Dr. Melissa Mondala who practices integrative primary care and psychiatry. Dr. Yu is licensed in 15 states and sees patients in person in California and virtually nationally and internationally. Dr. Yu's goal is to find other modalities that can help patients beyond traditional rheumatology medications.

He is on social media @myautoimmunemd on instagram, tiktok, facebook, youtube, and twitter.