The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.
-Thomas A. Edison
 
Food is our fuel and it is obvious that we eat for energy, but it is less obvious that we eat for consciousness as well. I once heard it said, in relation to our body consciousness, that “we have been given a Stradivarius and we come to play it as a plastic fiddle.” Compared to this legendary violin, our mind and body are even greater masterworks. They deserve awareness in their care.

Many people suffer from food sensitivities, but do not directly relate their depression, agitation, lethargy, inability to concentrate, as well as a host of physical and energetic ailments to food choices. Many are so desperate to change the way they feel that they resort to anti-depressants or other psychotropic drugs. While there is certainly an appropriate place for these drugs, they are vastly overused. It is seemingly easier to take a pill than change a diet. Complicating the picture is that we are often addicted to the very foods that are the most irritating to our organism. Physicians receive almost no education in nutrition, and yet the father of medicine, Hippocrates, proclaimed “let food be your medicine.”

Many people are sensitive and can not take the modern diet with its highly processed foods. Considering that we have had the same digestive tract for at least 200,000 years, it is not surprising that huge amounts of the earth’s population can not adapt to food that is far removed from the diet provided for our species by nature.

If you are depressed it is valuable to look at all the components of our lives. Our choice of food being one very important aspect. There are ways of eating that are more natural. A lot of motivation depends on the degree of suffering one is experiencing and the willingness to experiment. Even small changes can be significant. It does not take long to experience how different you can feel.

I am not a certified nutritionist. I do not prescribe. But I have a long history of interest in this subject. I am a graduate of the East/West Institute of Holistic Health and also a former administrator/teacher at the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute. Perhaps most importantly, I am a cancer survivor of eighteen years who has used food as part of my healing.

I act as a resource for further reading and research if a client is inclined to explore this option. I think it is wonderful to have nutritional education. It can be a real eye opener. I recommend that you read about sugar and depression and about the dangers of artificial sweeteners. Find out about the value of raw foods and the destruction of the enzymes in food by heat. Enzymes are the catalysts for every metabolic process in the body. Find out about the importance of adding more green to your diet. Check out Ortho-Molecular Psychiatry, which uses vitamins and nutrition as therapy. I am happy to consider many food options with you and to be a support, should you need it, in finding a health professional to work with.