Nutrition and Natural Medicine are as basic to me as breathing. -Anne Dunev

I enjoy the benefits of technology, but when it comes to human beings, Nature knows best. There is something very fundamental about the harmony of natural things that resonates with all of us. I think this goes deeper than the body, right down to our essence and Spirit.

So, I am also a student of philosophy. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the history of Mind/Body healing. It has been demonstrated in every medical study that the mind is more powerful than the body. Placebos always work, in every study. That means it is not a physical substance that is making some of the subjects well, but the fact that anything at all, even a sugar pill, is being given–and perhaps the fact that someone cares enough to offer some help.

So, I look for natural, living things all around me, whether it is in fabric, live plants, or food.  I am not fond of gyms, because I prefer to exercise outdoors; breathing, seeing and experiencing Nature.  Years ago I was a distance runner, a member of the New York Road Runner’s Association, and used to run 10K races a few times per year. Today, for the sake of my joints, I stick to Race Walking and fast walking for my cardio workout.

I love to cook. My mother and grandmothers were all good cooks, and my brothers both cook. I have a nephew who is a professional chef.

Cooking is about more than delicious food–it is about love.  The Mediterranean diet is considered the healthiest in the world. But I think it is the concept of family and sharing which imparts a special dimension to the cuisine. We have lost that in the New World. With so many couples both working, it is very difficult for families to enjoy real home cooking. But it is something that we need to return to. Not just for the sake of our waistlines and general health, but for the sake of our families and the foundation of our future.

Children are very important to me.  My husband and I have two grown sons together and I have two step-children from my husband’s previous marriage. Each is unique and I think that children come into this world with their own personalities already in existence. However, like trees, the garden setting can determine how well they thrive. And a little pruning can keep the whole stronger.

One thing kids don’t need is to be diagnosed with mental illness just for being kids. One of the worst and most damaging things that has happened in this country is when the “experts” (psychiatrists and psychologists) took over the schools.  If we want robots who simply sit still and let themselves be programmed, we should make them in a cybernetics lab. But if we want real kids who will write great novels, paint magnificent art, and solve the problems of society, we must stop drugging them into submission. I have treated many kids who are drugged. It is so often the best and the brightest, or the ones who don’t fit the mold. But it is basic to being an American not to fit the mold, and it is a human rights violation to drug kids without their consent or the full disclosure of the risks to the parents.  Just ask the parents of kids who have died taking psychotropic drugs if they knew that suicide, heart attack or suicide ideation was a risk.

For more information on the truth about psychiatric medication go to www.cchr.org