Journal, Winter 2008, Nutrition for Mental and Emotional Health

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FEATURES

• The Pursuit of Happiness, Chris Masterjohn explores the role of the fat-soluble vitamins for mental and emotional health
• Moods and the Immune System, Tom Cowan presents low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for addictions and immune disorders
• Metals and the Mind, Theresa Vernon explains the role of copper and other toxic metals in mental disease

DEPARTMENTS

• President’s Message: Body and Mind
• Letters: Letters to the Editor of Wise Traditions
• Caustic Commentary: Sally Fallon Morell and Mary Enig take on the Diet Dictocrats
• Homeopathy Journal: Depression, anxiety and homeopathy
• Know Your Fats: Mary Enig debunks the latest attack on coconut oil
• All Thumbs Book Reviews
  • Thumbs Up:
    • A Whole Foods Primer and The Sweetener Trap by Beatrice Trum Hunter
    • Fat: It’s Not What You Think by Connie Leas
    • Healing Our Children by Rami Nagel
    • The Devil’s Poison by Dean Murphy
    • Trick and Treat by Barry Groves
  • Thumbs Down:
    • The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler
    • Thrive with Diabetes by Laurence Chalem
  • Thumbs Up & Down: The Slow Poisoning of America by John Erb and Michelle Erb
• DVD/Media Reviews
  • Thumbs Up:
    • Achieving Real Health by Pete Hilgartner
    • Cholesterol–Villain or Hero? by Chris Masterjohn
    • No MSG by CBS “60 Minutes”
    • Nutrient Deficiencies on a Vegetarian Diet by Chris Masterjohn
    • The Cost of Corn-Fed Cattle by Matt Rivera
    • The World According to Monsanto by Marie-Monique Robin
• Growing Wise Kids: Jen Allbritton meets the challenge of baby number two
• Soy Alert: An open letter to Barack Obama on the soy-based diet in Illinois prisons
• NAIS Update: Judith McGeary discusses the meaning of the word “voluntary”
• A Campaign for Real Milk (on realmilk.com): Pete Kennedy keeps us updated on the latest developments
• Healthy Baby Gallery: More healthy Wise Traditions babies!

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President’s Message: Body and Mind

by Sally Fallon Morell

In this issue we offer our members three articles based on presentations given at Wise Traditions 2008, our ninth annual conference. The conference explored the connection of nutrition with mental and emotional health; and the many fine speakers on this subject validated the intimate connection between the body and the mind, between physical health and mental outlook.

The three representative articles we present in this issue offer three distinct but complementary points of view on the influence of nutrition on our emotions and mental well-being. Chris Masterjohn presents the latest scientific discoveries on the contribution of the fat-soluble activators, vitamins A and D, to the function of “feel-good” chemicals in the brain, and even to our ability to plan for the future and carry out long-range tasks.

From his viewpoint as an anthroposophical physician inspired by the writings of Rudolf Steiner, Tom Cowan discusses the question of what is disease? what is a proper diagnosis? what is an autoimmune disease? and what is the connection of our interior body chemistry to the plants that grow in the world outside ourselves. He also presents information about the great potential for low-dose naltrexone therapy in the treatment of addiction and immune dysfunction.

Theresa Vernon explores the relationship between nutrition, heavy metals and disease, including mental disorders. Her work underscores the importance of healthy adrenal function as the basis for ongoing protection against heavy metals, and also highlights the dangers of vegetarian diets, which lead to mineral imbalances. Her treatment plan includes a nutrient-dense diet, cod liver oil, hair mineral analysis, gentle detoxification measures and Chinese herbs.

Recent new alerts tell us that one young adult in five suffers from a personality disorder serious enough to affect normal life activities and that one adult in two will suffer from a mental or emotional disorder some time during life. Indeed, almost the entire civilized world is addicted to either drugs or stimulants (including refined and artificial sweeteners). This is not what Dr. Price found in his studies of nonindustrialized peoples consuming nutrient-dense foods. Modern treatment plans for these conditions generally ignore the role of nutrition for the proper function of our neuro-hormones, neuro-transmitters and other important neuro-chemicals; but the combination of recent scientific discoveries and the wisdom and experience of holistic practitioners in this field reveals nutrition to be the only firm basis on which to build lasting healing for so-called psychological illness. In the midst of campaigns for increasing pharmaceutical treatments for mental and emotional disorders in both young and old, we should always keep in mind the still, small voice of Dr. Price: Life in all its fullness is Mother Nature obeyed.

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