Deanna Minich, PhD, CN, RYT
Nutritionist, Educator, Author, Artist, Yoga Practitioner
Dr. Deanna Minich is an internationally-known nutritionist with more than fifteen years experience in the exciting field of nutrition. She has served food and dietary supplement industries since 2000 and began her private clinical practice in 2002.
Her unique approach to nutrition originated from combining various facets of her background including academic training in medical sciences and human nutrition from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands (Ph.D.) and University of Illinois at Chicago (M.S.), along with her extensive study of energetic modalities such as Shamanic healing practices, Reiki, and intuitive assessment, and physical body cultivation through more than 20 years of yoga practice.
Her latest contributions include two books on food and spirituality: Chakra Foods for Optimum Health: A Guide to the Foods that Improve Your Energy, Inspire Creative Changes, Open Your Heart, and Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit (Conari Press, 2009) and Quantum Supplements: A Total Health and Wellness Makeover with Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs (Conari Press, 2010).
She has also written a practical guide to deciphering food additives: An A to Z Guide to Food Additives: Never Eat What You Can’t Pronounce (Conari Press, 2009). Dr. Minich developed Nutrition for the SoulTM classes and teaches them at colleges and in medical clinics. A dynamic presenter, she has appeared on radio shows and has presented extensively on nutrition topics throughout the country.
She is very passionate about assisting others on their path to good health and balanced living.
From Dr. Deanna Minich:
“We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.” – Adelle Davis
This quote by 70’s nutrition guru, Adelle Davis, captures my personal view of nutrition,eating and food in relationship to ourselves. We are more than what we eat; however, food and eating create energy – both physical and spiritual – and with the “correct” form of energy, we step into our authentic, empowered selves…
If someone were to ask me what my takeaway as a “spiritual” nutritionist is on how we should eat, I would respond that we are all so incredibly unique from a biochemical perspective and that it is not adequate to categorize our complexity into a static “diet”, or path. There is no “one” ultimate solution and we cannot isolate the body and soul parts of ourselves. All of the aspects of our being come into play, and they must be recognized. The gap between our physical body and our soul self must be closed and connected so that we are integrated throughout. We evolve over the course of our lifetime, dealing with different emotional states and situations, all intricately interplaying with our physiology, making us need different foods in specific times. No one food (or diet) fits one soul or one body. We must be constantly in tune with our changing needs.
The one premise that I believe most professionals and lay people would agree upon is that food has an amazingly potent effect on the emotions, body, mind and spirit and, conversely, our food choices affect these levels as well. My perception is that we need to hit the internal “reset button” to arrive at our inherent, intuitive baseline so that we can eat in harmony with who we are as body and as soul. One of the ways to connect with spirit needs is by working with the chakra system.
My role is as the conduit for you to find back your perfect health that which we are endowed with and have access to on some level and must find again if we are feeling lost.
-In health, Deanna
The Art of Food and Spirit
The wisdom of spiritual texts and the beauty of our own experience tell us we are more than our physical bodies. There is an immaterial or spiritual aspect to us some might refer to it as the soul. Through the dance of the physical and spiritual elements, we become Who We Are. When these elements are in harmony, we function optimally: we have high energy, our eyes are bright and clear, and our bodies glow with the radiance of perfect health. When our bodies and souls are disconnected, we feel fatigued and overwhelmed, develop symptoms and possibly disease, and lack a sense of purpose and passion for life.
There are several methods to bridge the gap between the earthy body of our being and the heavenly essence of our soul. One way is to open ourselves creatively to our relationship with foods and eating in a whole new way. Foods are amazing conduits of transformation: in addition to embodying the physical substance that our bodies require to grow and live, they also carry subtle signals to our soul that feed us in other ways, like our creativity, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, ability to give and receive love. As we know from quantum physics, all matter carries an energetic signature or a particular vibration. Thus, all foods carry a vibration which can assist the finer aspects of our being. Each color in the rainbow has its own frequency: red colored foods like beets will have a different quantum impact on us than purple-blue foods like blueberries. Similarly, freshly picked foods from an organic garden have a different vibration than overcooked, burnt foods. If we pay attention to our bodies and our intuition, we can guide our eating to align the essence of our food selection with our deep, root needs as a human being. The ability to complement body and soul through food is an art that can be cultivated through daily practice.
© Deanna Minich, PhD, CN
