By Irene Conlan -

Some books are like a wonderful fluffy dessert – they taste great and are fun to eat but offer little in the way of nutrition. The Oneness Gospel is a “meat and potatoes” book offering nourishment for both the mind and the soul. It is a book that needs to be read slowly and savored like you would savor a gourmet meal.

Proctor says the Oneness Teachings are for everyone and , indeed, they are regardless of gender, social status, religious affiliation or lack of a religious affiliation. Her teachings speak to the human mind, heart and soul. They allow us to talk about God again without the fear that we might offend someone and answer questions that we may not have raised in our own mind yet.

Her Chapters on “The Mind and Thought” and “Emotional Charges and Healing from Trauma” are the best I have read anywhere and, as a hypnotherapist, I have diligently studied both. If you read only these two chapters you will have been enriched. But you don’t want to miss what she says about ego, about suffering, and about heart centered awareness. Actually, Proctor touches on all those issues that are important to us and discusses them with brilliance.

In my view, she truly saved the best for last in the chapter on “Loving God.” If you sit with this chapter and read it meditatively you will never be the same and you won’t view yourself or those around you in the same way again.  It will make your heart sing.

I recommend this book for those who are looking for more. To know what I mean by that – get the book.

“Why did I say ‘yes’ to reviewing this book?” was my first thought when I took the book out of the padded envelop that came in the mail.  “Not another diet book!” I had read so many of them already  and approximately 99.99 % of them were bad – nothing new – just more opinions and instructions to eat food that tasted like cardboard and buy something they were selling. But I said I would read it and so I took it along to an appointment when I knew I would be sitting and waiting for a while. I became so engrossed in the first chapter that I didn’t hear them call my name. That was a first! And from a diet book, for goodness sakes!

The Happiness Diet: A Nutritional Prescription for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, and Lean, Energized Body  is not a weight loss book – it is a brain-gain book, a good mood book and an energy-boost book.  Three in one. What a deal! It is a book that details why we need to eat certain foods, avoid others and eat fresh, organic foods as much as possible.  Dr. Drew Ramsey bases his recommendations on science. He gives you the facts on which he bases his recommendations and explains which foods contain the nutrients you need for brain health, energy and a healthy body. The book comes with two weeks of meal plans that supply these nutrients and recipes to help you prepare the tasty foods the meal plan suggests.

I have become a serious skeptic about “health food” because so much of it tastes awful and is made with ingredients you never heard of and can’t find. Because of this I decided to cook some of the food, strictly following the recipe. I set out to prove them wrong. What I proved is that the three recipes I tried – one each for chicken, fish and pork – were delicious. My resident gourmet chef  (my son) agreed with me and, in fact, requested a repeat of the chicken. You have to know that I’m not a great cook (not even close) and what I made was wonderful. I am delighted to say that I was wrong and I plan to cook my way through the recipe section of the book.

Written by a physician – a psychiatrist in fact – this book is a much needed breakthrough for our time and yet a return to ancient Greece and the teachings of Hippocrates who said, “Let food be thy  medicine and medicine be thy food.” Most physicians admittedly have little or no interest in nutrition and yet it is the building block of health – or disease. “You are what you eat” is a common saying and we forget it when we grab a fast-food burger several times a week  to save time or avoid having to prepare a meal. And we forget it when we stock our pantries with processed food that is filled with chemicals and who-knows-what-else.

This book should be read by anyone who eats! Yes! That’s exactly what I meant. Everyone who eats should read this book. Children in school should be taught its principles. Manufacturers of processed foods should read this book and, perhaps change their processes. Farmers and mega-farmers should read this book. Cooks and chefs should read this book. Moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas should read this book. Get it? Anyone who eats should read this book. And not just read it but follow the suggestions. Be sure to read the 100 reasons why not to eat processed foods, try the recipes, and consider the advice about supplements because you will be getting the nutrients you need from the food you eat.

The only problem I see if we all eat as recommended by Dr. Drew Ramsey is that the doctors will see fewer of us in their offices and the pharmacies will have significantly less prescriptions to fill.  Hippocrates would be proud!