Dr. Deanna Minich is not your typical nutritionist. Minich sees more to food than just calories, protein, fat, or carbs. Her passion is in guiding people beyond the physical needs of food into understanding how food choices and the experience of eating impact not only our bodies, but our emotions, thoughts, and subtle energy. She teaches that foods and eating provide creative ways that we can access deeper issues related to our personal growth. Her new book release, Chakra Foods for Optimum Health (Conari Press, 2009), captures this idea, as it is a hands-on guide to connecting one's life issues to foods and eating for the benefit of healing. In her Nutrition for the SoulTM classes, she walks groups through their core life issues and how they intimately connect to foods. A worldwide traveler and lifelong learner, she received her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences and Human Nutrition from the University of Groningen in Holland in 1999, and her Masters Degree in Human Nutrition and Metabolism from the University of Illinois in 1995. She has been trained in functional medicine and is a certified nutritionist, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. In addition to her academic journey, she has been mentored in spiritual arts such as yoga, chakra reading, Shamanic healing, and Reiki. Her favorite quote from nutrition pioneer, Adelle Davis, sums up her approach: "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."