One of the most obvious ways dogs can improve our physical and mental health is via daily walks.

The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on our health, weight and well-being.

Everyone prefers some foods over others, but some adults take this tendency to an extreme. These people tend to prefer the kinds of bland food they may have enjoyed as children - such as plain or buttered pasta, macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, French fries and grilled cheese sandwiches - and to restrict their eating to just a few dishes.

Human beings have survived for millennia because most of us make good decisions about our health most of the time.

Another aspect of the psychedelic vision for me that has been very profound, is the sense that every-thing is alive or at that at least, there is no distinction between what we call living and non-living.

I'm not against high-tech medicine. It has a secure place in the diagnosis and treatment of serious disease.

Clearly, America's dysfunctional food culture must bear some of the blame for our excess pounds, but it's likely our walking-averse lifestyles contribute as well.