Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease of civilization.

I do not claim to have attained optimum emotional well-being. Actually, I think that may be a lifetime goal. For me it’s an ongoing process that requires awareness, knowledge, and practice. I do know what good emotional health feels like, and that motivates me to keep at the practice.

Shorter daylight hours can affect sleep, productivity and state of mind. Light therapy, also known as phototherapy, may help. It uses light boxes emitting full-spectrum light to simulate sunlight.

My passion for gardening may strike some as selfish, or merely an act of resignation in the face of overwhelming problems that beset the world. It is neither. I have found that each garden is just what Voltaire proposed in Candide: a microcosm of a just and beautiful society.

I fully support a national health care program for the U.S.

More than one skillful physician has said that if one asks the right questions, the patient will make the diagnosis for you in his or her own words.

Please keep in mind the distinction between healing and treatment: treatment originates from outside, whereas healing comes from within.