Boston Sunday Globe Article

To nutritionist, natural energies key to health, healing

By Brenda Marchand
Globe Correspondent
June 30, 2002

Cohasset - Nutritionist Mark Dana Mincolla says that in the last 20 years, more than 50,000 clients have climbed the stairs leading to his Cohasset office.

They had included a Hollywood producer, the family of a former Middle Eastern head of state and a 1999 NObel laureate, who flies in from Switzerland for this appointments.

This might not seem astounding, if it were not for the methodology that Mincolla, a holistic practitioner and author, uses to help his patients at MaxHealing Associates.

Instead of focusing entirely on a clients's diet, as most nutritionists do, Mincolla, 50, says he studies the whole person, sequin the energetic influences he believes are the root causes of disease.

"Many of the clients I see have a sense of feeling neglected as whole people as patients," MIncolla says. "In my experience the difference-maker is often the mere willingness to share a rapport, which includes subtle emotional, mental, and environmental energies."

Using a system of "bioenergetics," Mincolla says, he determines the body's levels of health through its electromagnetic field.

"There is a specific scheme to the body's electrical system. The heart produces electricity and the brain stores it," says the Marshfield resident. He cites the work of Dr. Robert O. Becker, author of "The Body Electric."

"The brain also transmits electrical impulses throughout the 72,000 nerves ending each of us has, feeding every organ, gland, cell and muscle with vital electricity,"he adds.

He suggests that one-size-fits-all diets fail to address differences between people, and often benefit providers more than consumers.

A typical visit to his office starts with a discussion about lifestyle and health concerns. The client is asked to check off a bar coded food chart, separated into alkaline, neutral, and acid foods, in categories such as animal protein, beans, dairy and dairy substitutes (soy), beans, nuts/seeds, fats, low and high starch vegetables, grain products, sugars, acid and sub-acid fruits, sweet fruits, and melons.

The goal is to eat a diet heavy in alkaline foods (fruits and vegetables), maintaining a 4-to-1 ratio to each acid food (sugars and proteins). Food with a more alkaline pH increases oxygen in the blood, Mincolla says.

To test for food alleges, Mincolla uses a method he calls LIfe Force Testing. He says it taps into nerves flowing through muscles. First, he tests energy imbalances in the organs by having the patient raise an arm to shoulder height as de depresses acupuncture points on the body. He makes note of any weakness in the test muscle. A weakness indicates energetic organ imbalance. If the muscle remains strong, he says, electricity is moving efficiently to the organ. In the second part of the procedure, the patient is asked to raise an arm at shoulder's height as Mincolla exposes the person's body to food vials. He notes resistance changes in the muscle. If the arm falls, there is an intolerance; if the arm is strong, there is a tolerance to the food.

Mincolla says he wants "to educate people about energy consciousness. We are comprised of much more than cells and tissue. We are all made up of subtle energies that profoundly affect our level of well-being."

Based on the examination, Mincolla will recommend an individually tailored diet, with added nutritional supplements and vitamins. He considers stressful lifestyles and the typical American's diet as the major contributors of sickness and disease. He has lectured at the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital on applied nutritional therapies.

Mincolla holds a degree in psychology, a master's in nutrition and a PhD in health and human services. Recently he began a Sunday evening call-in show on WATD-FM(95.9).

He is the father of three children and the author of three books on natural health and healing. His next books will be about the high fat and sugar diet of American children, which he labels "an outrage."