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Macrobiotics, from the Greek "macro" (large, long) and "bios" (life), is a dietary regimen which involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other local foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also address the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.
The earliest recorded use of the term macrobiotics is found in the writing of Hippocrates, the father of Western Medicine. In his essay \'Airs, Waters, and Places,\' Hippocrates introduced the word to describe people who were healthy and long-lived. Herodotus, Aristotle, Galen, and other classical writers used the term macrobiotics to describe a lifestyle, including a simple balanced diet, that promoted health and longevity.Stephen Blauer, in Michio Kushi (1993), The Macrobiotic Way, 2nd edition, AVERY, p.xi
Macrobiotic methodology was utilized by many of the long-lived traditional cultures, such as the Incas, the Chinese in the Han Dynasty, etc. George Ohsawa drew from Oriental and Japanese folk medicine to create his version of this traditional philosophy of health.
George Ohsawa brought his teaching to Europe from Japan. Ohsawa was a Japanese philosopher, who was inspired to formalize macrobiotics by the teachings of Kaibara Ekiken, Andou Shōeki, Mizuno Namboku, and Sagen Ishizuka and his disciples Nishibata Manabu and Shojiro Goto.
Ohsawa brought his macrobiotic teachings to North America in the late 1950s. Macrobiotic education was spread in the United States by his students Herman Aihara, Cornelia Aihara, Michio Kushi and Aveline Kushi, and their students. Michio Kushi has been the most prominent of these teachers.
Ohsawa coined the term for a natural way of living, macrobiotics, in the late 1950s. Macrobiotics, from the ancient Greek language, means the way of longevity. This term has been used by many authors in describing longevity teachings from the Far East.
"Whole foods, such as brown rice, are central to a macrobiotic diet, and many of the first customers and owners of the alternative food stores were students of macrobiotics. In the 20th century, a few creative and brilliant teachers, such as the Kushis (who immigrated to the United States from Japan after World War II), emerged who distilled the wide-ranging ideas and interpreted them for modern, urban, and industrialized life."Health Food: Macrobiotic Brown Rice National Museum of American History, Division Medicine and Science. Retrieved 2007, April 7.
Followers of the macrobiotic approach believe that food and food quality powerfully affect health, wellbeing, and happiness. The macrobiotic approach suggests choosing food that is less processed and more natural, and employing more traditional methods of cooking for family, friends, and oneself.
One goal of the macrobiotic philosophy and practice is to become sensitive to the true effects of foods on health and wellbeing. In this way, one goes beyond rules and regulations concerning diet to choosing foods that sustains one\'s health. Dietary guidelines help one to develop sensitivity and an intuitive sense for what sustains one\'s health and wellbeing in diet as well as in relationships and activities.
Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown whole grain cereals, pulses (legumes), vegetables, seaweed, fermented soy products and fruit, combined into meals according to the principle of balance (known as yin and yang). Dietary recommendations include whole grains, such as brown rice, and other whole grain products, such as buckwheat pasta (soba); a variety of cooked and raw vegetables; beans and bean products, such as tofu, tempeh and miso; ; mild natural seasonings; fish; nuts and seeds; mild (non-stimulating) beverages, such as bancha twig tea; and fruit.
Nightshade vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant; also spinach, beets and avocados are forbidden (or used sparingly) in macrobiotic cooking, as they are considered extremely yin.Nightshade Vegetables. CyberMacro. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. Some macrobiotic practitioners also discourage the use of nightshades due to the alkaloid solanine, thought to affect calcium balance.Stanchich, Lino. "All About Nightshades." New Life Journal: Carolina Edition; Apr/May2003, Vol. 4 Issue 5, p17, 3p
Macrobiotics is considered an approach to life rather than a diet. General Guidelines for the diet are:
The remainder is composed of fish and seafood, seeds and nuts, seed and nut butters, seasonings, sweeteners, fruits, and beverages. Other naturally raised animal products may be included if needed during dietary transition or according to individual needs.
The composition of dishes and the choices of foods is adjusted according to
and any other personal considerations
Food is prepared in various ways. The preferred manner of cutting vegetables for the real enthusiast is complicated: onions (round and in layers) are cut differently than carrots, which are cut differently from chard, for example. Good macrobiotic cookbooks will instruct in this art. Foods are occasionally served uncooked, as raw food, but mostly are cooked in a variety of ways, including: Steaming, boiling, ohitashi/blanching, nishime/long steaming, nitsuke/saute and boiling, kinpira/sauteeing and boiling, sukiyaki/stew, nabe, oven baking, baking in a pressure cooker, tempura, and frying.
In spring:
In summer:
In autumn:
In winter:
Macrobiotic eating follows the principle of balance (called yin and yang in China). Products that are extreme are not suggested for regular use. No foods are forbidden, but better quality natural foods are always suggested.
Foods that are overstimulating can exhaust the body and mind. These are classified as extreme yin (stimulating) in their effects:
Foods that are very concentrated, heavy and dense, create stagnation. These have yang (strengthening but stagnating effects if overconsumed).
Foods that create balance are whole grains, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables, fruit from the local environment, nuts, and seeds. Foods such as these are used in a macrobiotic way of eating.
The macrobiotic way of eating is erroneously thought to be Japanese. A majority of the world population in the past ate a primarily plant based grain and vegetable based diet. Because many of the recently popular teachers came from Japan, foods from Japan that are beneficial for health are incorporated by most modern macrobiotic eaters. Some macrobiotic ingredients are also standard ingredients in Japanese cuisine.
A macrobiotic diet includes many of the same foods as vegan diets, but in macrobiotics certain animal foods are suggested. The two diet styles share enough similarities that a vegan version of macrobiotics is not uncommon. Macrobiotics is based on traditional ways of eating. While there are no completely vegan cultures that are long-lived, the longest-lived cultures around the world consume between 70% and 99% whole plant foods. John Robbins, a well-known vegan advocate, pointed this out in his recent book, Healthy at 100. The American Dietetic Association approves of carefully-planned vegan diets. In the words of the Association, Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. ... It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.[1]
Dirk Benedict; John Cage; John Lennon; Yoko Ono; Robin Gibb; Gwyneth Paltrow; Sting; Avril Lavigne; Madonna; John Denver; Warren Cuccurullo; Iggy Pop (not at present); Bob Weir (Grateful Dead Guitarist); Gloria Swanson; William Dufty; Courtney Love;Lee LaDouceur; Noel Gallagher; Crispin Glover; Geezer Butler; Klaus Nomi.
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This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Macrobiotics has long been touted as a preventative and a cure for cancer. Despite these claims, many long term practitioners of the diet have themselves developed cancer and subsequently died from it. Michio Kushi\'s wife Aveline and daughter Lilly both succumbed to the illness. Renowned macrobiotic teacher Cecile Levin and the author of \'Recalled by Life\', Anthony J. Sattilaro both died of cancer as well. Michio Kushi himself developed cancer and had a tumour removed surgically from his intestines and appears to be doing fine at this point in his life.
Especially in the United States, individuals with all types of cancer follow the macrobiotic diet. There are many personal cases of people that believe in the diet as a way to "cure" the disease or rid its presence from their bodies. Still many others turn to Macrobiotics as a way to strengthen their physical and mental wellbeing, combining the practices with both Western and Eastern medicines. Still more people want to improve their quality of life, with or without cancer. Possibly the best it can do for cancer patients is to give them great hope and a method of taking their health into their own hands. As always, the parameters of any diet can be disputed. Cancer patients living in the last and most intense stages of their illness often pass regardless of their commitment to diet. Criticisms of Macrobiotics in terms of "sufficient nutrition" are often coming from the information given for the Standard American Diet, and just as Macrobiotics have subjective claims, so does the FDA. These arguments are only effective concerning the United States. All in all, the macrobiotic diet has significant benefits for good health but all diets should be weighed by individual needs and common sense.
According to the Standard American Diet, those following an alternative diet regimen should consider the following information.
The following nutrients should be especially monitored in children due to their importance in facilitating growth and function: calcium, protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12, riboflavin, vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids and energy. (June 2003) "Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian diets". Journal of the American Dietetic Association 103 (6): pp. 748–765. /dmirror/http/en.wikipedia.org/w/Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier. doi:10.1053/jada.2003.50142. ISSN 0002-8223. PMID 12778049. OCLC 1083209. PII S0002-8223(03)00294-3. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. “Vegetarian diets, like all diets, need to be planned appropriately to be nutritionally adequate.” All are available in properly planned macrobiotic diets.
Vitamin D is available through adequate exposure to the sun. Calcium is available from hard leafy greens, nuts and seeds. Zinc is available from nuts and seeds. B12 is in fish and in some fortified soya products. Vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene is abundant in macrobiotic diets. Adequate protein is available from grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and bean products. Omega-3 fatty acids are in soy products, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and fatty fish. Riboflavin along with most other B vitamins are abundant in whole grains. Iron is in the form of non-heme iron in beans, sea vegetables and leafy greens.
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