The modern way of life has its downsides. “Genetic engineering, cloning, food irradiation, microwave cooking and other new technologies are radically changing the way humans have eaten, managed their health for thousands of years, violating millions of years of natural order,” according to Michio Kushi, the author of The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health. As a result, new illnesses and diseases have emerged and the vast majority of the U.S. population is trying to eat a healthier diet.
What is the Macrobiotic Diet?
The macrobiotic diet is not just a dietary regimen but a doctrine of living a happy, healthy life in harmony with the environment. It is based on the laws of yin and yang – the complementary energies that flow throughout the universe. Ever since Japanese philosopher George Ohsawa brought it to the U.S. and Michio Kushi made it popular in the 1950s, the macrobiotic diet has had a large effect on countless people. Famous macrobiotic followers include Barbara Streisand, John Travolta, Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Steven Seagal, Andie MacDowell, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.
History of the Macrobiotic Diet
The term macrobiotics derives from the Greek root words macro, meaning “long” or “great” and bios, meaning “life.” It was coined by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, nearly 2,500 years ago, whose approach to health and healing was based on his famous proverb “Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food.” According to Kushi, the macrobiotic way of eating has been practiced widely throughout history. “Each culture and civilization has developed a unique cuisine in harmony with its natural environment.”
Macrobiotic Dietary Regimen
For the most part, a dietary regimen is based on whole cereal grains, vegetables from land and sea, beans and other fresh, locally grown and organic foods with a minimum of animal products. It emphasizes the use of less chemically grown, artificially produced, chemically processed, refined, partial, or processed foods.
Way of Eating
There is no need to count calories or calculate individual nutrients. It is recommended that each mouthful of food be chewed 50 times. Eat when you are hungry but do not overeat. Before and after the meal, express your appreciation to God, the universe, or nature for the food you have received.
Macrobiotics and Cancer
Hippocrates defined health as coming into harmony and balance with the natural world, therefore, sickness or disease was a disharmony or imbalance. "Almost every human ailment from the common cold to cancer can be helped by balancing the flow of energy inside us," Kushi writes. The most effective way to do this is to eat the right foods. The macrobiotic diet has been known as a preventative and cure for cancer -- a diet high in whole grains and vegetables and low in red meat, and processed foods can help to prevent many types of cancer. “The sharp rise in cancer incidence and mortality parallels the spread of the modern way of eating,” according to Kushi. “Food is the chief of all things, the universal medicine…Food transmutes directly into body, mind, and spirit…creates our day-to-day health and happiness.”
Source:
Kushi, M., et al, 2003, The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health, New York, Ballantine Books
Miki Garcia - Miki is a freelance writer from San Francisco. After obtaining her master’s degree in journalism from City University London, UK, ...
