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The Macrobiotic path to total health

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

The Macrobiotic Way of Eating
The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health: A Complete Guide to Naturally Preventing and Relieving More Than 200 Chronic Conditions and Disorders
by Michio Kushi, Alex Jack

Even in medical schools, alternative medicine is blossoming. Two thirds of them now offer courses in complementary healing practices, including nutrition. At the heart of this revolution is macrobiotics, a simple, elegant, and delicious way of eating whose health benefits are being confirmed at an impressive rate by researchers around the world.

Macrobiotics is based on the laws of yin and yang-the complementary energies that flow throughout the universe and quicken every cell of our bodies and every morsel of the food we eat. Michio Kushi and Alex Jack, distinguished educators of the macrobiotic way, believe that almost every human ailment from the common cold to cancer can be helped, and often cured, by balancing the flow of energy (the ki) inside us. The most effective way to do this is to eat the right foods, according to our individual day-to-day needs. Now in this marvelous guide, they give us the basics of macrobiotic eating and living, and explain how to use this powerful source of healing to become healthier and happier, to prevent or relieve more than two hundred ailments, conditions, or disorders-both physical and psychological.

This encyclopedic compendium of macrobiotic fundamentals, remedies, menus, and recipes takes into account the newest thinking and evolving practices within the macrobiotic community. The authors integrate all the information into a remarkable A to Z guide to macrobiotic healing-from AIDS, allergies, and arthritis, to cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. They also clearly explain what we need to know to start eating a true macrobiotic diet that will provide us with a complete balance of energy and nutrients.

Living as we all do in environmental and climactic circumstances that are largely outside our personal control, it is vital that we follow a healthy lifestyle, including a flexible diet that we can adjust to meet our own individual needs. The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health gives us precisely the tools and the understanding we need to achieve this goal. Use it to build a strong, active body and a cheerful, resourceful mind.

As the 21st century begins, the world faces an unprecedented health and environmental crisis. New diseases and epidemics have emerged, family and social conflicts have increased, and ecological threats have multiplied and spread, imperiling humanity’s biological and spiritual evolution, as well as the future of other life on this planet. At the heart of this escalating crisis is the integrity of the world’s food supply. Genetic engineering, cloning, food irradiation, microwave cooking, and other new technologies are radically changing the way humans have eaten, fed their families, and managed their health for thousands of years, violating millions of years of natural order.

Personal and planetary health are inseparable. World hunger and poverty cannot be divorced from eating beef, chicken, and other animal foods that require up to ten times more grain to produce than growing grain directly for human consumption. SARS, AIDS, mad cow disease, and other new epidemics are connected with a widespread decline in natural immune function as a result of the modern way of eating and overmedicalization. Violence and war are intimately related to liver, kidney, and pancreatic imbalances that give rise to anger, fear, and greed on a personal, family, or societal level.

The macrobiotic way of eating is very broad and comprehensive. It has been observed by millions of human beings for thousands of years, contributing to health, happiness, and peace for endless generations and our species overall biological and spiritual evolution. For the most part, it is based on whole cereal grains (the traditional staff of life), vegetables from land and sea, beans, and other fresh foods, with a minimum of animal products. With the advent of the modern era about 400 years ago, this way of eating steadily declined around the world, as meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy became the center of the diet; white flour and white rice displaced whole-wheat flour and brown rice; and canned and frozen foods, highly processed foods, and foods grown with or containing chemicals largely replaced fresh, local produce grown organically and consumed in season.

Today the modern supermarket and natural foods store contain a cornucopia of foods from all over the world. Bananas, mangoes, and other tropical foods are eaten by people living in the Arctic, while dwellers in the rain forest have access to hamburgers, french fries, and soft drinks. Watermelon, strawberries, and other perishable fruits are consumed in winter, and steak, fried chicken, and other heavy animal foods are consumed in summer. The typical family today rarely eats home-cooked food together, and electric or microwave ovens are found in the vast majority of households. The end result has been a wave of epidemic and degenerative disease, including heart disease, cancer, AIDS, new multiple-drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, and other afflictions. The advent of cloning and genetic modification of foods and medicines; the rise in organ transplants and implants, especially from animals to humans; the spread of artificial electromagnetic fields from computers, cell phones, and other technology; and the destruction of the environment, including desertification, the thinning of the ozone layer, and the onset of global warming, have contributed to a further decrease in natural immunity to disease. The biological degeneration of human beings, reflected in a sharp rise in infertility and the use of new artificial birth technologies, as well as the spread of infectious, degenerative, and immune-deficiency diseases, threatens the continued existence of our species. The modern evolutionary crisis encompasses all of the nearly 200 conditions and disorders dealt with in this book.

The world is now splitting into two directions. The first is respecting nature, traditional wisdom, and natural order. The second is oriented toward artificial intervention into natural processes. Our natural evolution on this planet will end if the second way prevails. The present situation is similar to that described in the story of Noah and the great flood. Unless we awaken to the spreading chaos around us, the earth will be engulfed by a biological catastrophe of its own making.

Our species and the planet as a whole are in urgent need of healing. For many years, the macrobiotic community has warned that the outer environment is a reflection of the inner environment and that the key to the health and environmental crisis is a return to a more natural way of life centered on a natural way of eating. Personal and planetary health are indivisible. When one person is nourished, the whole planet benefits. When the earth prospers, each person is energized and refreshed. Modern macrobiotics is devoted to creating a world of universal health, happiness, and peace in harmony with natural order for endless generations.

Despite the lack of a leading philosophy and its practical application to every dimension of the crisis, modern society is beginning to take positive steps to redress the balance. First, the health revolution, as noted in the introduction, is now spreading. This includes organic farming, the environmental movement, and the macrobiotic community. Modern science and medicine has rediscovered the central importance of whole grains, as reflected in the Food Guide Pyramid and other dietary and nutritional guidelines. Second, communications networks are elevating consciousness. Through the Internet, information on health and diet is easily exchanged, and there is the potential to reach every home or community directly through this new technology. Third, new alternative approaches to health and well-being have emerged that emphasize a balanced diet, healing with energy and vibration, and living a natural way of life.

The Macrobiotic Diet

The macrobiotic way of eating has been practiced widely throughout history. Each culture and civilization has applied principles of balance to the proper selection and preparation of food and developed a unique cuisine in harmony with its natural environment. The macrobiotic approach is based not only on meeting optimal nutritional needs but also on a deep understanding of the earth’s relation to the sun, moon, and other celestial bodies; the evolution of life on the planet; ancestral tradition and heritage; ever-changing environmental and climatic conditions; humidity, pressure, and other atmospheric influences; local availability, affordability, and other economic factors; natural storability and other practical considerations; and the effects of different foods and beverages on our mind, body, and spirit.

The macrobiotic way of eating is not a set diet that applies rigidly to everyone, but a flexible dietary approach that differs according to climate, environment, condition of health, sex, age, activity level, and personal need. Macrobiotics is the collective wisdom and universal heritage of humanity. It is not the manifestation, property, or exclusive possession of a single era, culture, society, nation, religion, school, family, or individual. The goal of macrobiotics is freedom-the ability to create and realize our dream in life as part of our endless spiritual journal in the infinite universe. Standard macrobiotic dietary practice provides almost limitless variety and choice to prepare healthful, delicious food suited to our unique requirements, needs, and goals. No food is prohibited in the macrobiotic way of eating, and no food will heal all diseases. The standard macrobiotic diet is based on a comprehensive approach that takes into account the overall balance of energy and nutrients of food and looks at multiple causes and effects. Table 1 summarizes the major approaches to healing.

In comparison with the modern way of eating, the standard macrobiotic way of eating has the following general nutritional characteristics:

• More complex carbohydrates, fewer simple sugars

• More vegetable-quality protein, less animal-quality protein

• Less overall fat consumption, more polyunsaturated fat, and less saturated fat

• A balance of various naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients and less supplementation

• Use of more organically grown, natural food and more traditional food processing techniques and less chemically grown, artificially produced, or chemically processed foods

• Consumption of food primarily in whole form as much as possible and less refined, partial, or processed food

• Greater consumption of food that is high in natural fiber and less food that has been devitalized by overprocessing

Dietary Guidelines

The following guidelines represent a standard average for persons in usual good health. Those with one of the conditions described in this book may need to limit some types of foods, especially fish and seafood, fruit, juices, seeds and nuts, snacks, and desserts, as well as the amount of salt, oil, or other seasoning used in cooking, until their health improves. Please refer to the specific conditions and disorders in Part II for dietary advice and Part III for one of three comprehensive healing diets that can be indivi- dually tailored to your condition and needs. Part III also includes a comprehensive list of the major foods used in the modern macrobiotic diet in a temperate climate as well as a list of foods that are generally avoided or minimized.

DAILY FOOD FOR THOSE IN GOOD HEALTH

WHOLE GRAINS

The principal food is cooked whole cereal grains, comprising from 40 to 60 percent of the daily food intake (average 50 percent by weight). Whole grains include brown rice, whole wheat berries, barley, millet, and rye, as well as corn, buckwheat, and other cereal grasses cooked in a variety of styles. Short-grain or medium-grain brown rice is the staple today in most macrobiotic homes around the world, generally pressure-cooked or occasionally boiled, and is eaten at least once a day. It may be cooked plain or together with about 10 to 20 percent millet, barley, whole wheat berries, fresh corn kernels, or other grain. It may also be cooked together with a small volume of adzuki beans, lentils, chickpeas, or other beans. The majority of whole grains are to be eaten in whole form, and ideally constitute the center of every meal. Occasionally, several times a week, whole-grain products, such as cracked wheat, rolled oats, noodles, pasta, unyeasted sourdough wheat or rye bread, and other unrefined whole-flour products may be taken as part of this category. White flour and other highly refined and polished grains are avoided or minimized. From time to time, organic white rice may be taken for relaxation, enjoyment, or medicinal benefits. Whole grains should be freshly prepared at least once a day and may be used for leftovers the same day or the next day.

SOUP

One to 2 servings of fresh soup are consumed each day, either a cup or bowl, making up about 5 to 10 percent of daily food intake. The soup is frequently seasoned with miso (naturally fermented soybean paste) or shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce), to which wakame (a sea vegetable) and carrots, onions, or seasonal land vegetables are added during cooking. The taste of miso or shoyu should be mild, not too salty or too bland. Barley miso, rice miso, or hatcho (all-soybean) miso, aged for two to three years naturally, are recommended for regular use. A wide selection of sweet vegetable soups, bean soups, and grain soups may also be prepared. Soup is to be prepared with fresh ingredients each day and not be canned, packaged, or precooked.

VEGETABLES

About 20 to 30 percent of daily food includes fresh vegetables prepared in a variety of ways, including steaming, boiling, and nishime-style (long simmering). Vegetables are also occasionally sautéed, stir-fried, baked, deep-fried, or prepared tempura style. Further, salads are boiled, pressed, or occasionally eaten fresh. The vegetables include a wide variety of leafy green and white vegetables such as kale, collard greens, broccoli, and watercress; round and ground vegetables such as cabbage, onions, and fall- and winter-season squashes and pumpkins; and root vegetables such as carrots, daikon, and burdock. Shiitake and other mushrooms are also used occasionally. The major portion of vegetables is cooked and a minor portion is pickled or eaten raw. When preparing root vegetables, the root and leaf portions may be cooked together to achieve a balance of energy and nutrients. Tropical and semitropical vegetables are best avoided, including eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, spinach, sweet potatoes, yams, avocados, peppers, and others, unless you live in a hot and humid climate. Mayonnaise and commercial salad dressings should also be reduced or minimized. Vegetables are to be prepared as freshly as possible and not canned, frozen, or bottled, which reduces their energy and nutrients. As much as possible, vegetables are to be eaten the same day they are prepared.

BEANS

A small portion, about 5 to 10 percent of daily food, consists of cooked beans or bean products. Beans for regular use include adzukis, lentils, chickpeas, and black soybeans, while all other beans may be used on occasion. Bean products such as tofu, tempeh, and natto may also be used daily. Beans will keep for about 24 hours and may be reheated or added to soups, stews, and other dishes.

SEA VEGETABLES

A small volume of sea vegetables, about 2 percent, is taken daily, including nori sheets, wakame, and kombu. Nori, the thin sheets used to wrap sushi, is eaten as a condiment, while wakame is used daily in miso soup, and kombu is frequently cooked with grains, beans, and vegetables as a seasoning to supply minerals. Hijiki or arame may be taken as a small side dish about twice a week, while all other sea vegetables such as dulse, sea palm, and Irish moss are optional. Sea vegetables are very strong and after cooking will usually keep for a day or two.

SEASONING

Naturally processed white sea salt is used as a regular seasoning, along with miso (soybean paste) and shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce). Daily meals, however, should not have an overly salty flavor, and seasonings are generally added during cooking and not at the table. Other seasonings may be used occasionally such as umeboshi plums, umeboshi vinegar, rice vinegar, lemon, ginger, horseradish, mirin, garlic, mustard, black or red pepper, and orange. Naturally processed, unrefined vegetable oil is used in cooking, especially light or dark sesame oil. Kuzu is the principal thickener used for gravies and sauces. Commercial seasonings, herbs, spices, and other sugary, hot, pungent, aromatic, or stimulant seasonings are avoided or minimized.

CONDIMENTS

Condiments are placed on the table for use, if desired, to balance the meal. Condiments for daily use include gomashio (toasted sesame seed salt), made usually from 16 to 18 parts roasted sesame seeds to 1 part roasted sea salt, half ground together in a small earthenware bowl called a suribachi; roasted wakame or kombu powder, made from baking these sea vegetables in the oven until black and crushing them in a suribachi and sometimes adding toasted sesame seeds and storing in a small container or jar; umeboshi plums, small salted plums that have been dried and pickled for many months with sea salt and flavored with shiso (beefsteak) leaves; tekka, a root vegetable combination of carrot, burdock, and lotus root chopped finely and sautéed in sesame oil and miso for many hours; and green nori flakes. Other condiments may be used from time to time.

PICKLES

A small volume of homemade pickles is eaten each day to aid in digestion of grains and vegetables. A variety of vegetables may be used to make pickles, including daikon, red radish, turnip, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, and turnip. These are made with bran, brine, miso, shoyu, or umeboshi and are aged from several hours to weeks, months, and even years. Lighter pickles (pickled for a shorter time) are recommended in spring or summer or for persons who need to reduce their salt intake. Saltier pickles (pickled for a longer time) can be eaten during colder weather or by those who need to strengthen their condition. Sauerkraut is a traditional pickle and may be eaten regularly. Commercial pickles made with spices, sugar, and vinegar are avoided or minimized.

GARNISHES

To balance various dishes and make the meal more beautiful, garnishes may be used frequently. These include grated fresh ginger root, chopped scallions, grated daikon, grated rad- ish, grated horseradish, green mustard, lemon slices, orange slices, red pepper, black pepper, and others.

BEVERAGES

Natural water is used for drinking, cooking, and preparing teas. Spring water, well water, or filtered water are most suitable. Bancha twig tea is the principal beverage, while roasted barley tea, brown rice tea, and other grain-based teas or any traditional, nonstimulant, nonaromatic beverage may be used occasionally.

Supplemental Foods for People in Usual Good Health

ANIMAL FOOD

A small volume of fish or seafood may be eaten a few times per week. White-meat fish is less fatty and oily than red-meat and blue-skin varieties. This includes cod, haddock, flounder, trout, and many others. It should be taken with grated daikon, lemon, or horseradish as a garnish and plenty of fresh vegetables at the meal. Infrequently, other types of fish, seafood, or shellfish may be taken. All other animal food is customarily avoided in the modern macrobiotic community, including meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy foods of all kinds.

FRUIT AND JUICE

Fruit may be taken several times a week, preferably temperate-climate fruit such as apples, pears, apricots, berries, or melons. It may be taken stewed or cooked, naturally dried, or fresh in season with a pinch of sea salt. Tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, mangoes, papayas, figs, dates, and kiwis are avoided or minimized. Citrus fruits such as orange, tangerine, and grapefruit may be taken in small volume, especially in season or in warmer weather. Juice is very concentrated and has more expansive effects than fruit. A small volume of cider or temperate-climate juice may be taken, preferably in season and at room temperature or warmer.

NUTS AND SEEDS

A small volume of nuts and seeds may be taken, about 1 cup a week. Almonds, walnuts, pecans, and other smaller nuts are preferred over large or tropical varieties of nuts, such as cashew, macadamia, and Brazil nuts. Sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, and other seeds may be eaten lightly blanched or roasted as an occasional snack. Nut and seed butters are highly concentrated and may be taken in small volume.

SNACKS AND DESSERTS

Delicious snacks and desserts may be taken in moderate volume two or three times a week and may include a wide array of sweet dishes prepared with natural ingredients. Often desserts can be prepared with sweet vegetables such as squash, pumpkin, and parsnip; fruits such as apples, berries, or melon; chestnuts; adzuki beans; and other naturally sweet foods without a concentrated sweetener. However, for dishes that need a strong taste, a grain-based sweetener is recommended, including amasake (a fermented sweet rice beverage), barley malt, or brown rice syrup. Soft snacks such as mochi, sushi, noodles, puddings, kanten, and chest- nuts are preferred over hard baked snacks and desserts. Cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, rice cakes, popcorn, and puffed grains, however, may be taken in small volume. For custards, whipped toppings, and frosting, agar-agar, tofu, tahini (roasted sesame butter), or kuzu (a white root that is used to thicken dishes) may be used instead of eggs, cream, milk, and other animal products. In macrobiotic households today, sugar, chocolate, brown sugar, honey, molasses, fructose, saccharin, and other highly refined or artificial sweeteners are strictly avoided. Maple syrup is used sparingly for special occasions.

BEVERAGES

Recommended daily beverages include bancha twig tea, roasted brown rice tea, roasted barley tea, and other traditional nonstimulant, nonaromatic teas. Spring water, well water, or filtered water is used for daily drinking, cooking, or preparing teas. Occasional-use beverages include kombu tea, umeboshi tea, mu tea, and grain coffee (made without figs, dates, or tropical sweeteners). Carrot or other vegetable juice may be taken several times a week. Infrequent-use beverages include green tea, soy milk, beer, sake, and other light to moderate alcoholic beverages. Stimulants such as coffee, decaf, black tea, and aromatic herbal teas such as peppermint, rose hips, and chamomile are avoided or minimized. Chlorinated, fluoridated, and other chemically treated water is avoided, as are distilled water, carbonated and bubbling waters, soft drinks, very cold beverages, and hard liquor.

Way of Eating

The standard way of eating provides a complete balance of energy and nutrients. There is no need to count calories or calculate individual nutrients. You may eat regularly 2 to 3 times a day, as much as is comfortable, provided the proportion of each category of food is generally observed. Thorough chewing is essential to digestion, and it is recommended that each mouthful of food be chewed 50 times or more until it becomes liquid in the mouth. As Gandhi wryly observed, drink your food, and chew your liquids. Eat when you are hungry, but it is better not to overeat. Leaving the table satisfied but not full is recommended. Similarly, drink only when thirsty, but do not unnecessarily restrict liquid. Avoid eating for three hours before sleeping, as this can cause stagnation in the intestines and throughout the body, overburden the pancreas and contribute to hypoglycemia, and disturb the kidneys and bladder.

Before and after the meal, express your appreciation to God, the universe, or nature for the food you have received, and reflect on the health and happiness it is dedicated to creat- ing. Appreciation may take the form of grace, prayer, chanting, or a moment of silence. Express your gratitude to parents, grandparents, and past generations who nourished us and whose dream we carry on, to the plants and animals that gave their lives so we may live, and to the farmers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and cooks who contributed their energies to making the food available. Every day it is also helpful to reflect on your physical, mental, and spiritual condition. Take just a few minutes to review the events of the day, including thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Try to connect them with your way of eating, especially foods consumed in the last 24 hours. Soon a clear pattern will emerge, and you will know intuitively what kind of effects different foods and beverages have on your daily health and happiness.

From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpted from The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack Copyright © 2003 by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About the Author

Michio Kushi is a leader in the international macrobiotic community. The author of many books, Kushi received the Award of Excellence from the United Nations Writers Society. In recognition of his role in launching the modern health and diet revolution, the Smithsonian Institution opened a permanent Kushi Family Collection on Macrobiotics and Alternative Health Care in 1999. Kushi lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
More by Michio Kushi

Alex Jack is an author, teacher, and dietary counselor. He is the author or editor of several books, including The Cancer Prevention Diet, Imagine a World Without Monarch Butterflies, and The Mozart Effect. President of Amberwaves, a network devoted to preserving whole grains from the threat of genetic engineering, he lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and family.
More by Alex Jack

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Macrobiotic - Yin and Yang

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic - mysterious power of Yin and Yang

Yin Yang
Every meal you eat contains some energy in itself. Watch over your energy balance and your body will reward. Macrobiotic defenders assert, that this way you’ll achieve long, happy and healthy life.

The word macrobiotic is deduced from Greek “macro” and “bios”. It could be explained as natural way of living. If you’ll adhere to macrobiotic, you should be assured about longevity, inner harmony and health ofcourse.

Macrobiotic works with idea of yin and yang

Yin and Yang are basic antipole energies, that are as two magnets constantly attracted, repeled and harmonize.
Macrobiotics assert that every particle, thing and living creature are result of these energies.
The same is for every food you eat, it has own energy - either balanced or extreme.
Psyche shows after this meal either harmonized or extreme contition. If you’ll for a long time consume foods balanced from the point of yin and yang, you’ll establish harmony to your organism and so health. On the contrary if you’ll consume extreme foods for a long time, your body won’t able to regulate constant disharmony and succumb to disease.

Yang energy

It’s centripetal energy, contracting.
Extremely yang - belongs there meat, poultry, eggs, salty cheese, fish (red meat), refined salt
Moderate yang - belongs there fish (white meat), mollusc, sea salt, soya, fermented vegetables

Yin energy

It’s centrifugal energy, releasing.
Extremely yin - sugar, honey, sweetness, cofe, alcohol, milk, yogurt, cream, tropical fruits and vegetable, spice and herbs
Moderate yin - salads, local fruits, nuts, vegetal oils, non-stimulating drinks

Macrobiotic - impact on alimentation

For the last several years was manner of eating changed so much, that the main component of nourishment are all complex foods. Even the products alone, the ones you cook from, are results of industrial modifications.
The main mistake is, that disappeared whole grains from the cooking menus, that in the shape of white baked goods lose their most valuable components. Furthermore the consumption of fats was increased, simple sugars, animal proteins and chemicals, used in the processing foods.

Macrobiotic for balanced body

What to eat then, to get your body in harmony? The base are whole grains (unhusked brown rice, barley, millet, husked oat, wheat and rye grains, corn, buckwheat), soups (from any vegetables), seaweeds, legumes. Up to third of every meal should make vegetable cooked in steam, boiled in water, stewed on the minimum of oil or infused.
The food could be filled with fishes and sea products baked on grate or boiled. From drinks is ideal tea from 3 year tea twigs or tea from roasted rice or barley grains. And ofcourse drink to too cold spring water.
From condiments use with light degree sea salt, soy sauce or salty plumps umeboshi. Sour taste to foods give rice or cereal vinegar, piquant will be grated ginger, shallot or horseradish. For a sweet taste you can use rice or barley malt.

Eat macrobioticaly is not easy at all and it won’t do without restrain. But the one who have tried macrobiotic, will surely confirm, that balance of foods will penetrate to whole body and will solve all ailments.

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Macrobiotic food and sugar crave

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic food and sugar crave

How to deal with strong sugar cravings, how to steer away from the wrong types of sugar foods, how to naturally satisfy your need for sweet taste?

Everybody needs delicious sweet taste during the day. The sweet is giving your body relaxing energy, uplifting feeling. Sweet is connected with love on the emotional level. But you need to take only good quality sweet sources, that will not harm your body and psychic. Simple refined sugar is very bad for your health/body. It’s not called refined by chance. The reason is, it’s totally exhausted product, where only the simple monosacharids stay in. But monosacharids are not good for your digestion at all. They are very quickly going into the blood and if you are not marathon runner, or very active person, you can’t burn them so fast as they are provided. The end effect is, they put a big load on the digestion organs and if they are not burned, they are transformed to fats and stored in various body parts. Refined sugar wasn’t option in the human history until the recent century. Look more into the human history if you want to live and be healthy. People were eating much more natural sweet products. They were eating simple fruits. Only the seasoned fruits that were around them. They dried them for winter storage and consumption. They couldn’t transport subtropical fruits (bananas, oranges, mangos) to the moderate climate zones. The nature has great logic, just watch and learn from it. The best macrobiotic sweeteners are rice malt, barley malt, rice syrup and sometimes maple syrup. Also all kinds of available fruits, dried or fresh. Because sweet is considered yin in energy, try to make your cakes with the little of yang energy too. It’s good to use kuzu to your desert preparation. Or to cook your fruits with a pinch of quality sea salt.
If you are Earth element in the Nine star ki, the sweet is your dominant taste. You will crave for sweet taste very often. You need to learn few principles to overcome this sweet need everyday. The best method is to prepare sweet vegetable drinks. You can prepare them once in 3 days. Because they can be stored in the fridge for 3 days easily. They are very simple to make, but you’ll be very surprised how sweety they are. They are perfect to drink when you crave for sweet taste. They are made from sweet vegetables like onion, cabbage, carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, turnip, parsley and many others (try to experiment). Just chop all vegetable to very small pieces and put into the pot with water. The water/vegetable ratio does vary and it’s up to you, but try to start with 1:1 ratio. Don’t add anything else and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Drink your 1-2 cups warm and store the rest into the fridge, after it gets cold. It will last easily for 3 days there.
Another important thing how to prevent you from sweet cravings is daily fresh salads eating. It’s something like fast pickles. It’s just like pickling the vegetables for 30 minutes. Pickling does mean, that you mix chopped vegetables (not only the sweet types for this, you can use anything and even fruits) with salt and press it (the best is with your hands) until the juice comes from the vegetables. Then let it rest for 30 minutes and you can eat this delicious uplifting salad. You can store this salad in the fridge for 3 days too and take a little bit each day. You now see, it’s very easy to cook macrobiotic. You wouldn’t believe it’s very simple to cook macrobiotic pudding like the one on the picture.

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Macrobiotic menu foods

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic menu foods

What are the main macrobiotic food ingredients, main food categories, what kind of foods to eat daily in your menu plan?

When you are starting macrobiotic, concentrate on the simple menu plans before you get experienced and your macrobiotic recipe repertoire goes up and also your cooking style ability. Try to visit as many classes as possible at the beginning to widen your macrobiotic cooking, so you can supplement your menus with new food types. Basic macrobiotic menu does consist of few main macrobiotic food categories:

Whole Grain is the main food on your every plate, it does form 30-50% of the whole food plate. They can be cooked together with the beans, you can use them together with soups or mix with the vegetable and make a grain-vegetable salad. Sometimes you need to eat more vegetables and reduce the grain amount, your macrobiotic counsellor will tell you more details.

There are many condiments made from the whole grains. You sprinkle them on top of your dishes lightly before eating them. These condiments are gomasio (made from roasted sesame and salt, melted together in the suribachi), powder from the shiso, goma-wakame and many other condiments that are very high in the minerals. You can buy these condiments at shops, but for gomasio it’s always best if you prepare it fresh at home.

You will use many types of organic vegetables to compliment your whole grains. They are the second most important food (in the quantity meaning) after the whole grains. It’s recommended by Aveline Kushi to use at least 7 different types of organic vegetables every day. But don’t stress it too much. This is just the ideal, that’s good to think about, but don’t get obsessed. You can eat fresh uncooked vegetable salads many times through your week. Always consult exact amounts of each ingredient in your macrobiotic menu with macrobiotic expert counsellor. Sometimes raw vegetables are not suggested at all. The counsellor will tell you if you can use pickled veggies and how strong (with salt and pressing time) should they be.

Miso soup made from vegetables and miso is served every day. The amount used is 1-2 cups per person. It’s usually made from onion, carrot, shitake mushrooms. All these ingredients are boiled together for 15 minutes and miso is added for the last 30 seconds of simmering. Try to make miso soup always different, by changing the vegetable types, cutting styles, cooking time, adding all kinds of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax), using different types of cold pressed oils (sesame, sunflower).

Sea vegetables (seaweeds) are used daily in your macrobiotic menu, but in a very small amount in comparison to grains and vegetables. Recommended amount is 1 tablespoon of cooked seaweeds everyday. They are very rich in minerals and proteins. The types that are used: wakame, kombu, nori, aramame, hiziki.

Condiments as said above are used to give your food better taste. But don’t overuse them because they are quite salty. It’s good to use no more than 1/2 teaspoon per meal.

Pickles are used everyday to help your digestion and they have also alkaline effect on your body. Use them with 1-2 meals in your usual day. But be careful with the amount, because they are often quite salty. Use 1-2 slices of pickled vegetables. The most famous macrobiotic pickle is called takuan or pickle made from daikon (daikon radish pickle). Also organic sauerkraut is usually used for daily macrobiotic menu.

If you are thirsty, the number one macrobiotic drink is kukicha tea. You can drink it every day, after your meals or between them. Buy good quality kukicha teas made from roasted twigs. Drink the tea warm, not hot, not cold.

The other macrobiotic menu foods are: all kind of beans (adzuki, lentils, chickpeas), tofu, tempeh, seitan, natto - these are very rich in proteins and can form 10-15% of your plate. You can also use noodles, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, flax), oats, natural sweeteners (rice syrup, rice malt, barley malt, maple syrup, fruits). Other foods can be incorporated into the menu if you know what you are doing or macrobiotic counsellor guides you. The informations provided in this article are only informative and are very basic and you should investigate more detailed descriptions of macrobiotic menu plans in the books of Kushi and many others.

macrobiotic menu

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Macrobiotic history

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

History of macrobiotic diet

Macrobiotics, from the Greek “macro” (large, long) and “bios” (life), is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other local foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans. Although in macrobiotics people may opt to use Japanese ingredients (Japan being the cradle of contemporary Macrobiotics), according to the general guidelines people should use the ingredients that are found locally (e.g. mustard instead of ginger), and avoid the use of sugar and other highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.

History

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.

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 Nanbaku, 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.”

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Macrobiotic food proteins

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic

To the question if macrobiotic (or strict vegetarians, vegans) help to improve state of health, couldn’t be answered easily. From the one point is advantage of these nourishing methods high supply of fruits and vegetables and low volume fats in the menu. But big amount of important nutrients is missing. So it depends very much on that, how are your knowledges about sources of proteins, vitamins and minerals, to not be exposed to their deficiency.

Proteins - vegetal foods may be good source of proteins, however it depends on that, how they are combined together. Complete protein is made for example from proteins of soya and wheat.
Minerals - high intake of fibre typical for macrobiotic (so big as 60 g - hence two times the recommended daily dosage) may disrupt absorbtion of calcium, zinc and iron, even in the case when they are enough in the food.
Vitamins - one of the most heavy reproach towards macrobiotic is prohibition of consumption of crops from other climatic zones. That’s why in the winter is not possible to eat south fruits and similar. If we compare the volume of C vitamin in mandarins and apples, it’s sufficient to cover of daily dosage either 2 mandarins or 2 kg of apples. Ofcourse that recommended cabbage is also very good source of vitamin C, but it would be necessary of 200 g fresh cabbage daily and it would mean to it this amount every day. Macrobiotic is so narrowing possibilities of selection in the scope of fruits and vegetables.

As macrobiotic, so vegetarians recommend many health benefical foods (tofu, tempeh, seitan and similar). These foods is however better to line up to mixed menus.

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Macrobiotic food chewing

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic food chewing

How to chew your macrobiotic food and what are advantages of proper chewing, why to chew your foods so many times?

At first, sorry for my bad english, it’s not my native language.

It’s very recommended to chew your macrobiotic food until it’s liquid. Kushi says, that 50 times per mouthful is optimal minimum. In his words: “100 bites leads to a very strong health, 200 bites leads to an enlightenment”. When chewing, saliva acids are starting to digest the complex sugars (polysacharids) to more simple sugars (disacharids). Then the stomach gets optimally prepared food and the digestion can continue smoothly with acids in the stomach and colon.

Chewing has also another very beneficial aspect. From the energetic view: your mouth works like an energetic oven. You are “baking” your food while chewing and you are activating the earth & heaven energy with every bite. When the tongue connects with the upper mouth it creates an electricity charge into the food. The more you chew, the more you are getting very quality chi (ki, prana) into your food also.

While chewing, the muscles of your whole face are working, stretching and that is very important for the good blood circulation into all parts of your face, brain and because everything is connected, also into the whole body. While you chew your food, the special brain cells that are important for good/clear thinking are activated and getting fresh blood.

Another good impact of chewing is for teeth. Every teeth is connected/related with some meridian and when you chew, they are all massaged and meridians are activated. The energy can flow freely.

Sounds good? So sit, relax, don’t hurry and let your mouth work a little more than you are used to. You don’t need to count your chews. It will make you stressed quickly. Count it for a few times and then you will know from the experience and from the liquidity of food when to swallow. Kushi is sometimes very strict, because he recommends to chew your soups very well too. The benefits are still there ofcourse, but the patience needed for this is much bigger. It’s still very good to chew your liquids if you have the time.

But, the most important is, don’t get mad by all of this, if you don’t chew your last food perfectly. Easy and do the best you can, sometimes it’s twenty times chewing, sometimes it’s hundred. Anyway, I can tell you from my personal experience, the better you’ll chew your food, the faster you’ll get healthy, not only physically, but the healthy mind will naturaly follow - it means clear, relaxed, self-confident, positive thinking full of love and compassion and you’ll start to follow your big Dream!

All is very logical and simple in the macrobiotic world of yin and yang. Just start to cook good macrobiotic foods and enjoy their delicious taste while chewing. Your patience, love, thankfulness will be returned by the Cosmos hundred times to you.

Other macrobiotic articles about chewing follows. Much more professionally written. Enjoy

Chewing Well:
The Salivary Glands Partners for Life
by Kelly Reith, BA, RHN Back

We all know how to chew our food well and that this simple act helps digestion. The litre or more of saliva that our mouths produce every day also aids digestion. But chewing our food well and allowing it to be coated with our mouths’ saliva can lead to digestive magic.

The following words are just a reminder of all that chewing, saliva, and chewing combined with saliva can do.

Chewing

Chewing your food, even without the aid of saliva, can help your body begin to digest your food.

Here are a few examples:
•Chewing well grinds food into small bits, allowing it to be more easily swallowed. Ever try swallowing a poorly chewed food? It actually hurts on the way down the esophagus. You can feel the food tear and scrape your throat.

•Well-chewed bits of food are more easily coated with digestive juices once in the stomach. The body uses less of its energy to digest well-chewed food than hastily chewed and swallowed food.

•Chewing well also allows the molecules of nutrients from the chewed food to be more quickly released and assimilated.

•Keeping a food in the mouth longer and chewing it well allows the food’s flavours to be recognized by the tongue. When the tongue recognizes the flavour it sends a message to the brain, which in turn sends messages to the digestive system resulting in the release of the correct digestive juices needed for that food.

Saliva

Saliva can do a few things on its own as well:

•It moistens the molecules of dry foods so that we can taste the foods when we eat them.
We aren’t able to distinguish many flavours in dry food.

•It binds masticated food bits into a bolus, which we can swallow easily.

•It lubricates the esophagus. In fact, the bolus of masticated food never touches or potentially
damages the walls of the esophagus.

•It is important to oral hygiene. The mouth is almost constantly flushed with saliva, which flushes
away food debris and protects your teeth from decay. Saliva can actually kill some bacteria.

But where does all this saliva come from?

You have 3 pairs of major salivary glands and a few minor pairs located throughout you mouth. The salivary glands create saliva, which is then secreted into your mouth via the salivary ducts. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Well here are a few of the less obvious facts about the three main salivary glands:
• The first pair of salivary glands to be considered here are the Parotid Glands. These glands, located just under the ears, produce a serous solution. The oral serous solution is clear and watery, and contains the digestive enzyme amylase, also known as ptyalin. It is no wonder that these salivary glands are the ones most associated with carbohydrate digestion. The ducts for these glands are near your upper teeth.

• The Sublingual glands are located under the tongue and produce a saliva that is primarily mucous. Mucous saliva is thick and gluey. It binds the masticated (chewed) food into a bolus as well as lubricating the esophagus. The ducts for these glands are located on the floor of your mouth.

• The Submaxillary glands, also known as the Submandibular glands, are located near the jawbone, secrete both serous and mucous saliva. The saliva reaches your oral cavity via ducts located under your tongue. The Submaxillary glands and the Sublingual glands also produce salivary amylase.

Partners in Health

You now know what chewing well on its own can accomplish, what saliva on its own can accomplish, and even a bit about where that litre (+) of saliva that you produce every day comes from. Now let’s put it all together:

• Chewing well combined with saliva are partners in digestion. We all know that chewing well and mixing your food bits with saliva leads to carbohydrate digestion but did you know eating protein-rich meals actually decreases the amount of salivary amylase produced? Eating a carbohydrate-rich meal leads to a slight increase in the amount of salivary amylase produced in your mouth.

• Saliva acts as a first defense against bacterial infection. By chewing food well and creating more surface area on which the saliva can act, more potential food-borne bacteria can be killed.

• The bicarbonate in saliva may activate the enzyme cellulase found in raw vegetables. The enzyme cellulase digests the fibre cellulose. Together bicarbonate and cellulase begin to digest the raw vegetables. Chewing well also helps to break down the cellulose. However, the combination of the saliva and chewing helps the body to fully digest raw vegetables and receive their nutrients.

Don’t forget – even the most pureed soup or juiced veggies need to be ensalivated. Swish nutrient-rich liquids around in your mouth before you swallow. The carbohydrates present in the soup or juice can be partially digested by your saliva.

I once read that the mouth doesn’t make enough saliva to initiate carbohydrate digestion so if you’re chewing for that reason, don’t bother. Fortunately that ‘idea’ has been thoroughly disregarded by the many who know better.

Chewing well and tasting your food is just plain common sense. The fact that our body produces a substance (saliva) that makes chewing, tasting, and swallowing easier is a bonus to our vitality. Chewing well and saliva - each have their own merits. It’s when they work together that we can really appreciate the partnership that nature has created for us.

- Kelly Reith, BA, RHN is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist living, working, and chewing in Toronto, Canada. She can be reached at kellyreith@mac.com

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Macrobiotic food diet

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic nutrition

Today very popular idea MACROBIOTIC comes from Greek words, that means “big, long life - longevity”. It’s needed to mention that macrobiotic does mean not only the way of nutrition, but also whole philosophical system connected with it, that from one part comes from religiously - philosophical zen-buddhism.

Zen doesn’t abjure life, it only propagate full merging to the life - food don’t have to degrade man, to man be its slave. Assure more deeper possibility of health by following the right path. That’s why with obesity is good to choose at least some methods from macrobiotic diet, compare them with energetical options of reduction diet.

Macrobiotic diet has more levels, altogether ten, from the lowest, that is the most similar to our racional nutrition, to the highest (that is not always recommended), where is nutrition composed solely from whole grain products. A kind of founder of modern macrobiotic doctrine is Japanese George Oshawa (1893 - 1966), he asserted, that there exist no illnes (so also no malignant tumours), that couldn’t be healed by appropriate use of natural foodstuffs. Convincing evidence about this are not yet there, even if with this nutrition you can preventively strike against emergance of malignant tumours (for example large intestine).

Lower levels of macrobiotic diet contain still relatively varied, not monotonous nutrition, higher levels are already stereotypic, one-sided, the higher have to eventually result into deficiency disease, deficiency of many basic nutrients (full-valuable proteins, essentials fatty acids, some vitamins, trace elements, salts). The food in the scope of these highest levels actually cease to be enjoyment.

The base of ideology of macrobiotic nutrition is assertion, that in foods exist mysterious energies, principles Yin (female) and Yang (man), whose mutual ratio gives the food their nutritive value. The best ratio of yin and yang has supposedly whole grain. Yin is dominant in potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, butter, bananas, honey, champagne etc. Whilst yang is in cereals, carrot, apple, goat cheese (not so in goat milk) etc. On the practical feature is basic requirement of macrobiotic nutrition, natural foods, non refined, not chemicaly manufactured, without fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, which is nearly inaccessible. Whole grains should be in their natural, non refined, so called integral form - for example brown rice, wheat.

Sort of middle form of macrobiotic diet is yet acceptable, it consist of 50% whole grains (rice, wheat, millet, corn, rye, barley), from 40% legumes, vegetables (that grows on the ground, sea - some seaweeds), soups from them, 10% prducts of animal origin (only white meats, fish, poultry, turkey, eggs and milk only a little), fruits minimaly, no sweet fares. The highest level of macrobiotic nutrition does mean 90% of whole grains and 10% vegetables.

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Macrobiotic food

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic food

What is considered macrobiotic food, how to know if the food is macrobiotic?

Macrobiotic is pretty detailed system of what to eat and what to stay away from. In every book you can find recommended food lists. There are also some foods, that are not considered macrobiotic, but can be used for the transition phase. Until your body eliminates all your old body rubbish and you start to be satisfied with the simple but very delicious macrobiotic food taste, you can use honey for sweating. But try to avoid it if you can and consider using maple syrup, rice malt, barley malt, fruits for sweating. Because honey still contains more simple sugar (disacharid) than these listed macrobiotic sweeteners, they are complex polysacharids. The macrobiotic food is viewed as pricey by many people. But I can assure you, that it only seems so from the first encounter. The most expensive foods like seaweeds, miso, tahini, amasake, mirin, shoyu, quality cold-pressed oils are used only a few each day and they will last for long time. Then the other foods on the macrobiotic list are very cheap. These are all whole grains (rice, millet, barley, oat, wheat, corn, buckwheat), legumes (lentil, all sorts of beans - adzuki, chickpeas, soya beans).

Then there are vegetables. These you can buy chemically treated in the usual shop or organically produced in the special health shops. Please, invest in your health, there’s nothing much more important to invest your money anyway. And try to buy the quality organic vegetables and fruits for your macrobiotic cooking. The money is usually double or even triple cost of the chemical vegetables and fruits, but you don’t think in money terms about your healthy macrobiotic food. Vegetable is very important to deliver you the best, fresh, energetic cosmic energy (chi, ki, prana) into your body. The organic vegetable contains very clean and strong energy and if you chew it well, you will be overwhelmed by it. For protein intake, you will consider foods like - tofu, tempeh, seitan, natto. They can be made at home, but not many people have enough time to do them regularly. Although it’s a lot of fun to try it at least once. Or to make it your weekend relaxing habit. Making seitan is very easy. Tofu and tempeh are different, they take much more time and it’s better to buy them prepared at shops. But ask your macrobiotic friends, what tofu, tempeh, natto manufacturer is the best. Because there are many nowadays and still appearing new and not all of them do produce perfect quality macrobiotic foods.

Seaweeds are very important for daily cover of quality minerals (especially calcium). They are also rich in protein. Common seaweeds are - wakame, kombu, hiziki, arame, nori. You use wakame in miso soup, it can be cooked for short time, 2-20 minutes is enough. Kombu is used in pressure cooker and for longer cooking in general. You put them in the pot with legumes or grains. Cook kombu for at least 30 mins. Arame, hiziki are also used with grains in pressure cooker. Nori can be used very quickly, by roasting. It’s crispy and very delicious.

Use only hard pressed quality oils for cooking. Oils that are used daily are sesame and sunflower. Olive oil use only if you live in the hot climate zones. Recommended amount of oil to use each day, is like 1-2 tbspn. The more you are active (sporting, active job), the more you can use. But don’t think that you are doing good when you try to avoid using oil completely. Many people think, they can be better macrobiotics by restricting the already given food regime and making their new, strict macrobiotic version. Oils are very important and try to fry, deep fry, saute part of your foods everyday. It gives you the very much needed uplifting, fire energy.

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Is macrobiotic diet expensive

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Is macrobiotic diet expensive

How much does it cost to eat macrobiotic diet, do you pay more for your macrobiotic foods than for the regular, is macrobiotic only for rich people?

At first, please excuse my poor English, that’s not my native language, but I am still trying even with such hard themes like macrobiotic. But I think I have something to say here.. actually any comments and tips about my bad spelling and grammar are very welcomed, so I can learn.

The macrobiotic diet is viewed by many people as expensive form of eating. They see all the pricey products in the organic shops and think that it’s only for the lucky ones, with high salaries. Maybe also the celebrities, like Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sting that are known for eating macrobioticaly, add to this image that you need a lot of money to be on the macrobiotic diet. It’s well known fact, that you pay more for the real organic quality products, like vegetables, fruits, etc. As sad as it is, we have to accept that fact and not be tempted to exchange our real health for the money, by the means of paying less for the worse quality products. This is my first point to this thing.
But the most important thing I want to share here is, that the whole concept of macrobiotic diet being very expensive, is totally wrong. It’s far from truth and is shared only by the people that don’t eat macrobiotic at all, or that have very little experiences. This is spread by the people that only think about eating macrobiotic, but never started. They find negative aspects of this diet and if they can’t find any, they come with the “high cost” theory. I always suggest them, to try this wonderful diet for at least one month and then they will see if it’s really true. I am also willing to pay them for whatever they spend over their monthly limit. I am ok with offering something like this, because I am eating 4 years macrobioticaly and since my start I save 10-50% of my monthly food expanses, when I compare them to my previous bills (when eating non-macrobiotic food) and when I compare them with friends that are on the typical US diet.
There’s simple reason for this. The most costly macrobiotic foods are the ones, that are used very sparingly or that are used daily, but with a very small amounts. The most expensive macrobiotic foods are: seaweeds (wakame, kombu, hiziki, arama), miso (barley, rice, hatcho), malts and syrups (barley, rice, corn, maple), protein rich products (tofu, tempeh, natto, seitan), tahini (sesame paste), high quality cold pressed oils (sesame, sunflower, olive), organic vegetables and fruits.
I am talking about food costs here only. I don’t mention the initial investment into the cooking ware like pressure cooker, good knife, possibly good quality cooking pots (preferably ceramic ones), suribachi. You can omit many of the cooking ware and be content with the simple pressure cooker (you can also omit this one for the first month and test the macrobiotic diet with a simple pots).

For the expensive foods I mentioned above, I will add few comments to each. As I said, they are used very sparingly or in a tiny amounts.

Miso - you don’t need to buy than more type of miso for the start. The optimal daily amount of miso per person is 1 teaspoon. So you can imagine how long does 1 miso jar will last. For me it’s about 1-2 months.

Seaweeds - again, you don’t need many of them for the start. You can start simply with wakame for example. And they will cover your minerals, trace elements nicely when cooked in the miso soup. 1 Wakame packet will last me for 3-6 months. You can buy Kombu as the second, that is used for grain cooking and especially for the cooking of beans.

Malts - suggested ideal amount of malts per person per day is 1-2 teaspoons. Again, you can gues how long 1 jar of malt will last you. I am ok with 1 jar of barley malt every 7-14 days.

Soya products - if you want to be cheap, you can cover your protein body needs with a simply pressure cooked beans, which are also very delicious and are even more recommended than the processed foods like tofu, tempeh, natto, seitan. You can also prepare seitan at home, it’s quite easy. And because in macrobiotic diet, proteins are covered by 10-20% of the whole food plate, you will eat a small piece of these products in the end.

Tahini - not used very often, I am using 1-2 teaspoons 3 times a week.

Cold pressed oils - recommended amount is 1-2 tablespoons per day. I recommend sesame or sunflower for the start.

Organic vegetables and fruits - if you want to really save some money, don’t buy always organic veggies. But I consider this part as the investment to my better health and better life future. I don’t look behind for money, when we talk about health achieved by the natural way of prevention. It’s up to you. But I also started with the non-organic vegetables and my health was getting better everyday. So, don’t stress it and buy organic if you feel ok with spending money for it.

My 10-50% saving factor is achieved by a simple thing. The macrobiotic diet base on the whole grains. And the grains are very nutritious for the price they cost. You will be perfectly satisfied with 500g of grains per day and I am not sure about the US prices but 1 pack of rice is very cheap in my country.

That’s it. For me, the macrobiotic diet is very cheap, money saving and I can’t agree with the “expensive theory” at all.

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Macrobiotic dog food diet

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Diet 1 - Macrobiotic

The word - macrobiotic - does come from Ancient Greek: macros - means big, bios - stand for world (universe, cosmos). This philosophy comes out from the assumption that man is part of the nature and universe and his health is conditioned by the way, how he accepts the world and his relationships with his neighbourhood. Everybody should be at least as healthy to be fully happy from the life.

Macrobiotic, macrobiotic diet

Macrobiotic and menu according to macrobiotic principles may be appropriate supplement or even the base of the diet for food allergy. In accordance to diets, as a necessary precaution to food allergies and intolerances, I assume, that acceptation of some principles of macrobiotic and subsequent menu adjustment could be appropriate method, how to relief oversensitive immunity systém and whole organism of allergic people and in the same time enlarge already poor menu.

Further are then introduced very brief macrobiotic principles, with this, that continuously will appear new recipes from this area.

It’s a way of eating and lifestyle, that is known for several thousand years. In the modern times come up more often to bigger distraction of man from nature, which consequences are more and more not only known diseases, but also diseases and sick conditions, with that new modern medicine can’t help.

The principle of macrobiotic diet is food rich on cereal, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits and necessary big restriction of meat, cheese, eggs, poultry and refined foods with small contents of fibre, furthermore salt, sugar and fat.

Requirements for correct alimentation and nutrition coming out of geographical location, climate, place, profession demandingness and individual differencies as e.g. state of health.
Makeup of macrobiotic foods

Modern cooking consist of big amount of refined and synthetic foods. It’s assembled particularly satiated animal lipids, cholesterol, refined vegetal lipids, excessive degree of salt, sugar and chemical additives.

Structure of macrobiotic foods

50- 60% cereals (whole grains), 20-30% vegetables, 5-10% legumes and seaweeds and 5-10% soups and 5 percent of relish and remaining foods.

Principles of macrobiotic diet for inhabitants of temperate zone

Consumption of shellfish, mollusc and fishes (compensation of pork, beef and poultry meats).
Soya products (milk products compensation).
Consumption of foods in the most natural shapes - unhusked grains of cereals and their flours, that replace white flour.
Elimination of refined sugars from the diet and their substitution for compound sugars (polysacharides) - they burn slower.
Considerably bigger and more often use of legumes in our menu.

Basic foods in macrobiotic

Whole grains

Cereal grains have to stay whole and also be consumed as whole. They are prepared by cooking in pressure cooker or baking in ceramic pot. The main consumed grains are wheat, barley, brown rice, buckwheat, corn, millet, oat, rye.

Vegetables

In macrobiotic they make together with whole grains the base of the diet. The best is fresh, from home market. We should use seasoned vegetables, thus it’s not suitable to use vegetables, that is not commonly growing in our zone. In the winter is therefore good to consume marrow, cabbage and root vegetables. Vegetable is also recommended to consume with fish, because it help digesting of fish meat. Amongst unsuitable vegetables we classify spinach, rhubarb, asparagus, mangold and tomatoes. They include big amounts of oxalates that are often cause of allergens.

Seaweeds

Seaweeds belong to important part of macrobiotic diet. They are valuable source of vast amount of trace elements and minerals, that are necessary for optimalization of metabolic processes in our body. Seaweeds used in macrobiotic: Agar-agar, arame, Dulse, Hijiki, Irish moss, Kelp, Kombu, Nori, Wakame.

Pulses

Belong as well to basic stone of macrobiotic eating. In the present time are legumes very neglected, and that is big mistake. Legumes contain high quality proteins of vegetable source, hence they are more healthier than meat. On top of that they contain wide range of vitamins and minerals.

Soya and soy products

Also count to very important parts of macrobiotic. To their biggest advantages go easily digestible proteins. To the most used soya products belongs tofu, tempeh, miso and soy sauce Tamari and Shoyu.

Supplemental foods in macrobiotic

Salt - in macrobiotic is used solely see salt, that is obtained by volatilization of ocean water. To other supplemental products and condiments belong for example ginger, rice vinegar, onion, soy sauce, umeboshi plumps, nori condiment, gomasio (sesame seeds + see salt + sometimes powder from seaweeds) and others.
Sweetener - only naturals are used - barley malt, amasake, apple syrup.
Oil - we use only non refined oils, created by simple extraction if cold. To the regular using are the most appropriate particularly light and dark sesame oil and corn oil cold.

Beginning of macrobiotic diet

After your decision to change your whole diet and menu, there should follow gradual restriction of satiated lipids, refined starch and sugar. On the contrary you should include to your menu more cereals, pulses, vegetables, seaweeds. Every day try to eat several kinds of whole grains and vegetables, that should be dominant in cooked condition, legumes and seaweeds.

The basic kitchen tool is pressure cooker , wooden equipment, pots from stainless steel or alloy, knifes from carbon or stainless steel, big stainless steel strainer, ceramic pots for baking in the oven.

We wash foods just before cooking and use them with husk, in husk is contained the most valuable matters. We soak legumes for 8 hours before cooking (through the night at best). The water from soaked pulses strain off, the water from the whole grains you can use for cooking. Vegetable prepare by cooking but more suitable is preparation under steam. Cooked vegetable flavour with little amount of soy sauce and salt with pinch of sea salt.

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Macrobiotic diet

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Diet 1 - Macrobiotic

The word - macrobiotic - does come from Ancient Greek: macros - means big, bios - stand for world (universe, cosmos). This philosophy comes out from the assumption that man is part of the nature and universe and his health is conditioned by the way, how he accepts the world and his relationships with his neighbourhood. Everybody should be at least as healthy to be fully happy from the life.

Macrobiotic, macrobiotic diet

Macrobiotic and menu according to macrobiotic principles may be appropriate supplement or even the base of the diet for food allergy. In accordance to diets, as a necessary precaution to food allergies and intolerances, I assume, that acceptation of some principles of macrobiotic and subsequent menu adjustment could be appropriate method, how to relief oversensitive immunity systém and whole organism of allergic people and in the same time enlarge already poor menu.

Further are then introduced very brief macrobiotic principles, with this, that continuously will appear new recipes from this area.

It’s a way of eating and lifestyle, that is known for several thousand years. In the modern times come up more often to bigger distraction of man from nature, which consequences are more and more not only known diseases, but also diseases and sick conditions, with that new modern medicine can’t help.

The principle of macrobiotic diet is food rich on cereal, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits and necessary big restriction of meat, cheese, eggs, poultry and refined foods with small contents of fibre, furthermore salt, sugar and fat.

Requirements for correct alimentation and nutrition coming out of geographical location, climate, place, profession demandingness and individual differencies as e.g. state of health.
Makeup of macrobiotic foods

Modern cooking consist of big amount of refined and synthetic foods. It’s assembled particularly satiated animal lipids, cholesterol, refined vegetal lipids, excessive degree of salt, sugar and chemical additives.

Structure of macrobiotic foods

50- 60% cereals (whole grains), 20-30% vegetables, 5-10% legumes and seaweeds and 5-10% soups and 5 percent of relish and remaining foods.

Principles of macrobiotic diet for inhabitants of temperate zone

Consumption of shellfish, mollusc and fishes (compensation of pork, beef and poultry meats).
Soya products (milk products compensation).
Consumption of foods in the most natural shapes - unhusked grains of cereals and their flours, that replace white flour.
Elimination of refined sugars from the diet and their substitution for compound sugars (polysacharides) - they burn slower.
Considerably bigger and more often use of legumes in our menu.

Basic foods in macrobiotic

Whole grains

Cereal grains have to stay whole and also be consumed as whole. They are prepared by cooking in pressure cooker or baking in ceramic pot. The main consumed grains are wheat, barley, brown rice, buckwheat, corn, millet, oat, rye.

Vegetables

In macrobiotic they make together with whole grains the base of the diet. The best is fresh, from home market. We should use seasoned vegetables, thus it’s not suitable to use vegetables, that is not commonly growing in our zone. In the winter is therefore good to consume marrow, cabbage and root vegetables. Vegetable is also recommended to consume with fish, because it help digesting of fish meat. Amongst unsuitable vegetables we classify spinach, rhubarb, asparagus, mangold and tomatoes. They include big amounts of oxalates that are often cause of allergens.

Seaweeds

Seaweeds belong to important part of macrobiotic diet. They are valuable source of vast amount of trace elements and minerals, that are necessary for optimalization of metabolic processes in our body. Seaweeds used in macrobiotic: Agar-agar, arame, Dulse, Hijiki, Irish moss, Kelp, Kombu, Nori, Wakame.

Pulses

Belong as well to basic stone of macrobiotic eating. In the present time are legumes very neglected, and that is big mistake. Legumes contain high quality proteins of vegetable source, hence they are more healthier than meat. On top of that they contain wide range of vitamins and minerals.

Soya and soy products

Also count to very important parts of macrobiotic. To their biggest advantages go easily digestible proteins. To the most used soya products belongs tofu, tempeh, miso and soy sauce Tamari and Shoyu.

Supplemental foods in macrobiotic

Salt - in macrobiotic is used solely see salt, that is obtained by volatilization of ocean water. To other supplemental products and condiments belong for example ginger, rice vinegar, onion, soy sauce, umeboshi plumps, nori condiment, gomasio (sesame seeds + see salt + sometimes powder from seaweeds) and others.
Sweetener - only naturals are used - barley malt, amasake, apple syrup.
Oil - we use only non refined oils, created by simple extraction if cold. To the regular using are the most appropriate particularly light and dark sesame oil and corn oil cold.

Beginning of macrobiotic diet

After your decision to change your whole diet and menu, there should follow gradual restriction of satiated lipids, refined starch and sugar. On the contrary you should include to your menu more cereals, pulses, vegetables, seaweeds. Every day try to eat several kinds of whole grains and vegetables, that should be dominant in cooked condition, legumes and seaweeds.

The basic kitchen tool is pressure cooker , wooden equipment, pots from stainless steel or alloy, knifes from carbon or stainless steel, big stainless steel strainer, ceramic pots for baking in the oven.

We wash foods just before cooking and use them with husk, in husk is contained the most valuable matters. We soak legumes for 8 hours before cooking (through the night at best). The water from soaked pulses strain off, the water from the whole grains you can use for cooking. Vegetable prepare by cooking but more suitable is preparation under steam. Cooked vegetable flavour with little amount of soy sauce and salt with pinch of sea salt.

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Macrobiotic cooking

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic cooking principles may be summarized like this:

1. All foods should be selected from natural or organic products growing in the same climatic zone and the same season of the year.
2. Our daily food should comprise all stages of biological evolution, especially plant life (excluding polar areas).
3. The food should be prepared fresh if possible (not damaged and alive until the beginning of cooking) and should be used as a whole (leafs and also roots in the case of vegetables and head and bones and also tail in the case of fishes).
4. The main part of food should be whole grains and cooked vegetable. Formerly ripen types should be boiled longer, later types could be boiled less.
5. Before using of fire and water should be individual foods stored separately - not mixed - to eliminated premature change of quality.
6. When we cut the foods, it’s important, that every piece presented both qualities yin and yang. (This art is teached in the macrobiotic courses of cooking).
7. During of cooking process, we should hold up from frequent stirring and moving and if it’s possible, easily allow to foods, that they mix themselfs alone by the normal cooking process.
8. There should be excluded excessive use of fire, water, pressure, time and also salt, oil and other spices.
9. Spices should be natural products, as sea non refined salt, non-refined vegetal oil. Natural malts from wheats should be used occasionally. The taste of spice shouldn‘t be savorous and should be used to underline natural dominant tastes of the food itself.
10. Types of cooking and types of meals shouldn’t be repeated frequently. It’s important to change styles of cooking, properly adapt to changes of environment and tend about variety and enjoyment of food.
11. As the most quality for cooking is recommended fire from the wood, then natural gas, wood coal and other natural fuels, that are more practical in the modern urbanized environment. Electric and microwave cooking changes the natural structure of foodsand this artificial way of rapid cooking should be excluded.
12. The most quality water is spring water, good water and mountain stream water. Chemically processed water, the same for destilled water, should be eliminated.
13. For adaptation to climate and heat is not suitable to use aromatic spices.
14. Meals should be arranged as beautiful food. Served dishes should contain natural forms of foodstuffs and should be placed on the plate in the order of meals. Food should be served gracefully and consumed with thankfulness.
15. The cooking environment and in the dining room should be kept clean and quiet. And these who cook, serve and eat, should be quiet and have peace in mind.

Even if we use the same foods, eat at the same places and use the same pots, the result is different macrobiotic meal in the end. It depends on the changes of condition, psychic and thinking. If our condition is clean and calm and devote to the preparation carefully, than the food brings health and awareness to all, that eat them. On the other side, if our condition stagnate, is broken and in disorder, our food will bring family deterioration. Consequently, these who cook need to have good health and deep understanding to the relations of yin and yang code of nature and universe and also practical knowledges of proper techniques of cooking. This kind of person is socially the most valuable asset, because she make family, community or nation more healthy and happier. Traditionally in the course of history both genders, but specially women, had deciding impact on the human evolution. If we want turn away the destructive process of modern civilization, it’s important, to preserve proper cooking if possible in every family, in every community and in all countries.

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Macrobiotic diet cleansing

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic diet cleansing process

How does macrobiotic help to the body cleansing process, what can you expect from the macrobiotic diet while cleansing your body?

The macrobiotic diet is very strong in the field of the body cleansing. There are wrong type of foods that are clogging your body and these are mainly sugars, white flour, fats, dairy, meats and all the chemicals they add to the foods these days. If you eat this type of foods for a longer time (years), your body will start to flush them off your body when you start eating the macrobiotic diet. And it happens very fast. Sometimes with an unwanted effects like fever, running nose, skin problems, headaches, bone/joint aches, hair dropping, itching, cough, throat ache, sweating and many others. Important is that you should realise, these effects are not harmful to your body. They are the methods of the body, that it use for the cleaning of the old stuff (mucus, fats, chemicals). The body is regenerating all the body systems (nervous, bones, circular, digestive etc.) and all the cells (white/ red blood, plasma) are being build new from the fresh quality material that is macrobiotic providing you. It takes up to 7 years until 95% of your body gets renewed and cleaned. Something can’t be cleaned at all, some permanent changes are already done to body of each of us by our previous mistakes. But we can change a lot with the macrobiotic foods.

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Macrobiotic cancer treatment

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic recommendation how to feed for patients with cancer and other serious diseases

Only on the fingers of one hand is probably possible to count these that remember declaration of president USA Nixon from the year 1971: “We provided scientists so many resources and gave them enough possibilities, that during the two year, the cancer problem will be solved.” Today, nearly after thirty five years, the problem of cancer is still not solved.

According to present statistics it’s even increasing breast cancer and cancer of lungs. There also appeared completely new, so far incurable forms of cancer and they overgrow to pandemic. To the whole world epidemic.

Causes: modern civilization harms more than helps. Official science doesn’t keep up to correct their damaging consequencies. And can’t manage even to prevent them. It doesn’t know prevention in the right word meaning - as a elimination of cause.

To the problem of breast cancer, science even officialy admit unknowingness and incapability of prevention. In the world press, it does appear again in the half of 2005. In the connection with the most popular and most favourite pop star Kilie Minogue, after discovery her carcinoma was suggested surgical removal of tumour, irradiation and chemotherapy. Prevention was brushed with saying: “Against breast cancer doesn’t exist no other prevention than their timely discovery.”

Suffice however to carefully read american original of Kushi’s prominent book: Cancer prevention diet. There’s cited 31 scientific reports from years 1984 - 1993. Scientists from America, Japan, China, France, Scandinavia and others, in them on various examples show, that in prevention and treatment breast cancer is showing as positive factor consumption of foods from whole grains, soya cheese, fermented soy products, miso soups, seaweeds.
Say in another way: by partial researches is confirmed macrobiotic as a whole. Cow milk and milk products are, in the quoted scientific researches, valued as positively non beneficial. Up to dangerous. States there, that women, that were breastfeeded for a long time as a neonates are endangered less by breast cancer.

Other important findings

We will show almost trivial example of science demerger. One part of science in the last years as a advice for improvement of health, started extensive campaign, that encourage: Eat a lot of fruits. Other scientists did on the contrary participate on the concrete researches, that demonstrated negative influence of fruits on the cancer of women’s sexual organs. As announced Internation Journal of Cancer, they went out with these results:

Breast Cancer
With consumption of whole grains, decreased occurence of 64%, mortality fall of 70%
With consumption of legumes, decreased occurence of 43%, mortality fall of 46%
With consumption of fruits, INCREASED occurence of 64%, mortality raise of 44%

Cancer of the uterus (briefly)
Whole grains - occurence decreased of 58%
Legumes - occurence decreased of 46%
Fruits - occurence INCREASED of 54%

Cancer of the ovary
Whole grains - occurence decrease of 43%, mortality fall of 78%
Legumes - occurence decrease of 41%, mortality fall of 53%
Fruits - occurence INCREASED of 16%, mortality RAISE of 31%

For an interest yet at least few important figures: by consumption of milk, with all three cited forms of cancer (in the same order), increase occurance of 66%, 64%, 47%. Mortality increase: breast cancer of 73%, cancer of the uterus of 66%.

We could quote further. It’s however more benefical summary inform, that traditional energy medicine has in comparison with disjointed modern science for disposal in the long run verified complex system. It engages not only about details, but treatment as a whole. Nourishment and supplemental activities harmonize at the same time from the view of quality of two basic energies. And offer not only prevention of cancer, but also significant help with its treatment. What most expecially: it can effectively implement all in the practice - it teaches patients how to examine in the nature, how to provide external applications at home - and particularly: how to work in the kitchen.

What for the last broadly fifty years appeared as a solution of battle against cancer, but wasn’t versatilely effective? For example theory about this, that originators of cancer are bacteries. Later: that causation are viruses. Or: living environment in general. Eventually climate. Unsuitable environment in the place of working. Various radiances. Artificial ingredients in the foods and industrialy manufactured foods. Using of plastics. Excessive consumption of fats. Consumption of red meat. Or relatively new view, that cancer is isolated cell disorder.
In all we have introduced is always ONLY PIECE OF TRUTH.

It’s given by two mistakes

1. The view is narrowed to only one particular problem
2. It’s still common inability come from materialist view of the world (as a form of material) to view much deeper. To the recognition of world as a space with endless variants of various energy qualities. The stone is thick energy, the cauliflower is significantly less thick energy, curtain is yet more less thick, thought is rather dissipated energy, spiritual shell of our body has quality of the most light energetic waves and frequencies.

All existing variants, that are milliards, have own origin in the different ratio of two basic energies.

In the centripetal energy, contracting, densing, coming in the spirals from the whole infinite Universe.
And centrifugal energy, expansive, dilatating, releasing, dissipating, arising from the rotation of giant mass of our planet around own axis.

Both in the whirling spirals are creating, affecting and constantly changing all, what is in Universe and thus on our planet, and around her, do exist. Even our foods and through it also our bodies alone.

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Macrobiotic cancer approach

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

This deeper view, that the so called substance is also just one of many energy forms, already know certain part of science and admit it. However it still don’t know how to transfer that knowledge to the practice. To the area, that could be marked with words

COMPLEXITY OF COMMON REALITY OF LIFE.

Allow me plain pointer of this complex energetic view on the risky fruits. The article extent allows me in this meaning to show only some, but not all viewpoints. Belongs to them for example knowledge of climate energies, that we are living in. Also energies of climate, that fruits were growing and ripen in. It’s also necessary to know energies od particular fruity types. Season of the year energy, in that we consume the fruit. Including the energy of surroundings, we are consuming it in. Also energies of foods, that we consume the fruit together with. Also the rhytm (changing) of energies in our completely individual system of digestion. And so on. In the present days are getting closer to this traditional complex conception of all phenomenons these scientiests, that talk about DYNAMIC BALANCE.

Sign of the complex view on our dynamic balance from the perspective of fruit consumption

It plays a cardinal role, the domination of one of two mentioned basic energies, in our long-term given body constitution. Important is also our immediate energetic situation, it means our condition. Own role plays at the same time also the ratio of both energies in our bodily organs. Excess of one of them in foods, that were responsible of our illness. Also the rhytm (changes) of energies in our completely individual digestion system. And so on.

We could outline in the same way, the complex view to heating processing of foods or complex view to its use for establishment of dynamic balance according to various cancer forms. But more important is information, that EVERYDAY LIFE REALITY, striving to DYNAMIC BALANCE OF BOTH BASIC ENERGIES, isn’t that complicated, as could appear on the first glance. It will suffice to hang somewhere simple sheet of these two energies with highlighted domination of the one energy by the particular phenomenons of our life. It’s good to occasionally ponder about this sheet. Make the same with the sheet, with highlighted two different basic energetic values of what we consume. During several weeks, almost everybody, will understand in these circumstances, how is everything distinguished from existing shallow view of world, that is surrounding us. In the knowledge and thinking, we move up many levels higher. We begin and manage to discover ourselfs, from the point of energies and we are capable to understand all around, as it realy is, not only seemingly. Only then could anybody assign, what his organism can tolerate and spoil yourself. And what is already destructive to him.

Informations for interested: sheet of phenomenons from the point of two energies and sheet of foods from the view of energetic qualities is almost in every book, that Michio Kushi has written.

To this more,

MINIMUM OF OTHERS IMPORTANT INFORMATIONS,

that you probably don’t know about cancer.

On the bigger place we could mention names and documentation of persons, that were in the last times with the help of devoted practiced (not deformed) macrobiotic healed only in USA from these forms of this malignant disease: cancer of the brain (5 persons), breast (6 women), large intestine (3 persons), lymphogranuloma inguinale (Hodgkins disease) (2 women), from Kaposi‘s sarcoma (1 man), cancer of the kidney (1 man - with metastasis to lungs), leukemia (3 persons), liver (2 persons). From the cancer of lungs (2 women), from lymphoma (4 people), malignant melanom (8 persons), ovary (2 women), pancreas (5 persons), prostate (8 man), skin (1 man), from the stomach cancer (1 man), thyroid (2 persons), uterus (4 women), vocal cords (1 women).

We know about others but we have not enough detailed documentation, so we don’t mention them.

Why we didn’t not mention briefly the amount of cured?

So that we could show you concretely and tell responsibly, that every of mentioned forms of cancer had and has causations in different kinds or various combinations of foods. In the ending stage of therapy was alse used a little different form of macrobiotic. Individual to each other person. Of course as prevention and as the first phase of supplemental treatment by food is possible to practice with big success, STANDARD MACROBIOTIC REGIME.

We know of course also other cases of macrobioticaly treated and cured cancer. Also in our country. We don’t inform you with these people because, that practice show danger. Many interested people did occupy them with requests of help, took them energy and time for maintaining their own good condition - and then this sacrifice showed as vain. Because those interested were bothered by the most important: necessity to work focusely on themselfs at the same time. They did rather (?) eat everything and then died after some time. Of course that not peacefully and lightly. Yet telegraphically: we have from our citizens documentation of 2 cases of one of the most malignant tumours, malignant melanom. Both patients got after surgery nearly the same prognosis. Broadly half a year of life. One of them with macrobiotic diet lives actively already fifteen years, the other - yet more actively - seven years.

What more? We have in hands also informations about this, that exist hundreds of scientific researches, that confirm positive impacts and effectivness of row of particular approaches of energetic medicine and macrobiotic to the cancer. On the work, that would bring from the workrooms of scientist with the connection to cancer, complex view to macrobiotic and other branches of energetic medicine, we are still waiting. We have many of this in our heads, in our two trunks with documentation of treatment of individual macrobiotics. It won’t be easy to transparently process all the materials.

We will continue to go through other alternative approaches and remedies with effort to cure cancer in the next articles.

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Cholesterol

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol, a waxy, fatlike substance produced in the liver, contributes to cell membranes, vitamin D, sex and adrenal hormones, bile production, and other metabolic processes. However, in excess, it causes atherosclerosis, or the build up of plaque in artery walls, that can cause a heart attack, stroke, or peripheral artery disease.
High serum cholesterol is associated with consumption of foods high in saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, including eggs, meat, poultry, and dairy foods. Whole grains, beans, soy products, sea vegetables, and other plant quality foods can suppress or lower cholesterol in the blood. Risk of cardiovascular disease is commonly measured by total cholesterol, the ratio of total cholesterol to “good” HDL cholesterol, and various cholesterol fractions. See Beans, Complex Carbohydrates, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Oats, Sesame, Soy Foods, Tarahumara Diet, U.S. Surgeon-General’s Report, Vegetarians, Vitamin B-12, Wakame, Wheat, Whole Grains.

• Pioneer Study Links Diet, Blood Pressure, and Cholesterol - In one of the first studies to show the direct effects of animal food on raising blood pressure, a study of 21 macrobiotic persons by Harvard Medical School researchers found that the addition of 250 grams of beef per day for four weeks to their regular diet of whole grains and vegetables raised serum cholesterol levels 19 percent. Systolic blood pressure also rose significantly. After returning to a low-fat diet, cholesterol and blood pressure values returned to previous levels.
Source: F. M. Sacks et al., “Effects of Ingestion of Meat on Plasma Cholesterol of Vegetarians,” Journal of the American Medical Association 246:640-44, 1981.

• Soy Lowers Cholesterol - Soy protein in tofu, tempeh, and other soy products can significantly lower cholesterol levels in people with moderately high to high levels, according to a review of 38 trial studies. The higher the cholesterol, researchers said, the greater the ability of soy protein to bring it down. The report found that a diet including 47 grams of soy protein a day cut cholesterol levels by an average of 9.3 percent in a month. For those with cholesterols over 300, the count dropped 20 percent. Harmful triglycerides are also blocked by soy protein, the scientists observed.
“Even a 10 to 15 percent reduction in blood cholesterol levels results in a 20 to 30 percent reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease,” said Dr. James W. Anderson of the University of Kentucky and one of the authors of the report. “This has the potential of making a huge impact on American public health.”
Source: Natalie Angier, “Health Benefits from Soy Protein,” New York Times, August 3, 1995.

• Reducing Cholesterol in Children - Top American health officials joined in calling for a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet for everyone over age two to prevent heart disease in later life, not just for adults at risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular disease. The recommendations, sponsored by a panel convened by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Cholesterol Education Program and endorsed by a coalition of forty-two major health and medical organizations, called for the cholesterol testing of all children whose parents or grandparents had heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems, including a parent with blood cholesterol over 240.
The panel called for reductions in fat consumption and for intake of more grains, vegetables, and fruit.
Groups that endorsed the report included the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Source: Warren E. Leary, “Cholesterol Tests Are Recommended for a Quarter of Children,” New York Times, April 9, 1991.

• Low-Fat Diet Reduces Cholesterol - In a study of 1,232 men aged 40 to 49 with high cholesterol who were put on a low-fat diet, researchers found a 13 percent reduction in mean total cholesterol levels in comparison to a control group. At the end of 7.5 years, the incidence of heart attack and sudden death was 47 percent lower in the experimental group. The scientists attributed the changes to reduced cigarette smoking and diet.
Source: I. Hjermann, “Effect of Diet and Smoking Intervention on the Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease: Report from the Oslo Study Group of a Randomised Trial in Healthy Men,” Lancet 2:1303-10, 1981.

• Heart Deaths Decline - America’s declining cholesterol levels and change to a diet lower in fat have coincided with a 54 percent decline in heart disease deaths between 1978 and 1990. During this period, the average cholesterol level in adults dropped from 213 milligrams per deciliter of blood to 205, a 4 percent decline, according to figures compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Studies have shown that for every 1 percent drop in cholesterol level, there is almost a 2 to 4 percent drop in coronary heart disease. The proportion of adults with high cholesterol (over 240) fell from 26 percent to 20 percent during this period.
Source: “Study Shows Drop in Cholesterol Levels in U.S.,” Boston Globe, June 16, 1993.

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China health study

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHINA HEALTH STUDY
The China Health Study, touted as the grand prix of epidemiology studies, challenged modern dietary assumptions in the early 1990s. Sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the Chinese Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, the study correlated average food and nutrient intakes with disease mortality rates in 65 rural Chinese counties. The typical Chinese diet included a high proportion of cereals and vegetables and a low amount of meat, poultry, eggs, and milk. Less than 1 percent of deaths were caused by coronary heart disease, and breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and other malignancies common in the West were comparatively rare. Among the researchers’ chief findings:
• Fat consumption should ideally be reduced to 10 to 15 percent of calories to prevent degenerative disease, not 30 percent as usually recommended.
• The lowest risk for cancer is generated by the consumption of a variety of fresh plant products.
• Eating animal protein is linked with chronic disease. Compared to the Chinese who derive 11 percent of their protein from animal sources, Americans obtain 70 percent from animal food.
• A rich diet that promotes early menstruation may increase a woman’s risk of cancer of the breast and reproductive organs.
• Dairy food is not needed to prevent osteoporosis, the degenerative thinning of the bones that is common among older women.
• Meat consumption is not needed to prevent iron-deficiency anemia. The average Chinese consumes twice the iron Americans do, primarily from plant sources, and shows no signs of anemia.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a Cornell biochemist and principal American director of the project, noted, “Usually, the first thing a country does in the course of economic development is to introduce a lot of livestock. Our data are showing that this is not a very smart move, and the Chinese are listening. They’re realizing that animal-based agriculture is not the way to go.”
Source: Chen Junshi, T. Colin Campbell, Li Junyao, and Richard Peto, Diet, Life-Style, and Mortality in China (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1990). and Jane Brody, “Huge Study of Diet Indicts Fat and Meat,” New York Times, May 8, 1990.

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Children’s lunch programs

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHILDREN’S LUNCH PROGRAMS
Several school systems around the United States have introduced brown rice, tofu, and more healthful foods, but as a rule school lunches are still high in fat and cholesterol, dairy, sugar, and highly processed foods.

• Soy Approved for School Lunch Programs - In 1983 the U.S.D.A. approved the use of soy products and other vegetable protein products as partial substitutes for meats in school lunch and some other feeding programs, noting:
• Soy products were comparable with milk in protein quality for preschool and older children.
• Except for premature infants, soy protein can serve as a sole protein source in the human diet.
• Soy foods are high in protease inhibitors that inhibit the action of various enzymes that have been associated with causing cancer.
• Soy formulas are lactose free and may benefit infants and small children who are sensitive to cow-milk protein which can cause diarrhea, emesis, vomiting, and weight loss.
• Soy products can reduce cholesterol and triglycerides in subjects with high lipid levels and protect against heart disease.
• Soy foods are useful in decreasing blood glucose responses compared with other high-fiber foods and may prevent diabetes.
“One desirable way to alter typical American diet patterns to meet the above [National Academy of Science, WHO, USDA] dietary recommendations involves partial replacement of foods of animal origin with cereals and legumes… “Although at the present time soy protein makes up only a small component of the American diet, it is expected that the many positive aspects of soy will result in increasingly greater human use of this legume. A whole variety of low-cost, highly functional soy-protein products are available for use.”
Source: John W. Erdman, Jr. and Elizabeth J. Fordyce, “Soy Products and the Human Diet,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49:725-37, 1989.

• Natural Foods in School Cafeterias - The Food Studies Institute in Trumansburg, N.Y., initiates programs in school cafeterias to teach children natural foods cooking and the value of wholesome nutritious foods from around the world. Organizer Antonia Demas reports that children who have a “hands-on sensory experience” of cooking brown rice, lentils, and other healthful foods together “eat things their parents swear they’d never touch.” Her curriculum has been adopted by several schools across the country. For Martin Luther King Day, children made a Soul Stew with black-eyed peas, corn, and kale, after sampling eight different greens. “The rest of the year, I kept hearing from parents that their kids were begging them to buy dandelion greens,” Dr. Demas said.
Source: Karen Baar, “School Lunches: When They Love Even the Greens, New York Times, Sept. 3, 1997 and The Food Studies Institute, 60 Cayuga St., Trumansburg NY 14886; (607) 387-6884.

• The Healthy School Lunch Program - The Healthy School Lunch Program is a network of volunteers around the country which meets with students, teachers, and food service personnel, providing them with information on healthful foods, offering recipes, and assisting in meal preparation. Part of John Robbin’s EarthSave Foundation, the project publishes Healthy School Lunch Action Guide by Susan Campbell and Todd Winant , offering a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to changing school lunch programs in local communities.
Source: The Healthy School Lunch Program, EarthSave, 706 Frederick St., Santa Cruz CA 95062; (408) 423-4069.

• Nutritional Curriculum for Junior High Students - The Rite Bite is a nutritional curriculum designed for junior high students to examine their own lifestyles and learn about vegetarian and natural foods. The 141-page notebook includes teacher lesson guides, background information, and posters, as well as handouts, activities, and fix-at-school recipes for six fun, informative sessions.
Source: The Rite Bite, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 404, Washington, DC 20016; (202) 686-2210.

• Preschoolers Like Tofu - In tests of the acceptability of tofu in the lunch menus of preschoolers, analysis showed that the nutritional quality of the nine tofu recipes adhered more closely to dietary guidelines than the beef, chicken, eggs, and cheese originally served. The children accepted the tofu well, preferring it to dairy and meat in several dishes including macaroni and cheese, lasagna, tuna casserole, and quiche.
Source: H. L. Ashraf et al., , “Use of Tofu in Preschool Meals,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 90:114-16, 1990.

• College Students Respond to Tofu - When tofu replaced meat, eggs, and dairy food as the main protein source in twelve recipes in a college cafeteria, researchers found that it increased nutrition and was well accepted by the students. The only two recipes found lacking were those for tofu nuggets, which had a poor texture, and tofu chocolate mint pie. In the latter recipe, students disliked not the tofu but the mint flavoring.
Source: H. L. Ashraf and D. Luczycki, “Acceptability of Tofu-Containing Foods among College Students,” Journal of Nutrition Education 22:137-40, 1990.

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Children’s health

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHILDREN’S HEALTH
An increasing number of parents, teachers, and community organizations are concerned with the effects of the modern way of eating on children. Medical studies have begun to link hyperactivity, learning disabilities, and other syndromes with improper food. See Attention-Deficit Disorder Breast-feeding, Chocolate, Cholesterol, Dai-ry, Food Guide Pyramid, Heart Disease, Japanese Diet, Macrobiotics, Obesity, Pesticides, Prenatal Nutrition, Rice, Sea Vegetables.

• Processed Foods - In testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs over 20 years ago, Dr. Carolyn Brown, director of a school for learning disabled children in Berkeley, Calif., pointed to the social effects of changes in diet and lifestyle since World War II:
“Let us look for a moment at a few interesting health and social statistics. The members of this committee know well the evidence of the increase in synthetic foods, and other nutritional changes. . . . What do we know about what has happened to the children that grew up during these twenty-five years? We know that there was a sixfold increase in arrests of children under 15 suspected of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, and rape. The factor increase was three for 15- to 17-year-olds, two for 18- to 25-year-olds. We know that ‘accidents’ resulting in death rose dramatically among the young, that divorce rates have continued to increase, that suicides have been rising among young people in comparison to the rest of the population. And we know that there has been an unprecedented 14-year decline in the scores of our most gifted children on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests. . . During the eight years from 1958 to 1966, children under seventeen with chronic health problems increased from 18.8 to 24.6 percent. Those from 17 to 24 showed an increase from 39 to 44.4 percent. . . .
“I would like to ask you senators, when we know what has happened during the past 25 years in terms of the increase in non-nutritous foods, radiation exposure, television exposure, and exposure to environmental toxins—and when we know that children born during that period show a dramatic increase in juvenile delinquency, arrest for serious crimes, chronic health problems, and low scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests—is it not at least a fair question whether we are exposing our children on the whole to an increasingly powerful set of environmental stressors that is producing a broad range of forms of biosocial decline?”
Source: Testimony of Carolyn Brown, Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, 1977.

• Learning Disabilities - In a study of learning disabilities in children, researchers reported that diets high in refined carbohydrates raised cadmium levels, which have been associated with reduced cognitive functioning. Intellectual ability was also negatively correlated with refined food independent of cadmium, age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status.
Source: M.L. Lester et al., “Refined Carbohydrate Intake, Hair Cadmium Levels and Cognitive Functioning in Children,” Journal of Nutrition & Behavior 1:3-13, 1982.

• Macrobiotic vs. Conventional Diet - A British nutritionist found that a macrobiotic day-care center in London not only “supported normal growth” in nursery school children but also could be used as a model to implement national dietary guidelines. Comparing the nutritional adequacy of macrobiotic meals provided preschool children by the Community Health Foundation with ordinary meals at a nursery in Notting Hill, the investigator found that the macrobiotic food consisting of brown rice and other whole grains, miso soup, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables, and other supplemental foods met current U.K.-R.D.I. dietary, energy, and nutrient standards and that the children’s anthropometric measurements including weight, height, and skinfold thicknesses were normal.
In contrast, the ordinary nursery school diet was high in dairy food, lard, and other saturated fats that have been associated with the development of atherosclerosis beginning in childhood. “The diet composition of children in Group I [standard nursery] could be made more desirable by a reduction in the amount of full-cream milk and meat and an increase in the amount of cereal foods . . .,” the researcher concluded. “The total diet of Group II [macrobiotic nursery] met the U.S. Dietary Goals for fat, sugar, and carbohydrate content, although the home diets of the children were similar to that of the general population. This illustrates the power and potential of nursery meals to contribute to the adoption of a nutritionally sound and beneficial national diet.”
Source: Valerie Ventura, “A Comparative Study of the Meals Provided for Pre-School Children by Two Day Nurseries,” Department of Nutrition, Queen Elizabeth College, 1980.

• Whole Grain Diet Improves Children with Learning Disabilities - When put on a diet centered on whole grains, complex carbohydrates, and unprocessed foods, 16 children with learning and behavioral problems showed significant improvements in behavior, learning, and intelligence compared to 16 controls over a 22-week trial period. Further, cadmium and iron levels, which have been linked to learning disabilities, fell 28 and 49 percent respectively.
Source: M. and L. Colgan, “Do Nutrient Supplements and Dietary Changes Affect Learning and Emotional Reactions of Children with Learning Difficulties? A Controlled Series of 16 Cases,” Nutrition and Health 3:69-77, 1984.

• Macrobiotic Approach In Raising Health Kids - Michio and Aveline Kushi offer a macrobiotic approach to bringing up children, incorporating insights from traditional Far Eastern medicine and philosophy. Topics covered include family health and happiness; how children develop; diet and daily care; and keeping children happy. Much of the book is devoted to using diet to treat common conditions including simple fever, headaches, stom-ach ache, colds and flu, earaches, sore throats and tonsillitis, measles, roseola, mumps, chicken pox, rickets, bed-wetting and sleeping difficulties, whooping cough, pinworms, skin disorders, hyperactivity and behavioral problems, accidents, emergencies, and first aid. The book also includes recipes, a home care guide, and palm healing for children.
Source: Michio and Aveline Kushi, Raising Healthy Kids (Garden City Park, N.Y.: Avery, 1994).

• Normal Development Among Macrobiotic and Vegetarian Children - In a study of vegetarian preschool children, researchers at New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston found that the growth of macrobiotic youngsters did not significantly differ from those of non-macro-biotics before age two. After age two, macrobiotic children tended to put on weight more quickly than the children brought up on yoga diets, Seventh-Day Adventist diets, or other vegetarian regimes. Nearly all the children had been breast-fed, and it was found that macrobiotic children who had been weaned did not differ in caloric intake from nonmacrobiotics.
Source: M.W. Shull et al., “Velocities of Growth in Vegetarian Preschool Children,” Pediatrics 60:410-17, 1977.

• Low-Fat Diet Benefits Babies - Babies 7 to 13 months benefit from a diet low in saturated fat. In a case control study in Finland, researchers found that healthy infants who ate more polyunsaturated fat and less saturated fat than controls had 6 to 8 percent lower cholesterol in their blood. Both groups developed at a similar rate. The Finnish researchers noted that in earlier studies, the arteries of babies showed signs of early atherosclerosis in modern society and that exposure to a healthful diet “at the earliest possible age” would more likely adhere in future years.
Source: H. Lapinleimu, “Prospective Randomised Trial in 1062 Infants of Diet Low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol,” Lancet 345(8948):471-76, 1995.

• Heart Disease in Teens and Young Adults - By their teens, most Americans have fatty deposits in their blood vessels, according to the largest autopsy study conducted on adolescents and young adults. The results show that most youths are at risk for heart disease, said Dr. William H. Dietz, director of clinical nutrition at New England Medical Center. The study of 1532 autopsies of young people who died from trauma found that half had coronary arteries showing evidence of early heart disease by age 19, while all 100 percent had fatty patches in the aorta, the main artery leading from the heart. “Aortic fatty streaks are universal by age 15 and increase rapidly in extent during the following decade,” the researchers concluded. The scientists further reported that the fatty streaks had progressed to tough, fibrous deposits that narrowed coronary arteries in the vast majority of both men and women by their early thirties. Interestingly, young females aged 15 to 19 had slightly higher fat deposits in the right coronary artery than young males. However, by the mid-twenties and early thirties males surpassed females.
Source: Richard A. Knox, “Fatty Deposits Found in All Young Americans in Study,” Boston Globe, September 10, 1993.

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Childhood abuse

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHILDHOOD ABUSE
Dietary imbalance may be an underlying cause of rigidity, laxness, or wild, uncontrollable emotions and behavior that lead to abuse or neglect.

• Food Allergies - A woman in England with a history of hospitalization for violent behavior and depression and child abuse, including throwing her daughter out of the house through a closed window and knocking her infant son unconscious, was tested for food allergies and found to be suffering from adverse food reactions. After being placed on a restricted diet, she improved, stopped being violent, and went on to get a job and resume normal life in the community.
Source: Richard MacKarness, M.D., Eating Dangerously (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich, 1976).

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Chickpeas

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHICKPEAS
Chickpeas are small, hard beans that have a sweet taste and soothing energy. They are a staple in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, and parts of South America. Like other beans, they have cholesterol-lowering effects and are strengthening for the kidneys and bladder.

• Chickpeas Improve Circulatory Functions - In a laboratory study of the effect of diet on blood values, researchers in Spain found that eating chickpeas caused cholesterol to drop 54 percent, triacylgycerols to decrease by 70 percent, and other positive changes compared to animals fed a diet high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and casein (dairy protein).
Source: M. A. Zulet and J. A. Martinez, “Corrective Role of Chickpea Intake on a Dietary-Induced Model of Hypercholesterolemia,” Plant Foods and Human Nutrition 48(3):269-77, 1995.

• Chickpeas High in Fiber - Analyzing the fiber content of common foods, Indian scientists reported that chickpeas had the most dietary fiber (28.3 percent) of all grains, beans, and pulses tested. (The highest grain was wheat with 12.5 percent.) Cooking of dhals, the traditional curried pulse dish of South Asia, significantly increased the fiber content.
Source: P. Ramulu and P. U. Rao, “Effect of Processing on Dietary Fiber Content of Cereals and Pulses,” Plant Foods and Numan Nutrition 50(3):249-57, 1997.

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Chicken

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHICKEN
Many people in modern society switch to eating chicken and poultry because it is lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than beef and other red-meat products. Poultry, however, has substantial fat content, which along with its protein, have been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease, various cancers, and other illness. In addition, the poor quality of most modern day chickens is a major concern of public health authorities. Recent food poisoning epidemics, such as Salmonella, have been traced to contaminated chicken. Antibiotics given to chickens in factory farms are also believed to be a principal cause in the appearance of drug-resistant strains of bacterial related disease. See Antibiotics, Arthritis, Eggs, Global Warming, Heart Disease.

• Vast Majority of Chicken Infected with Campylobacter - Campylobacter, the leading bacterial cause of food-borne illness in the United States, infects 70 to 90 percent of chickens, according to scientists at the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Campylobacter causes between 2 and 8 million cases of sickness annually and results in 200 to 800 deaths, according to various estimates. Symptoms include cramps, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea and fever and results from eating undercooked chicken or other food that has come into contact with raw chicken. Campylobacter may lead to a potentially fatal nerve disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome. Campylobacter used to be treated by antibiotics, but new strains of drug-resistant bacteria are developing. A recent sampling of chickens in Minnesota supermarkets found 79 percent contaminated, including 20 percent with a strain resistant to antibiotics. In another sample, 58 percent of turkeys were infected with 84 percent drug-resistance.
Source: Marian Burros, “Health Concerns Mounting Over Bacteria in Chickens,” New York Times, October 20, 1997.

• Energetic Effects of Eating Chicken - Macrobiotic educator Michio Kushi, who has counseled thousands of people over the years, reports that chicken contributes to the tightening of bones, joints, muscles, and other parts of the body. Eating too much chicken, in his experience, is a leading cause of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and other diseases in which the limbs or bones contract, wither, or waste away. Energetically, he compares this to assuming the appearance and qualities of a chicken.
Source: Michio and Aveline Kushi with Alex Jack, Macrobiotic Diet (Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1993).

• Poultry and Mutant Rats - Two-foot long “mutant” rats are attacking farm animals in Chile. They are believed to have evolved after eating the droppings of hormone-fattened poultry. Burrowing in the banks of the Mapocho, a polluted river that crosses Santiago, they have attacked chickens and small goats.
Source: “Chilean Mutant Rats,” Boston Globe, December 1, 1997.

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Chewing

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHEWING
From ancient times, the virtues of chewing have been widely recognized. Chewing contributes to more efficient use of nutrients, gives stronger energy, and makes the food sweeter to the taste. It also makes food go further and hence contribute to increased savings, reduced energy consumption, and a healthier planet.
When AIDS first appeared in 1981, macrobiotic educator Michio Kushi began recommending thorough chewing as a key dietary measure to help prevent the development of immune deficiency. He noted that the yang, contractive properties of saliva, which is promoted during chewing, could help neutralize the extreme yin, expansive quality of the AIDS virus.

• Saliva Inhibits HIV - Saliva contains substances that prevent the AIDS virus from infecting white-blood cells. In a study, dental researchers tested saliva from three healthy men, 35, 40, and 42 years old. Tests indicated the men were not carriers of the AIDS virus and were not known to be at high-risk for infection. In laboratory dishes, the men’s saliva prevented the AIDS virus from infecting lymphocytes, a type of white-blood cell that is among the immune system cells attacked by the AIDS virus in the body.
The researchers said the finding might help explain why no cases have been documented in which the AIDS virus was transmitted from person to person through saliva such as through kissing or sharing toothbrushes. The scientists concluded that saliva is well known to contain substances that kill bacteria and funguses and so might also be able to block the AIDS virus.
Source: P. C. Fox et al., “Saliva Inhibits HIV-1 Infectivity,” Journal of the American Dental Association 116:635-37, 1988.

• Chewing and Cancer Risk - An Indian cancer researcher concluded that thorough chewing lowered the risk of cancer. “The proper chewing of meals ensuring that mucous-rich saliva mixed with the food seemed to be protective factors.” Cancer also appeared to more prevalent in south India where white rice and considerably more fat, oil, and spices are used in cooking than in north India where whole-grain chapatis and thick dahl made with lentils are the staple.
Source: S. L. Malhotra, “Dietary Factors in a Study of Cancer Colon from Cancer Registry, with Special Reference to the Role of Saliva, Milk and Fermented Milk Products, and Vegetable Fibre,” Medical Hypotheses 3:122-26, 1977.

• Chewing Prolongs Life in a Concentration Camp - In his book on the powers of food, especially the power of chewing, Lino Stanchich, a leading macrobiotic teacher, describes how his father survived a concentration camp in Serbia during World War II by very thorough chewing.
Source: Lino Stanchich, Power Eating Program (Coconut Grove, FL: Healthy Products, 1989).

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Chemicals in food

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHEMICALS
Chemicals in food, the home, the workplace, and the environment have become a hallmark of modern civilization and are a major cause of the modern health and environmental crises. According to U.S. government estimates, 87,000 chemicals are used as industrial wastes, solvents, cleansers, pesticides, food additives, plastics, cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and petroleum byproducts. An estimated 15 percent of Americans suffer from chemical sensitivity, though their sensitivity is often labeled as psychosomatic. See Attention-Deficit Disorder, Environment, Fluoridation, Infectious Diseases, Pesticides, Sewage Sludge, Water.

• Reproductive and Genetic Effects of Chemicals - Chemicals used in industry and agriculture may be responsible for the epidemic of reproductive problems since 1940. Tens of thousands of chemicals have been introduced in the last half century, many of which remain in the environment for generations. Even small amounts can lead to the accumulation of considerable quantities of toxins in human and animal tissues. This can seriously imperil health, reproduction, and fetal development.
Source: “Male Reproductive Health and Environmental Oestrogens,” Lancet 345(8955):933-35, 1995.

• European Report Faults Hormone Disrupters - The European Environmental Agency has confirmed evidence that many synthetic chemicals in the environment “may be threatening normal hormone function in both humans and and wildlife.” The synthetic chemicals can masquerade as hormones and disrupt the delicate cycles in living organisms. For example, snails, mussels, and other molluscs have turned from female to male as a result of exposure to hormone disruptors. Fish, including the Great Lake salmon, have developed both male and female sex organs. Testicular, breast, and prostate cancers in humans have risen dramatically in recent years and may be associated with exposure to chemicals, including laundry detergents, cosmetics, plastics, and soaps. The report upheld Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, known as the precautionary principle, which states that “where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”
Source: Jennifer Kalnins, “European Report Recognizes Hormone Disruptions,” Alternatives Journal 24(1):4, 1998.

• EPA to Test Thousands of Chemicals for Cancerous and Mutagenic Effects - In 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a massive project to screen thousands of common chemicals, including pesticides, plastics, and cosmetics, for possible carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. The initial test will examine 15,000 chemicals for estrogen and other endocrine-like effects. Known as endocrine disrupters, certain substances in chemicals can mimic or interfere with hormones, causing problems with development, behavior, and reproduction. These have been associated with causing birth defects, low sperm counts, breast cancer, mental impairment, and other disorders. After initial screening, suspects chemicals would be subjected to comprehensive testing on laboratory mammals, birds, amphibians, fish and shrimp.
Source: John H. Cushman, Jr., “EPA to Hunt Dangers in Everyday Products,” New York Times, August 28, 1998.

• Toxic Deception - In a study of the chemical industry, two researchers document how the chemical industry manipulates science, bends the law, and endangers public health. The book also summarizes many studies detailing the abuse of pesticides, toxins, and carcinogens in the food supply, environment, and workplace.
Source: Dan Fagin and Marianne Lavelle, Toxic Deception (Birch Lane Press, 1997.

• Our Stolen Future - Three researchers examine the worldwide threat of PCBs, DDT, and other toxins to the ecosystem, the food supply, and human beings and the threat they pose to fertility, intelligence, and survival.
Source: Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers, Our Stolen Future (New York: Dutton, 1996).

• Toxic Chemicals in the Deep Ocean - Toxic industrial chemicals have shown up in the tissues of whales that normally feed in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean, raising concern about the safety of the ocean’s food chain. Dutch researchers reported that the chemicals, polybrominated compounds that are used as flame retardants in children’s clothing, TV casings, and other products, behave like PCBs and DDT. The chemicals enter the atmosphere and river and sea water as a result of incomplete municipal incineration and eventually find their way into animal and human tissue. The findings are particularly troubling because the whales normally feed at a depth of between 1000 and 3600 feet and hunt in northern waters that are believed to be clean.
Source: Marlise Simons, “Whale Tissue Raises Worry on Toxic Chemicals,” New York Times, August 30, 1998.

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The food selection logic of the macrobiotic diet

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

The food selection logic of the macrobiotic diet

The view over our human bodies as the fire substance, fire elements of the Universe. How our ancestors saw human beings in the energetic view, the view of yin and yang, the view of 5 elements (fire, earth, metal, water, tree). The real logic behind macrobiotic type of foods. Why are some exact foods considered as good macrobiotic food sources? Search for simple logic in all oriental medicine. Search for the simple yin/yang principles in all you do. This article will show you the simple, but very truthful view over the food choices we make daily and food that we consider as our basic diet food.
The oriental view over the human body as the fire substance. And the relation of our daily diet from the historical/energetical point of view.

It’s very important and useful to realise from time to time, that we really are “fire substance”, because this substance can keep existing, if we add fuel regularly. This fuel we call food and drinks. Another precondition is the air intake, that is essential control factor for the fire burning. Find out, which fuel is ideal and when and how should be taken, was the primary goal of the macrobiotic studies. Actually this necessity - to determine proper fuel - was important as early as the man appeared on the Earth. Our ancestors had to decide, what fuel they’ll use for their survival. To make their choice, they had to consider following factors:

1. They could use fast, or slowly burning fuel material (for example disaccharides or in reverse polysaccharides). Fast burning fuel creates usually stronger heat for the shorter time. But for the many reasons is the slowly burning fuel more advantageous. Very important reason is that with consumption of slowly burning carriers of energy is not needed to eat so often.

2. The ancestors could choose the fuel, that for achieving of the desired temperature is added either in big or in small amounts. Because the foods were not grown in the sufficient amount then, they choos this, that was sufficient even in the small amounts. Even for this reason wasn’t the meat as the base of their diets.

3. Our grandparents could seek for a fuel, that is possible to store well, or that is being spoiled quickly. Because there were no fridges or any preservative chemicals, they choose as their main foodstuff these foods, that can be stored for a long time and are degrading slowly.

4. They could choose the fuel, that forms smoke while being burned, and then leave debris after burning. Or the one, that completely burns and is clear. With the burning of oil and fats is heavy smoke created. If we use as the main burning substance for the maintaining of life the oils, fats, we have thanks to this smoke polluted the perception, unclear mind, not happy emotions etc.

5. Our fire is created by the activity of seven chakras or central fireplaces. Every chakra creates another form of heat and needs also different type of fuel. To supply fuel to all seven chakras, we should choose the harmonic and complete (whole) type of foods. If we use only parts of the foods or refined products, we nourish only some of the chakras.

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Macrobiotic cookbooks

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Macrobiotic cooking provides a deeply spiritual approach to food, stressing harmonious balancing of yin and yang as well as mindful attention to ingredients and their preparation. Vivian Eggers, who lives on Maui, began her studies at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and continued them at the Kushi Institute in Boston. She often cooks for religious retreats.

Macrobiotic Cookbooks

Macrobiotic cooking

Kimberley: What’s the theory behind macrobiotic cooking?
Vivian Eggers: Basically, it’s the understanding of the principles of yin and yang and its application to food and the condition of the body. Yin is basically expansive energy and yang is contractive energy, and there are many different words to describe the qualities of expansion and contraction: lightness and darkness, male and female. One of the most basic points for understanding this is through the seasons and the transformation of the seasons. Summer is hot, everything is lush and green, the birds are out singing every day. It’s an expansive time. Then this changes and shifts and goes all the way around to its opposite in the winter when the leaves are gone, it’s barren and cold, the land is frozen. We stay inside trying to keep warm and retain heat. Yin and yang are very real, very manifest in daily life. So when you start thinking in terms of yin and yang it’s like being given new tools for seeing.
Within that energy system, there are many correlations with the body, each organ corresponds to each of the five elements–fire, earth, water, air, and metal. And each element has a particular energy. That’s what one studies in acupuncture or shiatsu as well as macrobiotic cooking so that you understand the sensitivity of the organs to a particular time of year, to a particular time of day, to a particular color, to a particular emotion, to a particular food. In macrobiotic cooking, you study the whole body, not just how to cut up carrots.
K: You just spoke of metal energy. What is it?
V: We’re sitting here now in a country setting where there’s a lot of earth energy, but in the background, we hear a truck on the highway. That’s metal energy. It moves very quickly, it cuts through air energy, through earth energy. Look at these scissors, they’re made of energy, strong, solid, cutting. They’re good example of metal energy.
K: What food has metal energy?
V: Brown rice, for instance. It’s strong, and supports metal energy in the human body.
K: Let’s take one day in the life of a macrobiotic cook. How would you approach cooking for a family?
V: First, an assessment of my own condition, by checking in with myself in the morning to see how I feel. What color is my skin? What’s going on with my eyes? How’s my tongue? Are my fingers or toes cold? All those little things. If there’s a complaint–a headache, menstrual cramps–your body will let you know immediately. So this influences what I’m going to ingest throughout the day. If I’m cooking for children, then I go and be with them: Hello, how are you? How did you sleep last night? What’s going on with your body?
K: You have to be conscious of not only what’s being prepared and how it’s presented, but also who is going to eat it and how it effects them on an internal level?
V: Absolutely. Initially, it sounds like a lot of work, but it’s not. It’s as easy as riding a bicycle. When you first teach a child how to ride a bicycle, you tell her that she needs to sit on the seat, to balance, to pedal, to hold onto the handle bars and steer, go at a certain speed, so on and so forth. But doing it is really easy. And of course, the more you do it, the more you learn. This is a study I’ve been involved with for maybe fourteen years now and every time I cook for a group of people or go through a process with my own health, I’m still learning. It’s an expansion process, like being handed a flower that gradually unfolds over a period of years.
K: What all is involved?
V: In addition to nutrition, macrobiotics deals with the energetics of food, the energy of the cook and how important that is. Being aware that you’re not putting anger in the food, and so forth. Plus the style of cutting and how that influences not only the taste of the dish, but it’s energy.
If you’re cutting carrots, for instance, the way you cut creates a particular energetic quality. If I take the carrot and make big diagonal cuts by turning the carrot every inch, I end up with large triangular pieces, suitable for a stew. If I take the carrot and make quick short cuts on the diagonal, say an eighth of an inch, then turn these pieces over and cut them very finely, I end up with long fine match-stick shaped carrots. Now if I put them both into a large stew pot and cook them for an hour, the large pieces will be tender, the skin of the carrot will have lightly separated from it. However, the match-stick carrots will be completely exhausted. On the other hand, if I saute both of them in a skillet, the match-sticks will be done in a matter of minutes, where the others will be somewhat warmed and seared on the outside, but completely raw on the inside. So one of the fundamentals of macrobiotic cooking is knowing how to use a knife to chop vegetables so there is a uniform cut and consistency to them. Also, when you cut, you put your own ki [energy] into them as opposed to using a Cuisinart where you get a consistent cut, but no ki energy. If you want to give someone your ki, then the stronger food is the one you’ve cut by hand and put your energy into.
Food preparation becomes a form of meditation because of your focus and awareness and intention to sustain those you feed, not just to get the meal out of the way. When I’m cooking for retreats, it becomes part of my practice. I try to go into the kitchen and remain centered and aware, creating the most peaceful food that I can, even if it’s for a hundred and fifty or more people.
K: So instead of planning the menu a week in advance, you have to be constantly mindful what you need, of what your body needs, what other people need.
V: Absolutely. You develop that, and it’s quite easy. It just comes. I couldn’t go back to the other way of cooking. Now I always consider who am I cooking for and what is the intention. It has become second nature. When I cook I’m always in a place of joy and pleasure internally.
K: How do you know if food is yin or yang? Does it change depending on how it is prepared?
V: Yin and yang are relative to each other. In the Taoist symbol, one area is predominately black, with a little dot of white, and vice versa. This perfectly depicts yin and yang in that they’re connected to each other and even though a particular thing may have a predominantly yang quality, it still has a little bit of yin. Certain substances are very yang–salt and beef, for instance. But when you want to get into a fine comparison, you have to look at one food in relation to another.
The recommendation in macrobiotics is a grain-based diet. The main food you eat are grains, for they are our most gentle, peaceful, nurturing food, the ones with the most to give to sustain and develop human life. Within grains, brown rice is the focal point, the centering food. The rest branches out and develops around it.
K: Was all this developed before the theories about eating low on the food chain?
V: Long before, but it meshes beautifully with it. A cow is a large animal with its own digestive system, with a heart of its own, a circulatory system, a nervous system and so on. Before you can ingest it, you have to take its life in one way or another, then take the meat from its body in a good clean way and prepare it in a certain way, otherwise it becomes poisonous. Look at the activity that’s involved in all of that. Of course in this modern day and age, we just go to the supermarket and run the cart down the meat aisle and choose a shrink wrapped package. It’s not like it was several generations ago when people were involved in a personal way in taking the lives of the animal they would then eat. The modern meat industry has separated us from that process altogether. It’s yet another way in which we are divorced from our bodies.
K: And perhaps from the sacred. Many native traditions honor the deer for giving its life so that the two-leggeds might eat. And from the way you talk about macrobiotic cooking, even vegetables seem filled with an almost animistic energy.
V: Absolutely, the mundane world becomes very precious. Macrobiotic cooking requires constant mindfulness. The meals that I would feed a troupe of exotic dancers from Armenia wouldn’t be the same food that I would feed to group of nuns on retreat. There would be adjustments of the food, of the preparation, and the cooking technique.
Take grain, for instance. Most people take their grain in the form of bread. Even in whole grained-bread, the grain is crushed, ground into flour. Then it usually sits around a very long time until it is baked. By the time you get it, the grain has gone through quite a process. Where’s the chi energy in it? As opposed to going to the store and buying brown rice, cooking it in your pressure cooker, then eating it by crushing the grain in your own mouth.
Digestion begins in the mouth, so macrobiotics recommends that each mouthful be chewed 25 to 50 times to bring out the sweetness of the grain. Also to really taste the grain. Many people completely miss the experience of truly tasting food. There is a textural change that occurs as well in long chewing so that digestion is much easier since the food liquifies. If you take time to just sit and eat slowly, you’ll find that the food you are eating can be better utilized and that you’ll eat less. You can eat smaller portions of food and be satisfied.
Macrobiotics is about having a rich, full, deep, healthy, independent life. Part of the reason for eating this way is to remove yourself from the dependency of drugstores and doctors or even holistic practitioners. In studying macrobiotics, you are removing yourself from all of this for you are studying your body and its relationship to this earth, to the elements. In choosing your foods with such awareness, many deep and profound changes occur within the body.
K: I think that most people’s idea of macrobiotic food is that it is a very boring diet of brown rice.
V: Yes. Everywhere I travel people will say, “Oh, I did that macrobiotic diet.” When I ask them what they ate, they say they cooked brown rice and miso soup. That’s all I hear. Maybe they add aduki beans. That is pretty boring. But that isn’t what macrobiotics is about and it’s a great misunderstanding. Initially, Michio Kushi, who helped to popularize macrobiotics, promoted a basic macrobiotic diet consisting of a certain proportion of brown rice to beans to a sea vegetable to a root vegetable to a pickle accompanied by miso soup. That’s what I call the training wheel diet. So this is a guideline. The foundation is brown rice and miso soup, but true macrobiotic cooking spins out from there very, very quickly. To prepare a macrobiotic meal is a real spontaneous dance.
K: How would someone learn to cook macrobiotically?
V: They could start by seeking out a macrobiotic cook or center. There are people all over the United States. Also books are an excellent starting place. They provide information, bring up questions. The basic recipe book, Introducing Macrobiotic Cooking by Wendy Esko, is a primer that is very easy to understand; it teaches all the dishes in a straightforward way.
K: When I worked as a chef, I’d find myself having long, non-verbal conversations with food. Do you talk to food? Does it talk to you?
V: Absolutely.
Macrobiotic advocates teach that eating in harmony with your environment creates a balance and peace in your life that can be extended to your family, community, and eventually the world. Keep this in mind the next time you sit down at a table for a meal.
Anyone who has ever been on a strict diet is familiar with the following eating meditation:
Take a small handful of raisins or nuts. Eat them one at a time, paying strict attention to taste, smell, texture. Don’t let your mind wander, but concentrate on each little morsel of food as it enters your mouth, as you chew and swallow, savoring the taste. Let the taste sensation completely disappear before you place another bite in your mouth. Compare this with the way you normally eat a handful of raisins or nuts. Try to eat an entire meal with this type of careful attention to what you are eating, chewing, swallowing.

To learn more about the macrobiotic community contact The International Macrobiotic Directory, 1050 40th Street, Oakland, CA 94608.

Michio and Avaline Kushi, who run the Kushi Institute in Boston, have a number of cookbooks out, including Michio Kushi’s Standard Macrobiotic Diet, 1992, and The Macrobiotic Way, 1985.

Other Macrobiotic Cookbooks:

Kushis Macrobi Ck
by Aveline Kushi (Author) (Paperback )

The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health : A Complete Guide to Preventing and Relieving More Than 200 Chronic Conditionsand Disorders Naturally
by Alex Jack (Author), Michio Kushi (Author) (Hardcover )

Cooking the Whole Foods Way: Your Complete, Everyday Guide to Healthy, Delicious Eating With 500 Recipes, Menus, Techniques, Meal Planning, Buying Tips, Wit & Wisdom
by Christina Pirello (Illustrator), Bill Tara (Paperback - March 1997)

Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook: Cooking in Harmony With Nature
by Aveline Kushi, Wendy Esko (Paperback - July 2003)

Macrobiotic Diet
by Michio Kushi, et al (Paperback - August 1993)

The Quick and Natural Macrobiotic Cookbook
by Aveline Kushi, et al (Paperback )
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See also Aveline Kushi’s Complete Guide To Macrobiotic Cooking and Lessons of Night and Day. She and Wendy Esko co-authored The Changing Seasons Cookbook and The Macrobiotic Cancer Prevention Cookbook. Cornelia Aihara, who–with her husband Herman–run the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation and Vega Study Center in Oroville, CA, is the author of The Do of Cooking, Macrobiotic Kitchen, The Calendar Cookbook, and Macrobiotic Childcare. Andrea Bliss Lerman’s The Macrobiotic Community Cookbook features recipes and short sketches of the chefs involved.

For a book from a completely different perspective about the kinds of energy that can be put in food, read Like Water for Chocolate by Lauro Esquirel. Also be sure to see the wonderful film Babette’s Feast which is based on an Isak Dinesen short story.

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Food types

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Poultry
Chicken Breast (Skinless)
Turkey Breast (Skinless)

Meats
Extra Lean Ground Beef
London Broil
Pork Loin
Top Round
Top Sirloin
Bison
Elk
Ostrich
Deer
Pheasant
Quail
Emu
Veal

Fish
Bass
Catfish
Cod
Flounder
Haddock
Grouper
Halibut
Mahi-Mahi
Salmon
Snapper
Tilapia
Trout
Tuna (water packed)

Eggs/Dairy
Egg Whites (Egg Beaters)
Non-Fat Cheese
Non-Fat Cottage Cheese
Nonfat Milk
Nonfat Plain Yogurt

Complex Carbohydrates
Barley
Beans
Brown Rice
Cream of Wheat
Fiber One Cereal
Oat Bran Cereal
Oatmeal
Red Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes (Yams)
Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Pasta

Healthy Fats
Flaxseed Oil
Fish Oil
Natural Style Peanut Butter
Nuts (walnuts, peanuts, almonds, cashews)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Canola Oil

Natural Sweeteners
Blackstrap Molasses
Cane Juice
Honey
Maple Syrup
Fibrous Carbohydrates (Veggies)
Asparagus
Bell peppers
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard greens
Cucumber
Eggplant
Fennel bulb
Garlic
Green beans
Green peas
Kale
Leeks
Mushrooms, Crimini
Mushrooms, Shiitake
Mustard greens
Olives
Onions
Parsley
Romaine lettuce
Sea vegetables
Spinach
Squash, summer
Squash, winter
Swiss chard
Tomato, fresh
Turnip Greens
Zucchini

Fruits
Apples
Avocado
Bananas
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Papaya
Peaches
Pears
Pineapple
Plums
Raspberries
Strawberries
Watermelon

Spices & Herbs
Basil
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Chili Pepper, Red, dried
Cinnamon, ground
Cloves
Coriander seeds
Cumin seeds
Dill weed, dried
Ginger
Mustard seeds
Oregano
Peppermint leaves, fresh
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme, ground
Turmeric, ground

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Fermena - Diamond tree

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

FERMENA

Health and energy start in the gut. If your food and supplements aren’t absorbed properly, you gain weight and lose energy… and ultimately your health. Fermena feeds the gut so it can work the way it was designed… so you can enjoy life the way you want!

Nature has cooked this whole food prebiotic formula
…and created a gift for your body.

  • It takes six months and over 50 organic fruits, herbs and vegetables for Nature to ferment this perfect whole food prebiotic formula for your body.
  • Grown in the “Brazilian Eden” – on a pristine 30,000 acre arbor in the midst of the Matto Grosso, surrounded by deep pure waters from five different lakes and streams, Fermena is the flawless, fermented blend of dozens of enzymes and beneficial bacteria help promote maximum healthy absorption in your system, for better digestion and improved intestinal health
  • A healthy intestine is the gateway to longevity and a better quality of life.
  • Fermena is a powerful prebiotic that promotes healthy probiotic activity in the human system by developing a synergistic interaction between live enzymes from healthy food and friendly bacteria that live in the digestive tract.
  • Fermena is safe for adults and children of all ages.
  • It is 100% natural, contains no preservatives, and yet requires no refrigeration
  • Take Fermena alone or with food two to three times a day.

    Intestinal Balance – The Secret Door to a Healthy System.

    Good intestinal health is the most misunderstood and least appreciated aspect of human wellness. If you have it, you’re better able to fight off disease. You often have increased energy, more stamina and even a better complexion. The problem is that more than 80% of all people in North America are carrying around from 6 to 25 pounds of undigested waste in their colon and small intestines.

    It has now become a truism in alternative health that intestinal health frames the doorway to longevity and a freedom from disease. If that is the case, then Fermena just may be the key that turns the lock. Fermena is a potent prebiotic supplement originally designed and formulated by Dr. Michio Kushi – the man universally acknowledged as the Master of Macrobiotics. In Dr. Kushi’s Fermena formula acts as a nutritional “starter kit” to work with a number of polysaccharides, Oligosaccharrides and other nutrients designed to powerfully activate the probiotic friendly flora in the human system.

    Fermena – Product Summary

  • Taken on a regular basis Fermena works to cleanse unhealthy bacteria from the system.
  • It helps to aid in balancing both bone density and appropriate levels of cholesterol.
  • It is a whole food prebiotic formula.
  • People taking Fermena often have increased energy, more stamina and a better complexion.
  • It promotes a healthy digestive system.
  • A healthy digestive system is now believed the key to increased longevity and a better quality of life.

    Fermena Ingredients / Supplement Facts:

    Calories 20
    Total Carbohydrate 5g, 2% Daily Value*
    Sugar 4g
    Fermented Proprietary Blend 5g, 1% Daily Value

    Fermented Proprietary Blend from Fruit of Orange, Pineapple, Banana, Apple, Papaya, Guava, Melon; Grains of Brown Rice, Oats, Corn, Barley, Pea, Jalo Bean, Roxinho Bean, Black Sesame, Millet, Plum, Azuki Bean, Soy Bean, Carrot, Rye, Black Bean, Lentil, Avocado, Fruit of Acerola, Lemon, Pear, Tomato, Red Grape, Mango, Watermelon, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Chick Pea, Carambolat, Cashew Nut, Brazil Nut, Kiwi, Cassava, Green Bell Pepper, Sugar Beet, Leaves of Collard Couve-Manteiga, Cabbage, Passion Fruit, Chicory, West Indian Lemon Grass, Sacred Lotus, Turnip, Seaweed, Leaves of Mate, Cinnamon, Anis, Clove, Ginger, Zedoary, water, sugar, yeast, honey.

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    Complex carbohydrates

    Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

    COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
    Complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), found in whole grains, beans, vegetables, and sea vegetables, enter the bloodstream gradually and contribute to overall health and balance. Because of their protective effect in the development of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other serious disorders, scientific and medical guidelines all call for substantial increases in complex carbohydrates and corresponding decreases in intake of simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white flour, and white rice. See Paleolithic Diet, Premenstrual Syndrome, Whole Grains, World Health Organization.

    • Saturated Fat and Cholesterol - Comparing the blood values of middle-aged Irishmen living in Ireland, their brothers who had migrated to Boston, and unrelated men of Irish descent living in Boston, researchers at Harvard School of Public Health found that mean total blood cholesterol levels were strongly correlated with intake of saturated fatty acid and dietary cholesterol from meat and other animal food. Fiber intake and vegetable consumption were also lower among those who died from coronary heart disease, leading the researchers to speculate that a decrease in complex carbohydrates rather than a change in fat consumption was the main causative factor in increased mortality from heart disease.
    “Although the risk of coronary heart disease has been reported to be related to the intake of dietary lipids, an equally consistent finding has been the relation with starches and complex carbohydrates,” the scientists noted. “. . . The principal nutritional change that has occurred since the early 1900s has been a decrease in the consumption of dietary carbohydrates, not including sugar, of about 45 percent during the period from 1909 to 1976. In contrast, changes in the consumption of dietary lipids have been much smaller.”
    Source: L. H. Kushi et al., “Diet and 20-Year Mortality from Coronary Heart Disease. The Ireland-Boston Diet-Heart Study,” New England Journal of Medicine 312:811-18, 1985.

    • Complex Carbohydrates Stimulate Mental Development - At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), researchers have investigated the effects of food on the brain and nervous system. “It is becoming increasingly clear that brain chemistry and function can be influenced by a single meal. That is, in well-nourished individuals consuming normal amounts of food, short-term changes in food composition can rapidly affect brain function,” explained Dr. John Fernstrom. According to scientists, whole grains and other foods high in complex carbohydrates have the capacity to increase the brain’s intake of tryptophan, an amino acid that aids in relief of pain and in lowering blood pressure. Tryptophan has also been associated in studies with lifting depression and improving sleep. In contrast to grains and vegetables, meals high in animal protein lower levels of tryptophan reaching the brain. This “growing body of information now points to new clinically useful applications of tryptophan and thus also for the use of specific meals that would increase tryptophan levels,” Fernstrom concluded.
    Source: Tom Monte, “A Nutritional Approach to Mental Health,” Michio Kushi et al., Crime and Diet (Tokyo & New York: Japan Publications, 1987), pp. 146-47.

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