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George Ohsawa
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OVERVIEW
Macrobiotics is one of the most popular alternative dietary approaches to cancer (although there is limited scientific evidence to support this claim). A macrobiotic diet is generally vegetarian...a Japanese peasant diet in nature. It is similar to both the Mediterranean and Asian Food diets, except for its very limited use of poultry and other mammals' meat, dairy products, fruits, fruit juice, nuts, and honey.
The genesis of macrobiotics begins in the late 19th century, when a Western-trained Japanese Army doctor named Sagen Ishizuka became frustrated by the ineffectiveness of doctors employing imported Western medicine treating his own chronic illness. (The government had prohbited traditional medical practices.) He set to work researching and revising traditional Oriental medicine. Ishizuka's new therapy he called shoku-yo (“food-cure”). He concluded that the balance of potassium (K) and sodium (Na) salts in the body was the prime determinant of health, that food is the main factor in maintaining this balance, and that food must therefore be the basis for curing disease and maintaining health. Ishizuka was so excited about his new-found knowledge that he left the army and set up a private clinic and published two very popular books on the subject. When Ishizuka died in 1910, the shoku-yo banner passed to Yukikazu Sakurazawa (aka George Ohsawa), who had been cured of terminal tuberculosis on the shoku-yo diet. Ohsawa became a disciple and integrated Ishizuka's shoku-yo theories with elements of Eastern and Western philosophy and called the resulting amalgam macrobiotics (which is Greek for “large or great life”). He also helped resurrect the science of acupuncture.
Riding the wave of interest of Buddhism on U.S. college campuses, Ohsawa's use of Zen in the title of his first English-language book in 1960 caused plenty of consternation among serious Buddhists at the time. His protégé, Michio Kushi, expanded macrobiotics' philosphical elements and its dietary component. Nowadays, macrobiotics encompasses a broad spectrum of theoretical and practical interpretations - there is no official organization or hierarchy.
This regime emphasizes whole grain cereals; legumes (especially beans and bean products, such as tofu and tempeh; cooked and raw vegetables; seaweed; and fermented soy products (eg., miso and tamari); a variety of cooked and raw vegetables; mild natural seasonings; mild (non-stimulating) beverages, such as bancha twig tea; and a limited amount of animal food. The diet avoids highly processed or refined foods. Many practitioners avoid or sparingly use nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplants) - as they are considered extremely "yin." General Guidelines for the diet are:
50% or more whole cereal grains and their products.
25% land and sea vegetales as well as soup.
10-15% beans, seeds, seaweed, and their products.
15% or less animal food.
Occasional use of fruit, nuts, and their products.
Fish proportions have been increased in more modern macrobiotic proponents.
Foods are classified and combined in proportions according to their various physical properties and their effects on the body. In Chinese philosophy, this principle of balance is known as yin and yang. Strict macrobiotic eating can get very complicated as it also factors in geographic, seasonal, and environmental modifications. For example, asparagus, avacados, beets, spinach, and zucchini are to be avoided if you live in a temperate climate.
Because a macrobiotic diet can lower fat intake and increase fiber, it can provide the general health benefits of a low-fat/high-fiber diet. However, macrobiotic diets can lead to poor nutrition if not properly planned. Some earlier versions of the diet (which called for eating 100% grains) actually pose a danger to health. There is evidence from one study suggesting that a macrobiotic diet might contribute to an improved ratio of HDL (good cholesterol) to LDL (bad cholesterol). And a macrobiotic diet appears to promote hormonal conditions that are unfavorable to the development of breast cancer. However, there have been no clinical studies published in the available medical literature to show the macrobiotic diet can be used to prevent or cure cancer. The National Institutes of Health, Office of Alternative Medicine has funded a pilot study to determine if a macrobiotic diet may prevent cancer.