Macrobiotic diet

Last updated

Macrobiotic diet
Alternative medicine
ClaimsHealth effects from a diet avoiding refined foods and most animal products. Specific effects on cancer.
Related fields Diet
Original proponents Sagen Ishizuka
Subsequent proponents George Ohsawa
Michio Kushi
William Dufty
Edward Esko

A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is an unconventional restrictive diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. [1] [2] The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. [1] [3] Major principles of macrobiotic diets are to reduce animal products, eat locally grown foods that are in season, and consume meals in moderation. [2]

Contents

There is no high-quality clinical evidence that a macrobiotic diet is helpful for people with cancer or other diseases, and it may be harmful. [4] [2] [5] Neither the American Cancer Society nor Cancer Research UK recommends adopting the diet. [5] [6] Deaths have been reported from malnutrition on strict macrobiotic diets. [7] [8]

Conceptual basis

Macrobiotic diets are based on the concept of balancing yin and yang. Yin yang.svg
Macrobiotic diets are based on the concept of balancing yin and yang.

The macrobiotic diet is associated with Zen Buddhism and is based on the idea of balancing yin and yang. [3] The diet proposes ten plans which are followed to reach a supposedly ideal yin:yang ratio of 5:1. [9] The diet was popularized by George Ohsawa in the 1930s and subsequently elaborated on by his disciple Michio Kushi. [6] Medical historian Barbara Clow writes that, in common with many other types of quackery, macrobiotics takes a view of illness and of therapy which conflicts with mainstream medicine. [10]

Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown whole grain cereals, pulses (legumes), vegetables, edible seaweed, fermented soy products, and fruit combined into meals according to the ancient Chinese principle of balance known as yin and yang. [11] Some macrobiotic proponents stress that yin and yang are relative qualities that can only be determined in a comparison. All food is considered to have both properties, with one dominating. Foods with yang qualities are considered compact, dense, heavy, and hot, whereas those with yin qualities are considered expansive, light, cold, and diffuse. [12] However, these terms are relative; "yangness" or "yinness" is only discussed in relation to other foods. [13]

Brown rice and other whole grains such as barley, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt, rye, and teff are considered by macrobiotics to be the foods in which yin and yang are closest to being in balance. Therefore, lists of macrobiotic foods that determine a food as yin or yang generally compare them to whole grains. [14]

Nightshade vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant; also, spinach, beets, and avocados, are not recommended or are used sparingly in macrobiotic cooking, as they are considered extremely yin. [15] Some macrobiotic practitioners also discourage the use of nightshades because of the alkaloid solanine which is thought to affect calcium balance. [16] Some proponents of a macrobiotic diet believe that nightshade vegetables can cause inflammation and osteoporosis. [17]

History

Macrobiotics was founded by George Ohsawa and popularized in the United States by his disciple Michio Kushi. [18] In the 1960s, the earliest and most strict variant of the diet was termed the "Zen macrobiotic diet" which claimed to cure cancer, epilepsy, gonorrhea, leprosy, syphilis and many other diseases. [18] [7] Ohsawa wrote that dandruff is "the first step toward mental disease". [18] Ohsawa wrote about the diet in his 1965 book Zen Macrobiotics. [7] The Zen macrobiotic diet involved 10 restrictive stages with the highest stage eliminating all foods in the diet apart from whole grains. Fluid intake was discouraged at all stages. [8] [18]

In 1965, a young follower of the macrobiotic diet had died from malnutrition. [18] George Ohsawa was sued for malpractice and the Ohsawa Foundation in New York was closed after a raid by the Food and Drug Administration. In 1966, a Grand Jury who reviewed several cases of death from malnutrition among macrobiotic proponents concluded that the diet "constitutes a public health hazard". [18] In 1967, the first case report of scurvy on the macrobiotic diet was reported. [18] In 1971, the American Medical Association's Council on Foods and Nutrition commented that followers of the diet were in "great danger" of malnutrition. [18] Their report concluded that "when a diet has been shown to cause irreversible damage to health and ultimately lead to death, it should be roundly condemned as a threat to human health". [7] [8]

After the Ohsawa Foundation in New York was closed, Michio Kushi shifted operations to Boston, where he opened two macrobiotic restaurants. [18] [19] In the 1970s, Kushi established the East West Journal, the East West Foundation and the Kushi Institute. In 1981, the Kushi Foundation was formed as a parent organization for the institute and magazine. [18] The Kushi Institute was located on a large site in Becket, Massachusetts where it hosted macrobiotic conferences, lectures and seminars. Kushi combined macrobiotics with numerous paranormal and pseudoscientific ideas including auras, astrology, chakras, oriental physiognomy, palmistry and extra-terrestrial encounters. [18] The Kushi Insitute closed in 2017. [20]

Practices

Food

Some basic macrobiotic ingredients Some Basic Macrobiotic Ingredients.JPG
Some basic macrobiotic ingredients

The macrobiotic diet is considered an unconventional or fad diet. [1] [21] Some general guidelines for the macrobiotic diet are the following. [7]

Small amounts of white fish and fruit may be eaten if desired. Nuts and seeds are not often consumed but are permitted as occasional snacks if they are lightly roasted. [7] Beverages include herbal teas, cereal-grain coffee and roasted-barley tea. [7]

Kitchenware

Cooking utensils should be made from certain materials such as wood or glass, while some materials including plastic, copper, and non-stick coatings are to be avoided. [1] Electric ovens should not be used. [1]

Cancer

The macrobiotic diet has been advertised as an alternative cancer treatment but is ineffective to treat any type of cancer. [7] [22] Macrobiotics author Michio Kushi argued that conventional cancer treatments are "violent and artificial" and the macrobiotic diet should not be combined with conventional treatment. [7] There is no clinical evidence to support the cancer claims of macrobiotic proponents. [7] The American Cancer Society who reviewed 11 scientific data bases found no peer-reviewed evidence that the macrobiotic diet is effective for treating any type of cancer. [7] The Office of Technology Assessment, examining both published and unpublished macrobiotic literature, failed to verify any claims of cancer cure. [7]

The American Cancer Society recommends "low-fat, high-fiber diets that consist mainly of plant products"; however, they urge people with cancer not to rely on a dietary program as an exclusive or primary means of treatment. [6] Cancer Research UK states, "some people think living a macrobiotic lifestyle may help them to fight their cancer and lead to a cure. But there is no scientific evidence to prove this." [5]

Safety

Regulation

Macrobiotic practitioners are not regulated, and need not have any qualification or training in the United Kingdom. [5]

Complications

One of the earlier versions of the macrobiotic diet that involved eating only brown rice and water has been linked to severe nutritional deficiencies and even death. [7] Strict macrobiotic diets that include no animal products may result in nutritional deficiencies unless they are carefully planned. The danger may be worse for people with cancer, who may have to contend with unwanted weight loss and often have increased nutritional and caloric requirements. Relying on this type of treatment alone and avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer may have serious health consequences. [6]

Cases of vitamin B12 and iron-deficiency anemias have been reported as a result of the diet. [18] [23]

Children

Children may also be particularly prone to nutritional deficiencies resulting from a macrobiotic diet. [6] A macrobiotic diet does not contain the nutrients needed by growing children. [24]

Pregnancy

Macrobiotic diets have not been tested in women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, and the most extreme versions may not include enough of certain nutrients for normal fetal growth. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruitarianism</span> Diet based primarily on fruits

Fruitarianism is a diet that consists primarily of consuming fruits and possibly nuts and seeds, but without any animal products. Fruitarian diets are subject to criticism and health concerns.

Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine that claims to maintain human health through nutritional supplementation. It is rejected by evidence-based medicine. The concept builds on the idea of an optimal nutritional environment in the body and suggests that diseases reflect deficiencies in this environment. Treatment for disease, according to this view, involves attempts to correct "imbalances or deficiencies based on individual biochemistry" by use of substances such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements and fatty acids. The notions behind orthomolecular medicine are not supported by sound medical evidence, and the therapy is not effective for chronic disease prevention; even the validity of calling the orthomolecular approach a form of medicine has been questioned since the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fad diet</span> Popular diet with claims not supported by science

A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; as such it is often considered a type of pseudoscientific diet. Fad diets are usually not supported by clinical research and their health recommendations are not peer-reviewed, thus they often make unsubstantiated statements about health and disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-carbohydrate diet</span> Diets restricting carbohydrate consumption

Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein, as well as low carbohydrate foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raw foodism</span> Diet of uncooked and unprocessed food

Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is uncooked and unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include a selection of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish, meat, and dairy products. The diet may also include simply processed foods, such as various types of sprouted seeds, cheese, and fermented foods such as yogurts, kefir, kombucha, or sauerkraut, but generally not foods that have been pasteurized, homogenized, or produced with the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, solvents, and food additives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michio Kushi</span> Japanese macrobiotics entrepreneur

Michio Kushi was a Japanese educator and alternative cancer treatment advocate who helped to introduce modern macrobiotics to the United States in the early 1950s. He lectured all over the world at conferences and seminars about the macrobiotic diet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Gerson</span> German-American physician (1881–1959)

Max Gerson was a German-born American physician who developed the Gerson therapy, a dietary-based alternative cancer treatment that he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. Gerson therapy involves a plant-based diet with coffee enemas, ozone enemas, dietary supplements and raw calf liver extract, the latter was discontinued in the 1980s after patients were hospitalized for bacterial infections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy diet</span> Type of diet

A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Ohsawa</span> Japanese author and proponent of alternative medicine

George Ohsawa was a Japanese author and proponent of alternative medicine who was the founder of the macrobiotic diet. When living in Europe he went by the pen names of Musagendo Sakurazawa, Nyoiti Sakurazawa, and Yukikazu Sakurazawa. He also used the French first name Georges while living in France, and his name is sometimes also given this spelling. He wrote about 300 books in Japanese and 20 in French. He defined health on the basis of seven criteria: lack of fatigue, good appetite, good sleep, good memory, good humour, precision of thought and action, and gratitude.

Kokkoh is an infant formula broth made from whole grains, seeds and legumes lightly toasted and ground to a powder. It was first brought to Western culture by Sakura Nyoichi, better known as George Ohsawa, as part of the Macrobiotic Diet, based a recipe widely used in traditional Japan. Brown rice is its primary and can be its only solid ingredient. Many kokkoh recipes include other whole grains, seeds and seasonings, most commonly sweet rice, azuki beans, sesame seeds, oats, barley, soybeans and kombu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanpaku</span> Physical characteristic of the eye

Sanpaku gan or sanpaku (三白) is a Japanese term meaning "three whites", most often used in English to refer to a folk belief according to which the visibility of the sclera above or under the irises has various meanings as an omen or symptom in alternative medicine. It was introduced into English by George Ohsawa in the mid-1960s as a condition supposedly cured by his macrobiotic method.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alkaline diet</span> Fad diet

Alkaline diet describes a group of loosely related diets based on the misconception that different types of food can have an effect on the pH balance of the body. It originated from the acid ash hypothesis, which primarily related to osteoporosis research. Proponents of the diet believe that certain foods can affect the acidity (pH) of the body and that the change in pH can therefore be used to treat or prevent disease. However, their claims are false, and there is no evidence supporting the claimed mechanisms of this diet, which is not recommended by dietitians or other health professionals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protein–energy malnutrition</span> Medical condition

Protein–energy undernutrition (PEU), once called protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), is a form of malnutrition that is defined as a range of conditions arising from coincident lack of dietary protein and/or energy (calories) in varying proportions. The condition has mild, moderate, and severe degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Pritikin</span> American nutritionist and inventor (1915–1985)

Nathan Pritikin was an American inventor, engineer, nutritionist and longevity researcher. He promoted the Pritikin diet, a high-carbohydrate low-fat plant-based diet combined with regular aerobic exercise to prevent cardiovascular disease. The Pritikin diet emphasizes the consumption of legumes, whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables and non-fat dairy products with small amounts of lean meat, fowl and fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. McDougall</span> American physician and author (1947–2024)

John A. McDougall was an American physician and author. He wrote a number of diet books advocating the consumption of a low-fat vegan diet based on starchy foods and vegetables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagen Ishizuka</span>

Sagen Ishizuka was a doctor in the Imperial Japanese Army who pioneered the concepts of shokuiku and the macrobiotic diet. He was one of the first to investigate the nutritional value of whole grains as well as sea vegetables, daikon, and kudzu.

Erewhon Organic was an organic cereal brand, and a refund subsidiary of Post Foods. It was known for their allergy-friendly line of organic cereals sold by health food stores across North America, and for being one of the first companies to market macrobiotic, organic whole foods in the United States. In 2019, the Erewhon Organic brand was discontinued by its parent company Post Foods, and replaced by Three Sisters Foods, which sells a similar product line of organic cereals.

Aveline Kushi was a Japanese teacher who was an advocate for macrobiotic diets and world peace. She opened Erewhon, considered the first natural food store, in Brookline, Massachusetts in the early 1960s. Kushi promoted the macrobiotic philosophy and diet, a Taoist-influenced spiritual practice emphasizing organic and seasonal foods.

Edward Esko was an American advocate of macrobiotics. He lectured all over the world on diet, nutrition, holistic health, food and oriental cosmology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lectin-free diet</span> Fad diet

The Lectin-free diet is a fad diet promoted with the false claim that avoiding all foods that contain high amounts of lectins will prevent and cure disease. There is no clinical evidence the lectin-free diet is effective to treat any disease and its claims have been criticized as pseudoscientific.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bijlefeld M, Zoumbaris SK (2014). "Macrobiotics". Encyclopedia of Diet Fads: Understanding Science and Society (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. pp. 127–128. ISBN   978-1-61069-760-6.
  2. 1 2 3 Lerman RH (7 December 2010). "The Macrobiotic Diet in Chronic Disease". Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 25 (6): 621–626. doi:10.1177/0884533610385704. PMID   21139126.
  3. 1 2 Bender DA (2014). A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780191752391.
  4. ↑ Hübner J, Marienfeld S, Abbenhardt C, Ulrich CM, Löser C (November 2012). "[How useful are diets against cancer?]". Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift (Review) (in German). 137 (47): 2417–22. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1327276. PMID   23152069. S2CID   76124925.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Macrobiotic diet and cancer". Cancer Research UK . Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Russell J; Rovere A, eds. (2009). "Macrobiotic Diet". American Cancer Society Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Therapies (2nd ed.). American Cancer Society. pp.  638–642. ISBN   9780944235713.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Questionable methods of cancer management: 'nutritional' therapies". CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 43 (5): 309–319. 1993. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.43.5.309 . PMID   8364770.
  8. 1 2 3 "Zen Macrobiotic Diets". JAMA. 218 (3): 397. 1971. doi:10.1001/jama.1971.03190160047009. PMID   5109865.
  9. 1 2 Roth RA, Wehrle KL (2016). "Chapter 2: Planning a Healthy Diet". Nutrition & Diet Therapy (12th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 43. ISBN   978-1-305-94582-1. The macrobiotic diet is a system of 10 diet plans, developed from Zen Buddhism
  10. ↑ Clow B (2001). Negotiating Disease: Power and Cancer Care, 1900-1950. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 63. ISBN   9780773522107. Before we explore medical reactions to therapeutic innovations in this era, we must stop to consider the meaning of 'alternative medicine' in this context. Often scholars use the term to denote systems of healing that are philosophically as well as therapeutically distinct from regular medicine: homeopathy, reflexology, rolfing, macrobiotics, and spiritual healing, to name a few, embody interpretations of health, illness, and healing that are not only different from, but also at odds with conventional medical opinion.
  11. ↑ William Dufty with Nyoiti Sakurazawa (1965) You Are All Sanpaku, University Books.
  12. ↑ Porter, pp. 22–25
  13. ↑ Porter, pp. 44–49
  14. ↑ Porter, pp. 71–78
  15. ↑ Kushi and Jack, p. 119.
  16. ↑ Stanchich L "All About Nightshades". New Life Journal: Carolina Edition, Apr/May 2003, vol. 4, no. 5, p. 17, 3 pp.
  17. ↑ Porter
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Barrett, Stephen (1993). The Health Robbers: A Look at Quackery in America (PDF). Prometheus Book. pp. 225–233. ISBN   0-87975-855-4.
  19. ↑ Lewin, Tamar (January 4, 2014). "Michio Kushi, Advocate of Natural Foods in the U.S., Dies at 88". The New York Times.(subscription required)
  20. ↑ Lindsay, Dick (2017). "Kushi Institute closes; owes Becket nearly $50,000". The Berkshire Eagle.
  21. ↑ Hanning RM, Zlotkin SH (April 1985). "Unconventional eating practices and their health implications". Pediatr. Clin. North Am. (Review). 32 (2): 429–45. doi:10.1016/s0031-3955(16)34796-4. PMID   3887307.
  22. ↑ Stare, Fredrick John; Whelan, Elizabeth M. (1998). Fad-Free Nutrition. Hunter House Inc. p. 127. ISBN   0-89793-237-4 "There is no scientific evidence that macrobiotic diets can be helpful for cancer or any other disease."
  23. ↑ Brigden, Malcolm L. (1995). "Unproven (Questionable) Cancer Therapies". Western Journal of Medicine. 163 (5): 463–469. PMC   1303171 . PMID   8533410.
  24. ↑ Shaw, Vanessa; Lawson, Margaret (2013-05-20). Clinical Paediatric Dietetics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-118-69953-9. This type of diet is nutritionally inadequate for a child of any age.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.