Frequently Asked Questions

about health, nutrition, alternative medicine and macrobiotics

Q. I have a certain illness. I think that some foods listed in the macrobiotic standard diet can be harmful to me. Which foods do I have to begin with?

A. This is true. the standard macrobiotic diet is a wide and varied diet. If you currently do not have a health condition that prevents you from eating some of these foods you can follow the standard diet.

Examples:

If you have an infections you might not be able to eat leafy greens.

If you have bleeding you might not be able to eat even brown rice.

If you have an allergies you might not be able to eat wheat products.

If you have a tumor you might not be able to eat dairy products.

If you have a GI disturbances you might not be able to eat parsley or even lettuce.

If you have a specific health condition and can not determine safely which foods you should begin with, we can help you with our consultation service to get a diet plan to treat your current health condition.

When properly selected, food is your best medicine. No matter what the illness.

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Q. What is macrobiotics?

A. It is a way of eating and living that is in tune with the seven laws of universal balance and happiness.

The standard macrobiotic diet consists of mainly organic whole grains and varied seasonal vegetables in addition to some other supplementary foods. For more information.

Q. Which foods among the macrobiotic diet foods are good for my current health condition?

A. Each health condition requires a modified plan to achieve a cure.

Example: parsley is very beneficial for anemia and diabetes and many other diseases, but is harmful for treating a GI infection and many forms of allergy.

The answer is to know what the benefits are for every kind of food, and then you can use these foods as medicine. Or, you can consult someone who knows.

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Q. Which of the two figures here is yin and which is yang?

And how does this information help me understand my current state of health and how does  this information help me in selecting the best foods for my condition?

A. The first figure (leaves) is yin. The second (olives) is yang. Yin force is expansive and has a cooling effect. This is present in chard, parsley, lettuce and all leaves. Yang forces are contracting and have a warming effect. This can be found in radishes, turnips, carrots, zucchini and celery root.

Even illnesses can be classified as mostly yin or mostly yang according to their symptoms, like constipation and diarrhea.

When we know the kind of ailment that afflicts us and know the kinds of foods that counterbalance its symptoms then we can cure ourselves of any illness without medications.

Food is really your best medicine.

Exercise

Can you distinguish the yin parts from the yang parts in this mushroom.

Q. What is the food pyramid? Which foods among the pyramid foods are suitable for my present health condition?

A. The food pyramid is a general guideline of foods necessary for maintaining good health. It is not appropriate for treating any illness. Following the pyramid guidelines at random could cause more harm than good.

Example: many of the people who begin the macrobiotic diet this way suffer for a period of time from severe constipation. But if we know which among the vegetables is the best cure for constipation we can avoid this problem.

Second example: If a person is suffering from typhoid fever or an allergy he will not be able to eat whole wheat or parsley or lettuce, not even brown rice. Even though these foods are included in the pyramid. This person has to follow a specific diet until he is cured. Then he can follow the standard diet.

Did you know that some vegetables have stronger antibiotic properties than any antibiotic drugs ever invented by man?

When we understand the medicinal properties of every kind of food and the cause of each illness then we can become our own doctors.

Q. Are vitamin and mineral pills really necessary? Or is all I need contained in my foods?

A. Michio Kushi

Q. Is there really a relationship between nutrition and psychology?

A. A healthy mind in a healthy body!

Q. What is the best infant food? Where is the calcium in my food?

A. Many people who grew up drinking cow's milk have grown accustomed to it as a source of calcium. But many foods, other than milk, are rich in calcium (i.e., parsley, radish leaves and whole wheat). These foods are all of a vegetarian source. Therefore, they provide a superior quality foods because they contain no fat or cholesterol.

Infants feeding

Michio Kushi:

Milk has always provided a link between generations. Intelligence and feelings are passed on from mother to infant by breast feeding. Even today, extended breast feeding strengthens their relationship and guarantees healthy and strong growing up. Accumulated research through the last twenty years proved beyond any doubt that the best milk for a new born is his mother's milk.

Children who grow up on formulae milk have stronger tendency for GI disturbances and diarrhea. They have lowered resistance to disease and infections, and their chance of survival after the first few years is lower.

Mother's milk is the best way to protect children against viruses and bacteria because it gives them good immunity against infections. Arthur Geaton mentioned in his book Medical physiology encyclopedia that mother's milk contains specific antibodies that resists unwanted bacterial  and viral growth. Leonardo Matta mentions that mother's milk protect the infant from rickets which can cause typhoid fever and polio and other GI infections.

Q. Water: Is it really necessary to drink 8 cups of water every day?

A. Dr. Henry G. Bieler mentions in his book Food is Your Best Medicine that this suggestion was claimed by the American water bottling companies in order to push people to drink more bottled water. In reality we have to look for the minimum amount of water necessary to pass through our kidneys. We have to avoid making our kidneys overwork.

Q. What are the advantages of alternative medicine?

A. Food is best medicine. If you can learn the medicinal properties of each kind of food then you can use these foods instead of medicine.

In the same way, all illnesses can be cured with foods (nature-made remedies).

Q. What is the best method for weight control?

A. All foods of vegetable origin do not cause weight increase, whereas all animal products do to varying degrees.

Have you ever seen an overweight vegetarian?

Q. What foods are good for my skin?

A. Some vegetables give your skin incredible smoothness and richness.

Q. What good are iridology and reflexology?

A. These are complementary sciences. They go hand in hand with the science of nutrition in locating the potential trouble spots of a person and in designing a diet plan to repair these potential trouble spots.

Can you identify the disease(s) that this person is suffering from?

Q. The dreaded word, cancer.  Is there really a cure?

A. Cancer is just like any other disease. It is caused by a faulty diet over a very long period of time (sometimes decades). The only difference between cancer and other less serious diseases is that with cancer the illnesses has ascended to a higher level of illness (because faulty diet has lasted a longer time). Seven stages of illness. And the recovery will naturally take a longer period of time.

Also, from the location of this disease, lung cancer or osteo-sarcoma, you can determine if it is of the yin or yang type. This will help design an appropriate diet plan.