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Dangers of macrobiotics
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They claim that the macrobiotic diet is "deficient" because, among other reasons, it does not include foods like milk and dairy.
Such claims are mostly unfounded. A well-planned macrobiotic diet is extremely nutritious. For example, a macrobiotic diet includes foods like seaweeds and sesame seeds, which contain far more calcium -- in a form that is far more readily absorbed by the body -- than milk and dairy foods.
The real dangers of macrobiotics lie elsewhere.
They lie in wrong practice, by people who do not fully understand macrobiotic teachings.
This article was first published in a 1994 issue of The Good Life, which had the theme, Strange foods. Its original title was...
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In his collection of essays, Kaleidoscope, macrobiotic teacher Herman Aihara tells a story about “the man who looked like kinpira”
Kinpira is a dish made from burdock and carrot cut into matchsticks and cooked for a long time until they are all shriveled up. That was how the man looked. He was thin and shriveled. He was not healthy.
The man had consulted Herman previously. Seeing that his condition was very yin, Herman prescribed kinpira and other yang dishes. The man ate accordingly and his health improved.
But he continued eating the same way for the next three years. He became more and more yang. His health started to worsen. He still ate the same way.
Many macrobiotic friends go through similar experiences. They eat very strictly, like cancer patients should, although they are relatively healthy. And they feed their children as if they are cancer patients as well.
Dangers of macrobiotics -- no adaptation
This arises from a basic misunderstanding. Many people think that macrobiotics is one way of eating. It is not. We keep changing all the time. So our diet, too, must keep changing.
The trouble is, many macrobiotic friends don’t adapt. They simply latch on to a new way of eating -- the so-called macrobiotic way -- and stick to it.
Dangers of macrobiotics -- excesses
Another common misunderstanding is that being “macrobiotic” means eating food bought from a so-called “macrobiotic shop”.
You get people, including some who are very ill, eating large amounts of “macrobiotic foods” but without bothering about balance and moderation. And they wonder why they don’t recover.
For example, I know of people who put miso into practically every dish they cook.
Recently, I met someone who bought a big bag of kuzu. This is an expensive starch, with medicinal properties. She said she uses it "like corn starch” to thicken her sauces, in two or three dishes every day.
Macrobiotic books recommend kuzu to be used only occasionally -- at most two or times a week -- for cooking. It is reserved for medicinal drinks. If you use it a few times a day, it will no longer be effective as medicine. It will also make you very yang. You become rigid and flexible.
Dangers of macrobiotics -- too yang
I also had known of people who eat large amounts of macrobiotic pickles and condiments. They cover their rice with gomashio (sesame-salt condiment), ignoring the advice to limit to about one teaspoon per meal.
An even stronger condiment is tekka, which is made by cooking burdock, carrot and lotus root with miso for several hours, until it is dry and black. Tekka is for those who are extremely weak. Even then, only a tiny amount is recommended -- about one-quarter teaspoon.
A Japanese “macrobiotic” friend of mine adds about a tablespoon of tekka to his rice. He also takes his miso soup very salty. Not surprisingly, he is very yang.
Dangers of macrobiotics -- too yin
On the yin side, there are many things like malt syrup, vinegar, apple juice… Some macrobiotic friends eat large amounts of these, without caring about balance.
The thinking seems to be that if these foods are sold in macrobiotic stores, they must be okay. Sorry, but an excess of anything -- including macrobiotic foods--- s unhealthy. If you want to enjoy good health, you must learn to balance.
This is not easy. So yes, you will make mistakes along the way. You may become too yang, or too yin. Or “too balanced”, in which case your life becomes absolutely peaceful. And boring.
But with experience-and self-reflection-you will get it right. Then it becomes automatic. Instinctively, you will know what to eat and what not to eat.
Dangers of macrobiotics -- insufficient knowledge
Even the little things matter, as I recently discovered about takuan, a pickled radish.
Takuan strengthens the intestines. It is “good” for me because my intestines are weak. But I didn’t know two things -- -- that the recommended intake is about half an inch each time; and that I should wash off the excess salt before eating it.
So I used to eat about two inches of unwashed takuan each time. This made me hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). A few hours after eating. I would feel extremely hungry, to the point of being weak. It took me a while to realise that the takuan was causing it.
It is okay to make mistake like this. Provided we learn from them. I will always remember a sign pasted on the toilet door by my friends Herbert and Sinueafa at The Work Sanctuary. It says...
There are no mistakes in life. Only lessons.
Click below to read about the potential problems associated with:
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