Supplements with macrobiotics
- a statement by Michio Kushi

Statement on supplements with macrobiotics dietary practice - by Michio kushi

Our daily diet is the foundation for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health as well as the means to maintain and supply the vital energy for social activity. If we properly manage our daily diet and harmonise with the environment, there is generally no need to take specific nutritional supplements with macrobiotics.

However, some of the following cases may require supplements for a limited period of time:

1. When a person is currently in a transition period from unhealthful eating habits to a well-balanced, macrobiotic way of eating;
   
   
2. When a person is not eating a well-balanced macrobiotic diet but is only partially doing so;
   
   
3. When a person has developed a serious ailment which may require conventional or alternative approaches to healing -- such as radiation, chemotherapy, supplements and herbal treatments -- until he or she establishes a reasonably healthy condition and begins to practise a balanced macrobiotic diet and way of life.

Preferred supplements with macrobiotics

The preferred supplements are listed in the following order, beginning with the highest quality:

1. Supplements prepared at home using natural, whole food ingredients such as macrobiotic home remedies. These supplement foods are not necessarily limited to current or standard macrobiotic home remedies, but also those designed specifically by a qualified, experienced macrobiotic educator. Examples include ume-sho-kuzu, daikon drink, shiitake mushroom tea, etc
   
   
2. Segments or extracts of natural plants / vegetables and / or their combinations which people can make themselves or purchase if available. These supplements may also include naturally processed food products. “Naturally processed” means juicing, heating, pressing, drying, diluting, crushing, roasting, boiling, freezing and other similar, natural processes that do not involved the application of chemical substance or chemical processing;
   Examples: Vegetables juices, fruit juices, herbal teas, Chinese herbal medicine, spirulina, blue-green algae, green magma (barley green), and various homoeopathic substances.
   
   
3. Products that contain natural minerals, but are not coated, mixed or treated with chemical substance.
   Examples: Calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, etc.
   
   
4. Products that contain less than 20 percent (of the total weight) meat or animal-based substance and which contain no chemical substance and do not involved chemical processing. Examples: Oriental medicine folk medicine, oyster shells, fossils, bones, skin, eggs, etc.
   
   
5. Product which contain natural plant, mineral and animal substance, as well as chemical substance, or which involve chemical processing -- to the extent that they do not produce harmful effects.

Supplements wth macrobiotics - temporary use

All of the above mentioned supplements are best consumed on a temporary basis, while at the same time, the individual maintains a well-balanced daily macrobiotic dietary practice for optimum health benefits.

It is not advisable to consume supplements for long period of time though the period for each case will differ and fluctuate, depending upon the individual’s condition.

In the event that a person requires taking supplements continuously for a prolonged period (over 6 months), then his or her daily practice of the macrobiotic way of eating should be thoroughly reviewed.

Factors to be reviewed should include:

Click here to read another discussion about supplements with macrobiotics, by macrobiotic teacher Adelbert Bellisen.