A cheap shot at macrobiotics?

The following article may be used by some people to 'trash' the macrobiotic diet. I am certainly not an advocate of macrobiotics for everyone, but clearly, some people with 'vegetarian metabolisms' do seem to benefit from this program. (I believe these people are in the minority.)

Dr. Sherry Rogers, M.D., whom I greatly respect, is an advocate of the macrobiotic diet for some people. She wrote the book, 'The Cure Is In The Kitchen', in which she did a great job of explaining macrobiotics in a simple way. Dr. Rogers also acknowledges that people have different metabolic types, and therefore, this diet may not be right for everyone. She wrote about metabolic typing in her excellent book, 'Wellness Against All Odds'.

Here is the article from Dr. Mercola's excellent website:

Macrobiotics Founder Dies of Cancer at 78

Aveline Kushi, a leader of the health food movement who helped found one of the nation's first natural food stores, has died following a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 78.

With her husband, Michio, the Japanese-born Kushi was a leading proponent of alternative medicine and of macrobiotics, the belief that eating a mostly vegetarian diet of organic grains and produce, affects far more than physical health.

Practitioners believe that eating meat and processed foods contributes to aggression and disharmony not only in individuals, but in whole societies, undermining prospects for world peace.

Kushi was diagnosed with cancer of the cervix about nine years ago.

In the early 1960s, the Kushis moved from New York to the Boston area, where they formed study groups to discuss diet and its effects on health and world peace.

The groups generated demand for natural and organic foods, and in 1966 Aveline Kushi opened Erewhon, a shop in Brookline named for a utopian novel by British philosopher Samuel Butler. She shortly afterward opened a branch in Los Angeles. She sold the company in 1983.

She was born in Yokota, Japan, and came to the United States in 1951.

In 1978, the couple founded the Kushi Institute, a school to teach macrobiotics. Thousands have attended the institute's courses and those offered by a sister school in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Massachusetts school moved to Becket, Mass., in 1990.

Christine Akbar, a Kushi family spokeswoman, said Aveline Kushi underwent traditional radiation therapy after learning she had cancer. When the cancer spread to her bones, she was told there was no other conventional treatment available, Akbar said. Kushi relied on acupuncture and other Eastern medicines and the cancer was in remission for several years.

Besides her husband, she is survived by four sons, 13 grandchildren and seven siblings. A daughter died of cancer in 1995.

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COMMENT by Dr. Stephen Byrnes:

It is, of course, sad when another dies of cancer. What should be highlighted here, however, is the fact that Mrs. Kushi, as well as one of her daughters (presumably also following a macrobiotic diet), died of cancer and that the macrobiotic diet is presented as an ideal way to PREVENT (and sometimes TREAT) cancer.

Though no diet offers 100% protection against any disease, the claims for macrobiotics are highly suspect given the unfortunate reasons behind Kushi's passing. I feel that I should point out here what most of the public does not know concerning macrobiotics: many of its adherents smoke -- quite heavily -- as well as drink large amounts of coffee. Tobacco is viewed as a "yang" substance in macrobiotic philosophy.

Anne Louise Gittleman, in her book Your Body Knows Best, commented on these strange practices in macrobiotics (Gittleman used to be an adherent and got very sick in the process) and attributed them to practitioners needing stimulants because of what was lacking in the diet: adequate fat and protein.

www.mercola.com

Macrobiotics Founder Dies Of Cancer At Age 78