Macrobiotic diet, the anti-cancer diet

The Cancer Prevention Diet: Michio Kushi’s Macrobiotic Blueprint for the Prevention and Relief of Disease is all about how to stay healthy with a simple, delicious macrobiotic diet—and the good news is that you don’t have to be a millionaire celebrity to eat this way.

Macrobiotics, first mentioned in 1797 in Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland’s book, The Art of Prolonging Human Life is known as the anti-cancer diet. It consists primarily of grains, fruits, vegetables, seaweed, fermented vegetables, and a little bit of fish. This diet rich in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals provides the magic combination that is the quiet cure for cancer.

Michio Kushi began to introduce macrobiotics in the United States in the early 1950s and is known as the father of modern macrobiotics in the US today. He has trained some of the world’s leading macrobiotic chefs and continues to serve as a living example of powerful conscious living through his life as an educator about diet, health, and world peace.

Harvard Medical School, The Framingham Heart Study and Tulane University are just a few of the organizations that have published research showing the benefits of macrobiotics such as:

– relieve high blood pressure
– lower cholesterol
– prevent heart disease
– treat sensitivity to chemicals
– improve immune function
– lower weight
– regulate the female hormone system
– and prolonging the life span, among others

“Let food be thy medicine, and
thy medicine be food.”—Hippocrates

The basic breakdown of the macrobiotic diet is:
50%-60% whole grains
25%-30% vegetables
5%-10% soups
5%-10% beans and sea vegetables

The diet also includes other holistic practices to nurture your mental and physical health including things like chewing your food 25 times before you swallow it and walking outside for 1/2 hour a day.

If you are trying to stay away from the typical American diet of processed foods, GMOs, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and sugar, this is a proven approach to excellent health. Most of us know someone close to us who have suffered from life threatening diseases, so you know how serious it is.

For more information, check out Michio Kushi’s book The Cancer Prevention Diet… and continue to check back with Meniscus Magazine for articles and recipes to try on your own. If you want to get started right away, start incorporating brown rice, steamed vegetables and fresh miso soup and you should start to feel it immediately.

- by Judith Longo

In addition to being a trained macrobiotic chef, Judith Longo is a New York City-based fashion designer, writer, Feng Shui consultant, artist, image consultant and yogi.