Macrobiotics: A way of Life Essay -- Food Eating Vegan Essays

Macrobiotics: A way of Life WHAT IS MACROBIOTICS? Macrobiotics is not just a diet, but a holistic approach to living that takes into account all aspects of human life, including the inter-relationship between body, mind and spirit. Macrobiotics stresses the importance of a balanced diet because one's diet creates the foundation for a happy, healthy and harmonious life. Macrobiotic philosophy teaches practitioners to lead a balanced lifestyle based on the Chinese yin-yang principles. The actual macrobiotic diet closely resembles a vegan-like food pattern with virtually no animal food consumed. Practitioners also avoid "nonorganic" or "processed" foods. The macrobiotic movement has become increasingly popular during the past decade due to various survival stories from chronically ill persons who used the macrobiotic way as an alternative approach to medicine. WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND MACROBIOTICS ? The "Process of Disease" explained through the seven stages of symptomology is the basis of macrobiotic theory with regard to people's eating habits and its effect on the human body. Macrobiotics applies yin-yang principles to explain the relationship between food and the human organism and a balanced diet. Macrobiotic philosophy defines a healthy person using three natural life processes as criteria: urination, bowel movements and breathing. When the body ingests toxins, as a result of an unbalanced diet, its natural healing process produces abnormalities in one or all of these three life processes. Most people naturally react to the situation by taking medicine to relieve the symptoms. According to practitioners of macrobiotics, the ingestion of pharmaceuticals only inhibits the body's ability to heal i... ...d be sufficient. Works Cited: Cambell, T.C., Parpia, B. & Chen,J. (1982). Diet, lifestyle and the etiology of coronary Artery disease: The Cornell China study. American Journal Cardiolog~v. 10B, 18T-21T. Dwyer, J.T., Dietz, W.H., Andrews, E.M. & Suskind, R.M. (1982) Nutritional status of Vegetarian children: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 35(2), 204-216. Furnham, A. & Forey, J. (1994).The attitudes behaviors and beliefs of patients of conventional vs. complementary (alternative) medicine: Journal of Clinical Psvchologv. 50(3), 458-469. van Stavern, W.A. & Dagnelie, P.C. (1988). Food consumption, growth, and development of Dutch children fed on alternative diets: American Journal of ClinicalNutrition. 48 (3 Suppl), 819-821. Weitzman, S. (1998). Alternative nutritional cancer therapies: International Journal of Cancer. 11(Suppl), 69-72.