Before proceeding I must point out that everything written here and elsewhere is strictly for informational purposes only. Nothing written here constitutes medical advice or has anything remotely to do with it, and any macrobiotic advice is only general statements. You are a unique individual with a unique constitution, condition, body type, and biography, living in place of habitation with climate, topography and weather patterns which have to be taken into account in making any dietary recommendations.
Therefore if you are thinking about adopting a macrobiotic way of eating I strongly recommend you seek out people in your area who are familiar with and are experienced in macrobiotic principles and practices.
In the course of the coming months I will be building up a resource page of macrobiotic teachers, counselors, centers and so forth here. March 1997 OBESITY AND WEIGHT LOSS. Despite all the efforts of the US Government and various related concerns involved in persuading the people of the US to lose weight, their efforts have come to nothing. The general trend among the population is for an average increase in weight over the last ten years and the situation is unlikely to improve because none of the august agencies, be they medical, governmental or commercial has the slightest idea of how to deal with this problem and therefore cannot give the accurate information the public needs, which if acted upon, (and I grant you, that is a HUGE if), would easily deal with this problem.
I remember reading an interview in the San Francisco Chronicle over a decade ago with a physician who specialized in obesity. He gave an interesting analogy; every twenty pounds a person is overweight forces an increase on the workload of the heart which is equivalent to a person shoveling five tons of coal by hand a day!
He went on to say that if people brought their weight down to within the ranges established by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (http://www.metlife.com) then people would increase their average lifespan by seven years, and in the population at large success in getting obesity under control would mean a drastic reduction in the rates of cancer, heart disease and other degenerative diseases. Now, macrobiotically speaking the ideal weight for a person’s height, age and body frame as established by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company are 10-20 pounds too high.
I checked them out and my range is 145-155 and I weigh 135. They say that a person’s body mass index is okay at 26 and mine is 19. When I started eating macrobiotically I weighed 195 and I lost 60 pounds in the first four months and this was 21 years ago. I have maintained that same weight for twenty one years, and I now do not have any restrictions on what I eat. The fact is, no matter what I eat, or how much, I cannot gain weight. In other words I have eaten nothing but pizza, chocolate cake, turkey sandwiches, chicken, milk, butter, cream, eggs etc., etc for ten days at a time and I did not experience anything untoward.
Of course, everybody reading this is now saying to themselves, “I thought this was supposed to be a website on macrobiotics and the macrobiotic diet is only whole grains and vegetables and what is this about eating chocolate cake and pizza?”
This page is about macrobiotics, among other things, you are correct in assuming that, but it is entirely incorrect to say a macrobiotic diet is always and forever eating nothing but whole grains and vegetables. That is a misunderstanding of macrobiotic principles largely perpetrated by people who do not understand them.
This is unfortunate. In actual fact, this has been a fundamental teaching in macrobiotic thinking for at least 35 years, because George Ohsawa, who is widely regarded as the prime initiate of macrobiotic practice in the modern era wrote in a book entitled ‘Guidebook for Living’, (1967,George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation, Oroville, CA): ” Whereas long ago I could not smoke or drink, I can now do either as I like. I enjoy any cuisine…Western, Chinese, Japanese or Indian. I like fruit, candy, chocolate, and whiskey very much. If I choose to use these things now, I am able to avoid harm because I can balance yin and yang. I have told you this because many people think that macrobiotics is a twentieth century variety of stoicism.
BUT HE WHO CANNOT DRINK, SMOKE, EAT FRUIT OR MEAT IS A CRIPPLE.
(His emphasis) Macrobiotics is a way to build health that enables us to eat and drink anything we like whenever we like without being obsessed or driven to do so. Macrobiotics is not a negative way of living…it is positive, creative, artistic, religious, philosophical.”
To return to the question of obesity and weight loss, I received an e-mail from a man who had managed to find my website and informed he had not started eating macrobiotically because he was sick but for reasons of creative personal growth (which is highly unusual) and that he had lost 40 pounds in the nine months since he had started; I saw a lady for a follow up consultation a few days ago and she informed me she had lost 27 pounds in the first four months.
Let me put it this way- it is more unusual for people NOT to lose weight on a macrobiotic diet and this is usually because they are eating too much grains and salty foods for their constitution.
However, I must emphasize that it is not the diet that is so much responsible for the weight loss as much as it is the digestive system’s response to going on the strict macrobiotic diet(which everyone, no matter how healthy they think they are, will benefit from doing for three years minimum), along with doing the Ginger Compress regimen.
Briefly, the human digestive system responds to the adoption of the strict macrobiotic diet alone by going through three distinct processes simultaneously – purging of all the poisons, stagnated fecal matter and chronic mucus build up which have accumulated in the digestive canal over the years and decades of eating hamburgers, cheeseburgers, meat, eggs and soft drinks, alcohol etc.(it is estimated the average person has 7-25 pounds of this gunk in their intestines, which includes up to four pounds by weight of pathogenic bacteria, spirochetes, worms, viruses et al.); the rehabilitation of the destroyed mucus epithelial lining, and the revitalization of the stagnated dynamics of the activities of the digestive system.
The fourth, and most significant, necessary, process to help bring about the completion of the healing process is only accomplished by doing the Ginger Compress regimen. This is the dissolution of the chronic intestinal stagnation, which is the accumulation of stagnated toxic mucus in the cells of the intestinal walls. If this substance is not removed by doing the ginger compresses (and it can only be removed by doing the ginger compresses) then it is NOT possible for the body heal itself thoroughly. In the context of the topic under discussion, obesity and weight loss, then.
If a macrobiotic dietary program suitable for the individual in question is adopted and they also do the ginger compress regimen, this means when the time comes for expanding dietary choices to include foods that are not considered appropriate when on a macrobiotic dietary program appropriate for the purpose of supporting the body in healing itself, when one does in fact begin to add chicken and meats and dairy food, sugar and chocolate etc., then we do not put back on the weight we lost.
This is not the case with the weight loss programs you see advertised everywhere. Nor do we get sick again if it is the fact that in the individual in question their sickness is the result of years of poor eating. It is actually unlikely that a poor diet alone can be considered as the sole cause of any disease.
There are many possible factors involved in the development of diseases in addition to poor dietary habits which are mainly spiritual in nature. These include but are not limited to emotional state, attitude, world-view, habits of thinking, morals and ethics, religiosity, karma, etc. In conclusion, if we wish to lose weight and keep it off permanently then it is clear to me the best approach is to adopt a macrobiotic dietary program and do the Ginger Compress regimen. Again, and this bears repeating every time the subject comes up, it is not recommended anyone do these without having access to someone with personal experience. It does absolutely no good to talk to someone who has not personally experienced doing the Ginger Compress regimen and who is not themselves eating macrobiotically, and has done so for at least three years. The advice and opinions of such people is worthless at best, and positively harmful at worst, at least with respect to health and healing.
CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME. The following is taken from the website of the Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Association of America. I include this material to let you know the current “official” understanding of this condition. Understanding CFIDS
What is CFIDS?
Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is a serious and complex illness that affects many different body systems. It is characterized by incapacitating fatigue (experienced as profound exhaustion and extremely poor stamina), neurological problems and numerous other symptoms. CFIDS can be severely debilitating and can last for many years. CFIDS is often misdiagnosed because it is frequently unrecognized and can resemble other disorders including mononucleosis, multiple sclerosis (M.S.),fibromyalgia (FM), Lyme disease, post-polio syndrome and autoimmune diseases such as lupus. CFIDS is also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.).
How is CFIDS diagnosed?
Despite a decade of research, there is still no definitive diagnostic test for CFIDS.
A research and clinical definition for CFIDS was developed by an international group of researchers led by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). This case definition was published in the December 15, 1994 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Diagnosing CFIDS requires a thorough medical history, physical and mental status examinations and laboratory tests to identify underlying or contributing conditions that require treatment. Clinically evaluated, unexplained chronic fatigue cases can be classified as chronic fatigue syndrome if the patient meets both the following criteria:
1. Clinically evaluated, unexplained persistent or relapsing chronic fatigue that is of new or definite onset (i.e., not lifelong), is not the result of ongoing exertion, is not substantially alleviated by rest and results in substantial reduction in previous levels of occupational, educational, social or personal activities.
2. The concurrent occurrence of four or more of the following symptoms: substantial impairment in short-term memory or concentration; sore throat; tender lymph nodes; muscle pain; multi-joint pain without joint swelling or redness; headaches of a new type, pattern or severity; unrefreshing sleep; and post-exertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours. These symptoms must have persisted or recurred during six or more consecutive months of illness and must not have pre-dated the fatigue.
The case definition describes several medical conditions which, when present, exclude a patient from a diagnosis of CFS. Among these conditions is a past or current diagnosis of a major depressive disorder with psychotic or melancholic features. This type of primary depressive disorder is not to be confused with the secondary depression that often accompanies CFIDS. (See below for additional information on CFIDS and depression.)
What are other common symptoms?
Persons with CFIDS (PWCs) have symptoms which vary from person to person and fluctuate in severity. Specific symptoms may come and go, complicating treatment and the PWC’s ability to cope with the illness. Most symptoms are invisible, which makes it difficult for others to understand the vast array of debilitating symptoms that PWCs have.
The eight primary symptoms described in the CDC’s case definition are listed above. Other symptoms common to CFIDS are listed below (please note that most PWCs do not have all these symptoms and that they are not required for diagnosis). PWCs have cognitive problems in addition to difficulties with concentration and short-term memory (such as word-finding difficulties, inability to comprehend/retain what is read, inability to calculate numbers and impairment of speech and/or reasoning).
They also have visual disturbances (blurring, sensitivity to light, eye pain, need for frequent prescription changes); psychological problems (depression, irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, personality changes, mood swings); chills and night sweats; shortness of breath; dizziness and balance problems; sensitivity to heat and/or cold; alcohol intolerance; irregular heartbeat; irritable bowel (abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, intestinal gas);
low-grade fever or low body temperature; numbness, tingling and/or burning sensations in the face or extremities; dryness of the mouth and eyes (sicca syndrome); menstrual problems including PMS and endometriosis; chest pains; rashes; ringing in the ears (tinnitus); allergies and sensitivities to noise/sound, odors, chemicals and medications; weight changes without changes in diet; lightheadedness; feeling in a fog; fainting; muscle twitching; and seizures.
How is CFIDS treated?
Treatment for CFIDS is intended primarily to relieve specific symptoms. Treatment must be carefully tailored to meet the needs of each patient. Sleep disorders, pain, gastrointestinal difficulties, allergies and depression are some of the symptoms which physicians commonly attempt to relieve through the use of prescription and over-the-counter medications. Persons with this illness may have unusual responses to medications, so extremely low dosages should be tried first and gradually increased as appropriate.
Lifestyle changes, including increased rest, reduced stress, dietary restrictions, nutritional supplementation and minimal exercise also are frequently recommended. Supportive therapy, such as counseling, can also help to identify and develop effective coping strategies.
Researchers and clinicians specializing in CFIDS use therapies which attempt to alter the mechanism or nature of the disease. For additional information on treatment, see The CFIDS Chronicle.
Who gets CFIDS?
CFIDS strikes people of all age, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Most diagnosed cases in the United States are women between the ages of 25 and 45, but CFIDS afflicts men, women and children of all ages.
How many people have CFIDS?
Carefully designed studies conducted by independent researchers using restrictive criteria have yielded estimates that at least 200,000 to 500,000 adults in the U.S. have CFIDS. CDC data confirm these estimates. Prevalence studies of the illness among children and teenagers have not been done. Many cases of CFIDS among youth and adults remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
These conservative minimum estimates support the fact that CFIDS is one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses of our time. For example, it is at least twice as common as multiple sclerosis.
Do PWCs get better over time?
The course of this illness varies greatly. Some people recover, some cycle between periods of relatively good health and illness and some gradually worsen over time. Others neither get worse nor better while some improve gradually but never fully recover. The CDC is conducting a long-term study of PWCs to learn more about the course of illness. CDC investigators have reported that the greatest chance of recovery appears to be within the first five years of illness, although individuals may recover at any stage of illness. Investigators also have found an apparent difference in recovery rates based upon the type of onset. PWCs with sudden onset reported recovery nearly twice as often as those with gradual onset. This study is ongoing and observations about the course of illness are likely to change as more data are collected.
What causes CFIDS?
The cause of CFIDS is not yet known, but a growing number of researchers is dedicated to uncovering the cause (etiology), mechanism of disease (pathophysiology) and effect on the body (pathogenesis). Current research shows evidence of immune system dysfunction in CFIDS. The exact nature of this dysfunction is not yet well-defined, but is generally viewed as an up-regulated, or overactive, state. Considerable evidence indicates that CFIDS patients have a dysfunction of the central nervous system. Researchers are trying to identify the agent(s) responsible for causing CFIDS. Scientist are also studying immunologic, neurologic, endocrinologic and metabolic abnormalities and risk factors (such as genetic predisposition, age, sex, prior illness, environment and stress) which may affect the development and course of the illness.
Are viruses involved in CFIDS?
Many scientists are convinced that viruses are associated with CFIDS and may cause the disease. It was once thought that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpesvirus that causes mononucleosis, caused this syndrome. Elevated antibodies to a number of viruses, including EBV, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), indicate a viral component to CFIDS, although not necessarily a cause.
Enteroviruses, newly discovered retroviruses, herpesviruses and other viruses are being studied to see if they cause or contribute to the disease process.
Is CFIDS contagious?
No one knows what causes CFIDS or if it can be transmitted. Most people in close contact with CFIDS patients have not developed the illness; however, clusters of cases have occurred in families, workplaces, schools and communities. Several of these clusters have been investigated and no infectious agent has been found. While there is no documented evidence that CFIDS is infectious, it is studied by the infectious disease divisions of the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Preliminary research indicates that genetics may help determine who gets the illness. When members of the same family become ill, they are more often blood relatives than spouses.
What precautions should PWCs take?
PWCs should consult their physicians about what precautions may be advisable since questions remain about the possibility of contagion.
In general, persons with serious illnesses are advised against donating blood, blood products or organs. Additionally, some physicians encourage PWCs to take universal precautions recommended to persons with infectious illnesses until more is known about CFIDS. These measures also would help protect PWCs from common viruses and bacteria that could contribute to an increased number and/or severity of symptoms. Other physicians believe that there is no risk to non-ill contacts and that no special precautions are necessary.
Should PWCs receive flu shots or other immunizations?
Persons with CFIDS often have up-regulated immune systems and frequently don’t make antibodies after receiving immunizations. Persons with up-regulated immune systems are at higher risk for adverse reactions to vaccines. Allergy shots, however, seem to be better tolerated. PWCs are urged to consult their physicians and to analyze the potential benefits and risks before taking or refusing any immunization.
Is exercise helpful or harmful?
One hallmark of CFIDS is an intolerance of previously well tolerated levels of physical activity. Most PWCs’ symptoms worsen severely, sometimes for days, following even minor exertion. Physicians generally recommend that PWCs perform limited (and preferably anaerobic, e.g., light weight training) physical activity to guard against the negative consequences of deconditioning, but that they listen to their bodies and not push beyond their limits.
Is weight gain common?
Some patients lose weight, but many PWCs gain it without a significant change in eating habits. This gain may be due to CFIDS-related disturbances in metabolism as well as decreased activity.
Is depression common?
Many PWCs become depressed as a result of–rather than a cause of–CFIDS. Depression is common in all chronic illnesses; it results from numerous losses, life changes and altered brain chemistry. In some cases depression becomes very severe. CFIDS-related depression can be managed with medication and/or supportive counseling.
What role does stress play in this illness?
Stress is very harmful to PWCs. Physical and/or emotional stress usually worsen symptoms and contribute to relapse. PWCs are advised to decrease the stress in their lives as much as possible.
In more global terms, stress has been found to weaken the immune system and increase susceptibility toillness in most animals, including humans. Some researchers believe that stress (especially major life changes) may contribute to the onset of CFIDS, as it does in many other diseases.
How does pregnancy affect CFIDS?
This issue has been explored only informally. According to limited clinical observations, some pregnant women with CFIDS experience no change in their symptoms. Others report symptom remission from early in the pregnancy and lasting until about six weeks after the delivery.
Pregnant women with CFIDS should seek care from an obstetrician early and often during pregnancy.
Many medications that treat CFIDS symptoms must be stopped or decreased during pregnancy and resumed after giving birth and discontinuing breast feeding. The question of whether CFIDS can be transmitted from parent to child remains unanswered. There is currently no evidence that babies born to parents with CFIDS are different from other babies. When deciding whether or not to have a child, PWCs and their partners should consider the enormous expenditure of energy required to care for a baby and, later, an active child.
Is CFIDS related to other illnesses?
There are a host of illnesses that share many of the symptoms of CFIDS. Fibromyalgia, neutrally mediated hypertension (NMH), chronic Lyme disease and interstitial cystitis are just a few of many overlapping syndromes. Research is underway to determine the relationship among these illnesses.
Specifically, fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons. The requisite for diagnosis of fibromyalgia is widespread pain lasting a minimum of three months and at least 11 of 18 specified tender points clustering around the neck, shoulders, chest, hips, knees and elbows. Other symptoms commonly experienced by persons with fibromyalgia include sleep disturbance, cognitive difficulties, irritable bowel, fatigue and headache.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have reported preliminary evidence supporting a link between CFIDS and a known blood pressure disorder called neutrally mediated hypertension (NMH) or vasodepressor syncope. In NMH, the brain and the heart do not communicate properly, even though both are structurally normal. An inappropriate response to adrenaline (a hormone produced when the body is under stress) causes blood pressure to fall when it should rise. Individuals with NMH feel lightheaded and may feel faint when this condition is triggered by various physical and emotional stressors. Cognitive problems, muscle aches and severe fatigue often follow and can become chronic.
Further studies, including clinical trials of treatments used to manage this condition, are underway at Johns Hopkins University, the National Institutes of Health and other medical centers.
Why is this disease called CFS or CFIDS?
The term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was adopted in 1988 in the original case definition published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The authors selected this name based on limited knowledge about the illness and a belief that the most common complaint among patients was debilitating, prolonged fatigue.
The term “chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome” (CFIDS) was proposed by a researcher to illuminate the multi-systemic impact of the illness. CFIDS and CFS are now used interchangeably by PWCs, clinicians and researchers.
Unfortunately, the name chronic fatigue syndrome trivializes the disease. CFS is often confused with chronic fatigue, a symptom of most illnesses. The name also places too great an emphasis on the single symptom of fatigue.
In the late 1980s, the media coined the term “yuppie flu” to describe CF(ID)S. This demeaning label reflected differences in access to health care among those with the disease and showed a lack of understanding about its complexity. However, many people went undiagnosed or were misdiagnosed because of the perception that CFIDS only affected white professionals. Today we know that there is nothing “yuppie” about CFIDS. It is a serious illness that knows no demographic or socioeconomic boundaries.
CFIDS advocates and physicians who understand the scope of the illness have great interest in adopting a more appropriate name for CFIDS. This is likely to occur only after the cause or a marker is found or the pathogenesis (effect on the body) is better understood.
What is being done to conquer CFIDS?
The suffering inflicted by CFIDS can be alleviated only through education, enlightened public policy and research–the three areas in which The CFIDS Association of America leads the nation. These Association-sponsored programs have brought early and impressive progress and are essential to the battle against CFIDS. A MACROBIOTIC UNDERSTANDING OF CFIDS.
Observing the general symptomology of this condition as given above indicates the syndrome is the result of pathological toxicity in any or all of the following organs: the large intestines, kidneys and liver as the primary organs being affected as well as lungs, small intestine, and heart. From the macrobiotic perspective the immune system consists of the liver, kidneys, spleen, white blood cells/lymphatic circulation, and the large intestine. The conclusion is that immune dysfunction is the result of toxic damage to these organs.
The macrobiotic approach is to adopt a macrobiotic dietary program that is tailored to the particular profile of an individual with this condition as well as doing the Ginger Compress regimen. Of course, in those cases where people with syndrome are severely debilitated by the fatigue they will need help with the cooking etc., until they have sufficiently recovered enough to do it for themselves.
September 1996.
PSORIASIS. For this month I have chosen this disease process symptomology because my sister recently wrote to me and informed me her new husband has a bad case of psoriasis. Since I have counseled several people with psoriasis and they have had a resolution of the condition, I decided to relate what I know about it.
The following information I obtained from the web-site of The National Psoriasis Foundation (as a tip to facilitate web searches I use HotBot as the most efficient way I have found to find information on the World Wide Web).
What is Psoriasis?
Introduction
Psoriasis is a noncontiguous skin disorder that most commonly appears as inflamed swollen skin lesions covered with silvery white scale. This most common type of psoriasis is called plaque psoriasis.
Psoriasis comes in many different variations and degrees of severity. Different types of psoriasis display characteristics such as pus-like blisters (pustular psoriasis), severe sloughing of the skin (erythrodermic psoriasis), drop-like dots (guttate psoriasis) and smooth inflamed legions (inverse psoriasis). The degrees of severity of psoriasis are divided into three important categories: mild, moderate and severe.
Causes of Psoriasis
No one knows what causes psoriasis, though it is generally accepted that it has a genetic component, and a recent study has established that it is an autoimmune skin disorder. Scientists believe that a person is born genetically predisposed to psoriasis. One in three people report a family history of psoriasis, but there is no pattern of inheritance. There are many cases in which children with no apparent family history of the disease will develop psoriasis.
Whether a person actually develops psoriasis may depend on something “triggering” its appearance. Examples of “trigger factors” include systemic infections such as strep throat, injury to the skin (the Koebner phenomenon), vaccinations, certain medications, and intramuscular injections or oral steroid medications.
Once something triggers a person’s genetic tendency to develop psoriasis, it is thought that in turn, the immune system triggers the excessive skin cell reproduction.
The Psoriasis Cycle
Skin cells are programmed to follow two possible programs: normal growth or wound healing. In a normal growth pattern, skin cells are created in the basal cell layer, and then move up through the epidermis to the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of the skin. Dead cells are shed from the skin at about the same rate as new cells are produced, maintaining a balance. This normal process takes about 28 days from cell birth to death.
When skin is wounded, a wound healing program is triggered, also known as regenerative maturation. Cells are produced at a much faster rate, theoretically to replace and repair the wound. There is also an increased blood supply and localized inflammation. In many ways, psoriatic skin is similar to skin healing from a wound or reacting to a stimulus such as infection.
Lesional psoriasis is characterized by cell growth in the alternate growth program. Although there is no wound at a psoriatic lesion, skin cells (called “keratinocytes”) behave as if there is. These keratinocytes switch from the normal growth program to regenerative maturation. Cells are created and pushed to the surface in as little as 2-4 days, and the skin cannot shed the cells fast enough. The excessive skin cells build up and form elevated, scaly lesions. The white scale that usually covers the lesion is composed of dead skin cells, and the redness of the lesion is caused by increased blood supply to the area of rapidly dividing skin cells.
Living With Psoriasis
Psoriasis can be very painful, but the pain is more than skin deep. The emotions suffer as well. It presents people with physical limitations, disfiguration, and its tedious, daily care always demands too much time. Embarrassment, frustration, fear, and depression are common. In extreme cases, a loss of self-esteem results in a complete withdrawal from society.
Various kinds of temporary relief are available, and they work with varying degrees of success. Treatments and medications are often time consuming and expensive. They can be cosmetically unpleasant and pose additional health risks for the patient.
Psoriasis does not follow a predictable course. Each individual case breaks its own trail. One thing is certain: the symptoms may come and go, but they almost always come again. Its a life-long disease.
The National Psoriasis Foundation is committed to improving the lives of people who have psoriasis through education, while stimulating research to find a cure. —————————————————————————- Psoriasis Statistics
[ * ] Americans Affected – Psoriasis affects 5 million Americans.
[ * ] Gender – Psoriasis affects men and women equally.
[ * ] Average Age of Onset- The average age of onset is 22.5 years of age, though psoriasis is seen at birth and as late in age as 90.
[ * ] Childhood Psoriasis – Between 10 to 15% of the people who get psoriasis are under the age of 10.
[ * ] Psoriatic Arthritis – There is a form of arthritis that occurs in approximately 10-20% of the people who have psoriasis. It is called psoriatic arthritis.
[ * ] New Cases – Between 150,000 and 260,000 new cases of psoriasis occur each year.
[ * ] Outpatient Costs -Annual outpatient costs for treating psoriasis is currently estimated at $1.6 to $3.2 billion.
[ * ] Disability Grants – An estimated 400 people are granted disability by the Social Security Administration because of their
psoriasis each year.
[ * ] Fatalities – Annually, approximately 400 people die from psoriasis-related causes.
[ * ] Psoriasis Patients – Over 1,500,000 people per year are seen by U.S. physicians for psoriasis. —————————————————————————- The above is conventional medical information. And I have mentioned several times that there is no cure for any disease.
From a macrobiotic perspective, any skin condition indicates the organs of elimination are stagnated and toxic – these are the kidneys/bladder, the large intestine/lungs and the skin.
The foods which are significant contributors to stagnation and toxicity in this particular condition are the following:
Any animal protein/fat – thus they must be avoided – including any form of meat and dairy food. So, no beef, lamb, pork, eggs, chicken, fish, milk, cream, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, butter etc.
Any form of simple sugars – thus no fruit or fruit juices, soft drinks, any form of alcohol, sugar, honey, maple syrup, molasses etc.
Any form of refined food – especially refined white flour, tofu and tofu products like soy milk etc.
Avoid all the deadly nightshade family of foods- potato, tomato, peppers and eggplant.
Spices.
Drinking too much liquid of any kind.
Overeating any food.
It is also very important not to overdo the use of sea salt (regular table salt must necessarily be avoided) – therefore the use of miso, tamari, umeboshi plum, sesame salt and salty pickles must not be overdone.
Obviously I recommend adopting a macrobiotic dietary practice as the first step to be taken to allow for the body to rid itself of the symptoms of any condition. In addition it is crucial to do the regimen of ginger compresses on the abdomen.
As for external treatments to ease any irritation and inflammation, itchiness etc., I recommend using Brown Rice Bran (the brown rice bran – called nuka in Japanese- may be obtained from natural food stores) as follows:
Take one cup of brown rice bran and wrap it up in a cheese cloth or cotton cloth bag to make a sack of the brown rice bran. Take a 1 quart pot and fill it with water (tap water is okay) and bring to a boil. After switching the heat off and letting the water stop boiling place the bag of brown rice bran in the pot. Let it steep in the hot water until a yellowish liquid begins to seep out of the bag. It is now ready to use.
Lift the bag out of the pot, squeeze the excess liquid back into the pot, and rub the bag of brown rice on the areas of skin affected with psoriasis. This can be done two to three times a day. Also, it can be used in a bath to which is also added one pound of any kind of salt.
July 1996
BREAST CANCER. I am taking a look at breast cancer this month because of the interest which is being generated by it as a result of the US Post Office bringing out a stamp to ‘increase awareness’ of this condition in the general population.
From a macrobiotic perspective the breasts are, like any sexual organ, ruled by the kidneys, so the remarks I made about the kidneys with reference to prostate cancer also apply here. Also, in my experience of counseling thousands of women over the past decade it has been my observation that when any woman has female organ problems, be they of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus or breasts they also have what I call ‘Chronic Intestinal Stagnation'(CIS), a condition I will describe at a later date; and conversely, if they have CIS, they always have problems with the female organs.
It is a remarkable fact that most women seem to accept as normal that every month when they undergo menstruation that this is invariably marked by discomfort, sometimes mild but most often extreme, including cramps, nausea, irritability and depression. This is actually abnormal. A healthy woman’s menstruation will occur regularly every 28 days or so, take approximately three days, with mild spotting in the first few hours, a light and even flow of menses over the next twenty four to thirty six hours followed by a drying up period before the episode is over, and be an occurrence of such mildness as to be comparable to having to go and urinate.
The fact that this is not the normal experience of most women once they reach puberty means the condition of the urogenital system is already beginning to deteriorate at an early age.
It is obvious, from a macrobiotic perspective, what the cause of these problems are and so if a woman wishes to have these unpleasant monthly episodes cease then it is necessary to go on a macrobiotic dietary program, avoiding all (and especially) dairy food, spices, cold foods, supplements, animal fat and high protein foods entirely, including ANY AND ALL SOYBEAN PRODUCTS INCLUDING TOFU, SOY MILK AND OTHER SOY PRODUCTS except miso, tamari and natural soy sauce.
The condition I call CIS is a condition of the small and large intestines and is treated with the ginger compress. However, instead of doing the ginger compress on the kidneys, it is done on the abdomen, using the towels to cover the area from the sternum to the pelvic bone and from one hip bone to the other so the entire soft belly of the abdomen is treated. But do the treatment lying on your back.
In the case of a woman wishing to treat specifically female organ problems like breast cancer, then do the ginger compress on the abdomen twice a week. In addition, a home treatment called the Daikon Bath( which is called the universal home remedy for all female organ conditions) should be done twice a week, the treatment regimen being a total of thirty two ginger compresses and thirty two daikon baths over a period of 16-20 weeks. These treatments are absolutely to no avail if they are not also accompanied by a change to a macrobiotic dietary practice.
The Daikon Bath.
Items: One Gallon container with a lid.
The dried leaves of four bunches of daikon greens.
If you cannot obtain daikon greens, then use either turnip greens or comfrey greens- in all cases the greens must be hung to dry in a place sheltered from direct sunlight until the leaves turn crisp and dry before using them. It is possible the grocery store from which you obtain your vegetables sells daikon radishes; if they do, ask them if the daikon are delivered to the store with their leaves still attached. If they are, then ask the store manager to save a bag for you, and then take them home a dry them by hanging them up on a piece of string in your garage or attic or another suitable place in the shade.
One generous handful of any kind of sea salt or rock salt. If you are willing to pay for daikon leaves already dried, they are available by mail order from the following address:
Razel Plemmons,
PO Box 895,
Arbuckle, CA 95912.
Send a check for $7.50 for one bag of Dried Daikon Leaves, (which is enough for two baths), and follow the instructions I give here.
Instructions:
The treatment has to be done at night before going to bed. Once you enter the bath to do the treatment then you must go to bed immediately after getting out of the bath.
Place half a gallon of water in the container along with the four bunches of dried daikon leaves(or half a bag), bring to a boil and let simmer for half an hour. Then add the generous handful of sea salt or rock salt. Meanwhile run a hot bath, so that you can either lie in it so your body is covered up to the neck, or you can sit in the bath with the water level up your navel, the upper part of your body wrapped in a towel to keep it warm. Then pour the salty daikon water into the bath through a strainer or sieve to keep the leaves out of the bath. The leaves are later discarded.
Get in the bath, with the water as comfortably hot as you can stand, and soak for 15-20 minutes. Then get out, dry yourself rapidly, get well covered, e.g., put on a pair of pajamas, a dressing gown and a scarf on your head, and go to bed.
The activity of the dried daikon leaves, because of the upward movement of the leaves as they are growing and the shrinking activity as they are dried means these dynamics are in the water when you get into the bath. The result is the chi or etheric activity of the daikon leaves prepared in this manner cuts through the fatty, mucus deposits in the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and breasts (even if you are not lying in the bath up to your neck) and dissolves them and then draws them down toward the uterus to be excreted in the form, usually, of copious vaginal discharge. The heat of the bath stimulates the overall blood and lymph circulation so that when you get into the bed well-covered you will eventually begin to sweat profusely.
Of course, some women begin to sweat on the first occasion of doing the bath, but more usually it takes several weeks because most women have a lot of accumulated fat under the skin and this needs to get dissolved first before real sweating can begin.
The resulting activity of the daikon bath thus brings about, if and only if accompanied by a change to a macrobiotic diet of cooked whole grains and vegetables, the following:
A cleansing and tonification of the female organs.
A thorough-going cleansing of the skin, including facial skin, which is truly remarkable to see(all you models out there, take note!).
A dissolving and melting away of fat deposits everywhere in the body.
Therefore it used in all conditions of the breasts, ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus/vagina, for helping to lose weight, and as a tremendous skin cleanser, along with a change to the macrobiotic dietary program.
Caution.
Do not use the Daikon Bath if you have any heart condition requiring medication; in this case get on the macrobiotic diet for four months, then wean yourself off the medication over a period of four to six weeks, with the guidance of an experienced macrobiotic practitioner, and then do the daikon bath treatment. (It is remarkable how quickly the heart heals itself with the macrobiotic dietary approach.)
This treatment is only for women.
It is wise initially, say for the first three to four weeks of doing the bath, to not schedule anything for the day after doing the bath; to begin with you tend to feel somewhat to very tired the day after doing the bath and it is better to take it easy.
Also, if it happens that the cleansing of the female organs manifests as vaginal discharge and/or symptoms similar to those which manifest in urinary tract infections such as burning and itching and the urge to urinate frequently, DO NOT TAKE ANTIBIOTICS. Instead, make a douche liquid as follows:
Place the flesh of 6-7 Umeboshi Plums in 1 quart of water and bring to a boil. Switch the heat off and let cool to body temperature. Then strain out one cup of the umeboshi liquid and use to douche. The next day, reheat the water until it reaches body temperature and douche again with one cup of the strained umeboshi liquid. Repeat daily until the liquid is gone; then add 3-4 new umeboshi plums to the ones you have already in the pot, add 1 quart of water, bring to a boil etc. Do this for ten days, douching once a day.
Another home remedy specifically for the female organs is to follow the recipe I gave for Aduki Bean Tea in the section on Prostate Cancer, but replace the Aduki Beans with Black Soybeans.
Commentary. A case was reported in one of the local papers about a woman who had both of her breasts removed, not because she had breast cancer, but because her grandmother had breast cancer, her mother had breast cancer and one of her sisters had breast cancer. She decided to have her breasts removed in order to avoid the possibility of getting breast cancer, since, as the saying goes, “it runs in the family” or as she put it “there is obviously something wrong in the Kingdom of Denmark”. This story is another of the many current illustrations of the sorry state of modern medicine; if you take this kind of thinking to its logical conclusion, why not just remove the whole body and you won’t have to worry about getting sick at all!
The fact is that diseases “run in the family” only if a daughter or son eats the standard modern diet of their parents, for then they will tend to show up with the same kinds of disease their parents developed, and at a younger age. If, on the other hand they change their diet to a macrobiotic diet, then they will not. In my case, my grandfather on my father’s side died of a heart attack at the age of 75, my father died of a heart attack at the age of 33, and I have no doubt I would have had a heart attack before the age of thirty if I had not changed my eating habits to a macrobiotic approach to eating at the age of 28 (I am now 48).
Furthermore, when a woman develops breast cancer, has the breast removed, usually the cancer shows up again later(if no macrobiotic dietary and other lifestyle changes are made), either in the other breast, or it goes deeper into the body, to the lungs, liver or brain. Thus, removing both breasts only guarantees this lady is not going to develop breast cancer; it certainly does not guarantee she will not develop cancer.
It will no doubt occur to you that eating the “meat and sugar” diet is actually a prescription for developing degenerative disease (and statistics of disease in the USA confirm this). Thus it would seem logical, if one wished to reduce one’s chances of developing degenerative illnesses that it would be an intelligent choice to quit eating the “meat and sugar” diet and replace it with one based on cooked whole grains and vegetables BEFORE developing any degenerative illness. In so doing, one is no longer a passive recipient of taking one’s health for granted; rather, you are becoming a co-creator of your own health, vitality and longevity.
kaareb@creative.net June 1996 PROSTATE CANCER.
This particular symptomology has been a lot in the news lately, what with Time Magazine have a front cover story on it, and the C.E.O. of Intel having been diagnosed with it. Also we have Frank Zappa and Timothy Leary dying of it in recent months. I have counseled perhaps 15-20 men with prostate cancer over the past several years and all of them have had, after being on a macrobiotic dietary program I recommended to them for two to three years, (of course, they still eat macrobiotically) a complete remission of the cancer as determined by their doctors.
From the macrobiotic perspective, the kidneys/bladder are the ‘ruling organs’ of the urogenital organs, which means any symptomology developing in the sexual organs, kidneys and bladder are the result of imbalances and stagnations in the kidneys. There are many symptoms which indicate the kidneys/bladder are weak and stagnated.
Physical symptoms include excessive sweating and urination, including having to go to the bathroom after one has gone to bed at night, pain when urinating, the urine is a pale watery color, or dark brown, frequent urination, sometimes with not much urine coming out when one does urinate. The pain is due to irritation caused by inflammation and /or infection. There may be pain and/or stiffness in the mid-region of the back in the area where the rib cage ends near to the spine. Kidney/bladder weakness also manifests as tiredness, especially between the times of 4.00-6.00PM, and general overall fatigue.
Psychological symptoms include anxiety, insecurity, fear, loss of self-confidence or the opposite, excessive confidence and foolhardiness.
Causes of Kidney/Bladder weakness, stagnation and toxicity.
Dietary.
1. Too much liquid.
This is probably the most significant of all the causes of kidney weakness. Of course, it is commonplace for people today to drink 8-12 eight ounce glasses of liquid a day because this is what most doctors recommend. The reason given for drinking so much liquid is “to flush out” the kidneys. However, the kidneys do not function like a faucet; they are filtering organs and they can only filter so much fluid in any given unit of time, and if they are forced to filter too much liquid they become tired, weak and swollen.
The reason physiologically for recommending people to drink so much liquid is the consumption of animal protein leads to the production of uric acid and ammonia, which are both toxic to the body. Thus drinking lots of fluid will ” flush these out” and also dilute their concentration in the body.
If you decide to adopt a macrobiotic dietary practice, liquid intake, over and above the bowl or two of miso soup you may consume daily, is no less than three and no more than five eight ounce glasses of fluid a day(unless you are thirsty).
The type of fluids recommended are limited to bancha twig tea, roasted brown rice tea, roasted barley tea, roasted corn tea, dandelion root tea and burdock root tea. Water quality should be either purified tap water or spring water.
Beverages to avoid include coffee, green or black teas, aromatic herb teas, beer, wine, liquor, all soy drinks, tap water, mineral water, carbonated sodas, sweet diet drinks, milk and milk products, and cold/iced drinks.
It is important to refrain from eating foods which have a high watery content, like fresh mushrooms, asparagus, fruits, tomatoes and potatoes.
2. Too much salt, too little salt, and poor quality salt.
Of all the foods human beings consume, salt is the most yang in terms of yin and yang. Thus it has a tremendous contracting, hardening, densifying effect upon the organs and tissues of the body. The refined sea salt which is commonly used as table salt is totally lacking in any minerals, being virtually constituted of sodium and chlorine alone. Table salt is thus less contracting and densifying than unrefined sea salt,(which in addition to sodium chloride contains anywhere from 80-100 trace elements which are important for proper mineral balance in the body), but since it is a refined food, places demands upon the mineral physiology of the body to make balance for what is lacking in the refined salt. This important effect of common salt means minerals have to be leached from the bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles to make up the balance for what is lacking in table salt.
(Incidentally, with these two causes of kidney problems, too much liquid and poor quality salt, we have the two primary causes of sports injuries. This is a topic which requires a more lengthy explanation and I will get to it one of these months)
The contracting effect of salt thus causes hardening and tightening of the kidneys, and since the kidneys have the important function of balancing the mineral content of the blood and tissue fluids, the refined sea salt causes additional stresses to the function of the kidneys over and above the contracting, hardening quality of the salt itself.
Too little salt leads to less than vigorous, dynamic activity of the kidneys which then become weakened as a result.
Thus traditionally drawn sea salt (the method used to draw the sea salt out of the ocean water is very interesting in itself) is the recommended quality of salt and since, of all the substances human beings ingest, sea salt is the most important, I have to say that I know of only two sea salts I recommend. The best of these is sold under the brand name “Si-salt”, which is drawn from the ocean waters off the shores of Baja in Mexico, and I think it a superior quality to any other sea salt of which I know because it is the only one which is stone ground. This means the crystalline structure of the sea salt crystals are maintained. All other sea salts use the high speed mechanical method of ‘hammer-milling’ to break the large sea salt crystals to the powdery form we buy in the store. The other sea salt I recommend is sold under the brand name “Lima Sea salt”. This one is drawn from the ocean waters off the coast of Belgium.
It is very important that sea salt is only used for cooking purposes. Do not get into the practice of pouring sea salt or any salty product, e.g., tamari etc., on top of your food once it is on the plate.
As for quantity of sea salt eaten per day, this is very much an individual question so I am not going to say anything about it.
3. Animal protein.
Animal protein is also on the more extreme yang end of the ‘Spectrum of Human Foods’ (See the Alchemical Page, “Introduction”) and therefore has a hardening, condensing effect upon the kidneys. All animal products should be avoided in the case of kidney stagnation, which means avoid meat, chicken, fish and all dairy foods.
4. Cold.
All cold foods and drinks have a hardening and swelling effect on the kidneys. It is also important to refrain from foods which have a cooling effect in the body. These include raw food, fruits and fruit juices, alcohol and sugar products and any chemically produced, or refined foods, including supplements, blue-green algae, tofu, refined flour products.
5. Fats.
All foods which contain hardening saturated fats are to be avoided and the use of oil restricted to sesame, corn or olive oil depending on where you live and your condition. Of course, tofu is high in fat and should be avoided for this reason also.
Lifestyle.
A significant cause of kidney damage is frequent air travel. This I have derived by inference from the experience of astronauts. It is well known astronauts, when they go into space, experience significant mineral loss from their bones. I mentioned above the kidneys are the organs which co-ordinate the mineral metabolism of the physical organism. They, in terms of the Five Transformation Theory of Traditional Eastern Medicine, rule the bones. In terms of yin and yang, when we go up into space at great heights, our organism becomes subjected to more yin influences (space being very yin relative to earth), and consequently the body fluids become more yin and the body responds to this, due to the action of the kidneys, by leaching minerals out of the muscles, ligaments and bones to compensate. Since these are stressful conditions, the kidneys become weaker. Now, if we are traveling frequently by air, though to a lesser degree than traveling in space, our body also experiences this yinnising process and consequent mineral depletion of the bones and stress on the kidneys.
Psychological.
The important psychological state which damages the kidneys is chronic fear and anxiety. (Of course, the opposite is also true- as the kidneys become damaged we tend to act more out of fear and feel anxious most of the time). Now, having said that, it would be obvious to say we need to eliminate this psychic state from our lives but that is not an easy task. If you were to ask what is the dominating impulse behind modern civilization in terms of psychology, you would have to say we are a fear driven civilization. There is a great deal of evidence of this everywhere we look. Thus fear is a deep rooted mystery and it is a topic which demands a lengthy dissertation if we are to get to the root of understanding why fear is so pervasive in human life. This I will leave to a later time. However, there is no question of us being able to be less fearful once we start eating macrobiotically, because as the kidneys/bladder heal we tend not to be so anxious and fearful in our everyday lives.
Discourse.
Now, having enumerated all the possible causes of kidney damage, and seeing that all these causes apply to just about everyone in the US all the time, is there any evidence of kidney problems in the population? I haven’t kept up with the statistical data in the US since 1985, but that year it was estimated there are one million new cases of kidney failure in the US every year.
Also, as anecdotal evidence, one day, several years ago, I was walking down a street in Berkeley when I came across this huge empty cardboard box on the sidewalk, and being curious as to what such a large cardboard box should contain, it being the size of a large refrigerator, I looked at the printing on it which informed me it contained “Adult Diapers”. I immediately realized these were to be used for adults who suffer incontinence and it was an eye-opener to see them being sold in such a large container. Then, not too many weeks later, I was visiting some friends in Sacramento, and while there we went shopping at one of these wholesale warehouse-type places, and I was completely amazed to see that along one wall, stacked from one end of the warehouse to the other and from floor to ceiling was nothing but these cardboard boxes containing adult diapers. So, obviously, many adults have kidneys/bladder weakness which shows up as them needing to buy vast quantities of diapers to deal with the problem of incontinence.
Recommendations.
Of course, it is important to begin a macrobiotic dietary practice if one has prostate cancer, or any of the symptoms I have described which indicate kidney/bladder problems (and I have by no means mentioned all of the possible symptomology indicating kidney/bladder stagnation). Notice I say a macrobiotic dietary practice, for although the elements of a macrobiotic diet are the same for everyone, they are not necessarily put together the same way in every instance; thus it is very important to get advice from someone who is an experienced macrobiotic practitioner, and to study the books which are available.
In addition to a macrobiotic dietary practice the following are helpful procedures:
1.The Ginger Compress on the Kidneys two-four times a week for a total of 64 compresses.
2. Salt baths:
2 lbs of any kind of Sea salt or rock salt placed in a hot bath(as comfortably hot as you can stand it) in which you soak for 15-20 minutes, twice a week for six weeks. Avoid hot baths as a regular practice; use a shower to wash yourself instead.
3. Aduki Bean Tea:
Take 1¦4 Cup Hokkaido Aduki Beans(for purposes of strengthening the kidneys/bladder these are the best quality aduki beans to use), place them in a saucepan and dry roast them for 15 minutes over medium heat.
Add two cups of water and bring to a boil. Let simmer until half the liquid has evaporated. Strain out the beans, which will need further cooking to make them digestible, and eat them in a soup or bean/vegetable dish.
To the remaining one cup of aduki bean juice add 1¦4 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce. Drink one third of a cup a day for three days. Repeat this procedure each week for the next five weeks so that you drink a third cup of aduki bean juice for three days each week for a total of six weeks.
4. A food which is particularly specific for the prostate itself is pumpkin seed. Consume a quarter of a cup of dry-roasted pumpkin seeds daily for six weeks. Copyright © Kaare Bursell, 1996.
