Category: 2nd Wave Macrobiotics

What is macrobiotics?

On 27 August 1978, on a rainy night in Philadelphia, a doctor who had just been diagnosed with cancer asked the same question to a macrobiotics teacher in their first meeting.

This is how the doctor tells us about it in his book:

“What is macrobiotics?” I asked him

Basically, it’s a way of life, incorporating a diet and philosophy to help bring about improved health and happiness. The diet varies some, depending on one’s condition, the time of the year, and the place one lives. But you should eat fifty to sixty percent whole grains, especially brown rice; twenty-five percent locally grown, cooked vegetables; fifteen percent beans and sea vegetables, and the rest made up of soups and various condiments”

He then told me in greater detail which foods I should be eating. Nearly everything he mentioned was unfamiliar. On the other hand, when he said which foods I should eliminate from my diet, he described my standard fare to the letter. Stop eating all meat, dairy products, refined grains, including white bread and flour products, he said. Cut out all sugar, all oil, nuts, fruits and carbonated beverages, and foods containing synthetic chemicals and preservatives. He said that the standard macrobiotic diet normally includes some fish, fruit desserts, and other natural sweeteners, but because my condition was so severe I should eat strictly until I showed real signs of improvements.

Almost 40 years later, the same teacher proposed a definition of macrobiotics that was supported by the entire macrobiotic community. Not only individuals but also schools agreed on that definition (dictionary style):

Macrobiotics, noun, (used with a singular verb)
1. a way of life that guides one’s choices in nutrition, activity, and lifestyle.
2. a system of principles and practices of harmony to benefit the body, mind,
and planet.
–
macrobiotic, adj., such as macrobiotic philosophy or macrobiotic diet.

Origin: from Ancient Greek: Macro (large or long) and Bios (life or way of living).

From Macrobiotic School, I would like to express that I agree with that definition.

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NOTES

[1] Sattilaro, A.J. and Monte, T. (1982). Recalled by Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. (pp.66-67)

[2] Definition agreed upon by the International Macrobiotic Conference 2017 in Berlin, with 45 macrobiotic teachers, along with GOMF, SHI, Macrobiotic Association, IMP, IME, Chi Energy, IMS, and other schools, institutes, and organizations. Link to International Macrobiotics: Macrobiotic Definition

[3] Photo credit: Michael Rossoff.