Zen Macrobiotics: The Art of Rejuvenation and Longevity

Just finished a ten day brown rice fast first inspired 12 years ago by George Ohsawa.

Some of it is definitely pseudo science. Others who have tried the diet had success but I would be careful as nothing this extreme can be truly healthy long term

This book stated me off in 1969 and has held steady ever since. Completely won me over for food balancing wherever I am or go.

Great book in perfect condition. Diet creates the physical body and the emotional body as well.

When you read this book, please remember it was written by a Japanese MAN in the early 1960's. Some of his comments are sexist. He also has an ethnocentric view of the alleged superiority of Japanese culture vs. Western culture. Please do not let that turn you off to the rest of the book. Please this book understanding the limitations of the author's personal issues on gender and Asian vs. Western culture. Oshawa also missed the mark when he insists brown rice should be the majority of your diet. He used to think 100% brown rice diet was the path to enlightenment. OK - nobody is perfect and remember....this book was written over 50 years ago. "Zen Macrobiotics" was a seminal, inciendiary, revolutionary book which helped kick-start the nutrient dense, whole foods, natural and organic foods movement. Mr. Oshawa was teaching organic nutrition back in the 1950's when normative culture was in love with junk food. He was quite brave and heroic in his determination to spread holistic healing movement when he was just a lone voice in the desert wilderness. Millions of people laughed, ridiculed him - but he stayed pure with his vision. It was George Oshawa who sent Michio and Aveline Kushi to America from Japan to spread Macrobiotics. Erewhon Natural Foods and the Kushi Institute were a direct result of George Oshawa's teachings. In many ways he was the primary person who brought Theory of Five Elements, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture to Western culture. George Oshawa was in the same league as other whole foods pioners back in the Stone Age of 1940's - 1950's and early 1960's wellness movement....Adele Davis, Jack LaLanne, Dr. Carlton Fredericks, Paalo Aerola (spelling?) Laura Archera Huxley, Paul Bragg, Dr. Ehrert, Ann Wigmore, Viktor Vulkinsas with Hippocrates Health Institute. I became a Macrobiotic Chef/Cooking Instructor in 1975 when I was 21. I worked at the East West Foundation in West Hollywood and at Erewhon Natural Foods on Beverly Blvd. near Melrose in West Hollywood. I also was a chef at Sanae Restauraunt on Fairfax Blvd. Now it is 38 years later. I am 59 years old. Everyone tells me I can easily pass for 38 years old. Very few lines and wrinkles in my face, just a teeny bit of gray hair. I constantly get "hit on" by young guys in their 20's and 30's who tell me I am smokin' hot. HILARIOUS! I am not a "Cougar" 'cos when I go fishing, I toss the little minnows back! I have no major health problems, am medication free. I never had a major physical illness in my life - except for Scarlet Fever when I lived in Guatamela with a tribe of Mayan indigenous people for four months. I caught the Scarlet Fever "bug" from lack of potable water when I was living in the Guatemalan rain forest. Although I am a senior citizen and 59 years old - I feel like a kid - have plenty of energy, plenty of pep in my step, and every ounce of my body has "bounce". I owe this all to eating 100% organically grown plant based diet. 80% organically grown plant based food - never more than 20% grass fed, pastured, open range, permaculture animal protein which is raised according to humane principles. I absolutely DO NOT eat supermarket type Factory Farmed, GMO genetically engineered, CAFO Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operation type animal protien. That stuff is a biocide, noxious and curdles my girdle! I have blended Macrobiotic theory with Dr. Weston A. Price Foundation nutritional paradigms and it works quite well for me. Macrobiotic cuisine is a little bit dogmatic against any form of spices. If spices are organically grown and freshly ground they are highly medicinal - spices should be used in moderation as a form of medicine. Eating too much spice can have negative effect - but too much of anything is not good, right? Macrobiotic cuisine is also a little bit dogmatic against animal protein (except they agree moderate amounts of wild fish is healthy). Macrobiotic teachers advise against eating dairy products. I disagree with their theory on dairy - definitely supermarket Factory Farmed GMO dairy is crap - but it is quite healthy to eat in MODERATION raw, unpasturized, fermented dairy which is grass fed, pastured, open range with livestock raised according to Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture paradigms. I never, ever eat any dairy which is not FERMENTED. Fermenting dairy makes it far more digestible and bio available. Goat's milk is preferable to cow's milk. I stick to local fermented cheese I purchase at the farmers market - grass fed, pastured, open range artisnal, homestead cheese, my own homemade fermented kefir, yogurt - plus drinking LOTS of home brewed kefir water (non dairy, kefir grains are plant based form of fermentation) I also drink LOTS of home brewed Kombucha - several pints a day. I discovered after 23 years of my being a vegan - it caused a lot of health problems, particulary by exacerbating clinical depression issues. As a person who has struggled with depression - I realized the vegan diet was SEVERELY deficient in Omega 3. There are natural chemical compounds which are critical for brain health/central nervous system health found ONLY in ANIMAL forms of Omega 3. Plant based Omega 3 lacks critical chemical compounds - the difference between EPA and DHA types of Omega 3. Some is in plant food - some is in animal food. We need BOTH. New Chapter brand "Wholemega" Omega 3 supplements definitely helped tremendously managing clinical depression for me. You can buy New Chapter products on Amazon. 95% of Omega 3 supplements sold in America are total crap. If your Omega 3 is a clear, light yellow color - it is junk. Lots of Omega 3 supplements are from Factory Farmed GMO genetically engineered fish and do not have ANY Omega 3 - they are full of bad quality GMO soy/canola oil - or maybe even worse...cottonseed oil. Click on the link to New Chapter Wholemega brand on Amazon's website and study this issue for yourself. Some people become Food Nazi's and fanatic about diet and nutrition. What contributes to wellness is far beyond food. George Oshawa's message was a very profound message of COSMOLOGY - he studied the order of the universe. Macrobiotics is not just about a "diet" - it is about how we view our role in the cosmos - and the correlation between the existential dilemnma of human existence - the role of humans as stewards of the earth vs. the "Mega-Machine" and industrialized, refined, processed food industries causing havoc on the environment, how it oppreses farm workers, industrial factory workers, etc. George Oshawa was a prophet. In the 1950's he predicted the 1% taking over global hegemony of our worlds food production, agriculture and medicine. Back in the 1950's he offered a viable method of reclaiming our earth, our planet and our culture. I also highly recommend Bill Mollison's books on Permaculture. Bill Mollison is a genuis and a true prophet in the same vein as George Oshawa! Permaculture = "perma" as in permanent and "culture" from agriculture - because without sustainable, permanent methods of agriculture and food production then civilization will perish. Bill Mollison has published a zillion books - I highly recommend "Introduction to Permaculture" as a starter book. Permaculture is miles beyond just plain organics. Permaculture is way beyond Biodynamic Agricultre.