Principles & Practices
MACROBIOTIC
PHILOSOPHY
Macrobiotic Programs
For information on our popular classes and programs, please call 413-623-0012 or visit:
• www.macrobioticwellnessretreat.com (3-day introductory program held once each month at Eastover Holistic Resort in Lenox, MA: Aug 31-Sept 3, 2017, Oct 5-8, 2017, Nov 9-12, 2017, etc.)
• www.macrobioticsummerconference.com (annual conference of friends and families from around the world at Eastover, July 29-Aug 4, 2018)
Makro is a Greek root word for “long,” “large,” or “great.” Bios means “life.” Nearly 2500 years ago, Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, used the word makrobios to refer to “long life.” “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food,” as his famous proverb proclaimed. In modern times, Hippocrates’ wholesome grain based way of eating—the original Mediterranean Diet—has merged with traditional Far Eastern principles and practices under the name of macrobiotics.
Over the last generation, macrobiotics has popularized scores of healthy, high-quality foods, including brown rice, millet, and other whole grains; mochi, seitan, udon, soba, and other grain products; adzuki beans, tofu, tempeh, natto, and other beans and bean products; a cornucopia of fresh garden vegetables; wakame, comb, nori, and other sea vegetables; sea salt, miso, shoyu, umeboshi plums, mirin, kuzu, and other seasonings, condiments, and thickeners; amasake, barley malt, rice syrup, and other natural sweeteners; and bancha twig tea, mu tea, yannoh, and other beverages. Today, macrobiotics is a blend of traditional and modern foods from East and West, North and South. It is a flexible approach taking into account climate, environment, age, sex, condition of health, activity level, and personal needs.
Nearly 100 scientific and medical studies have documented the benefits of a macrobiotic diet for a wide range of conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease; breast, prostate, pancreatic, and other cancers; diabetes; and many other conditions. Unfortunately, most of this information is hard to find and Wikipedia has ignored these studies as well as most positive information on holistic health and alternative medicine. This web site is a companion to our new book What Wikipedia Doesn't Want You to Know About Macrobiotics. Click here to read the online version.
"When you touch one thing with deep awareness,
you touch everything."
- Lao Tzu
PUT YOUR HEALTH
IN GOOD HANDS
Welcome to Makropedia.com, the online encyclopedia of diet and health. Everyone knows that too much sugar, white flour, fat, and salt contribute to tooth decay, obesity, and heart attacks. But did you know that the modern food pattern is also a main cause of breast cancer, attention deficit disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease?
But that’s only the beginning. The modern food and agriculture system contributes to the breakdown of the family, crime and violence, war, and even global warming! The main cause of climate change is the beef and dairy industries. As Livestock’s Long Shadow, the explosive study by the United Nations, reported, “The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent. This is a higher share than transport.”
See the A–Z listings, research, remedies, and testimonials for hundreds of topics. After digesting the vital dietary information found on this site, Makropedia.com will help you develop your own healthy food pattern and balance your lifestyle.
Click on the above button "Planetary Health Daily News" for the latest global news on organic food, holistic health, GMOs, and related topics.
Whether you live in the hot, sunny interior of Africa, the monsoon plains of Southeast Asia, the windy north coast of Europe, or near fields of amber waves of grain in the Americas, you will find a wealth of information on Makropedia.com that you can immediately adapt to your personal circumstances and needs. This includes a multitude of delicious, healthful recipes; information on the nutritional and health benefits of common foods; simple, safe home remedies for many common ailments and chronic conditions; and personal cases histories that will inform, inspire, and transform your life!
We invite you to participate in the Makropedia community by critiquing existing articles and submitting new ones, contributing recipes and case histories, providing news or current events, and joining our worldwide directory (under construction). By sharing our understanding, insights, and experiences, we can help create a world of enduring health, happiness, and peace.
Submissions: to submit new entries or propose changes or revisions for material on this site, please email: info@makropedia.com
Enjoy, Relax, Heal
The guidelines in the above graphic are for a temperate 4-season climate such as the United States, Europe, Russia, China, and Japan. For dietary guidelines for other world regions, including Central America, South America, Mediterranean, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Cool Climates, and Cold Climates see Dietary Guidelines.
What Wikipedia Doesn’t Want You to Know about Macrobiotics (and Holistic Health)
By Alex Jack
What is macrobiotics? Every day nearly a thousand people look up this term on Wikipedia. It’s at the top of the Search list. The opening sentence of the popular online encyclopedia reads: “A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a fad diet fixed on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism."[i]
The entry proceeds to go downhill from there, claiming there is no medical evidence in support of macrobiotics, following the diet will put you at risk for scurvy, and children may be particularly prone to nutritional deficiencies. All of these claims are outrageous and demonstrably false. So is the basic premise that the macrobiotic way of eating is a fad diet or a way of thinking derived from Zen.
In actuality, macrobiotics is humanity’s oldest dietary pattern, dating to the emergence of our species by eating foraged grains and vegetables—about 4 million years ago, according to the most recent scientific studies (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013) and mastering the use of fire for cooking. This is hardly a fad! The modern way of eating, high in saturated fat, dairy protein, refined sugar, and other processed foods, is the real fad diet—dating to only a hundred years or more.
The Greek word μακροβιοσ (macrobios), from which the concept macrobiotics originated, was coined by Hippocrates, in the 5th century BCE. The Father of Medicine used the word to mean “long life,” and along with macrobii, macrobian, and other variants, it entered the Classical and Renaissance vocabulary to refer to healthy, long-lived peoples. Like Hippocrates, whose approach to health and healing is summed up in a proverb widely attributed to him “Let food be thy medicine
and medicine be thy food,” most followers of macrobiotics through the ages observed a balanced plant-based diet with little if any animal food.
DIETARY COUNSELING
Macrobiotic Dietary Counseling is available from Alex Jack, Edward Esko, Bettina Zumdick, Naomi Ichikawa Esko, and other experienced teachers and counselors in person, by telephone, Skype, or written report.
MACROBIOTIC WELLNESS RETREAT
This 3-day program will introduce you to macrobiotic principles, cooking, and energy healing in a beautiful natural setting. The Retreat is held once each month at Eastover Holistic Resort in Lenox MA.
MACROBIOTIC SUMMER CONFERENCE
The highlight of the macrobiotic year with 25+ leading teachers, counselors, and chefs presenting 50+ cooking classes, lectures, and exercise sessions. Held at Eastover Holistic Resort in Lenox MA from July 29 - Aug 4, 2018
OTHER SERVICES
Menu planning, shiatsu massage, yoga training, meditation, chanting, Nine Star Ki and Oriental astrology, acupuncture, and other personal services are other available.
GET IN TOUCH
Editorial
Tel: 413-623-0012
Programs & Services
Tel. 413-442-1360