The seaweed man

macrobiotics T O D AY WINTER 2016 Vol. 57, No. 1 $6.95 U.S. Printed in the U.S.A.

Larch Hanson:

The Seaweed Man Plus: • 21st Century Macrobiotics • Transforming Stress into Equilibrium

• Another Miracle Cancer Cure • The Brain Maker • Summer Conference 2015

Editor’s Notes

Letters

Happy Winter!

We live in stressful times. The political divide grows larger each day. Mass shootings have become our way of life. This issue contains Bob Ligon’s thoughts on dealing with stress and my thoughts on using baking soda to counter over-acidity brought on by excess stress and as a possible cure for cancer.

In this issue we highlight the tireless work of Larch Hanson, The Seaweed Man and the excellent ideas of Phyllis Parun on the future of macrobiotic education. Also included are a report on the 2015 Summer Conference and Gale Jack’s review of the Brain Maker.

We welcome your questions and comments at gomf@earthlink.net.

Many Thanks,

Classified JOHN KOZINSKI WORLDWIDE: Monthly ‒ MA, NY, NJ, CT; 413623-5925 or 413-464-2990; www. macrobiotic.com. Full Spectrum Macrobiotics™, noninvasive Integrative Diagnosis (ID™), Consultations, Training Programs, Lectures/ Workshops, Qigong, Shiatsu.

FOR SALE: Aveline Kushi’s former home “The Good House” in Becket, MA., the beautiful Berkshire Mountains region of the ancient Appalachian mountain range. 3 generations of macrobiotic teacher owners.

Great B&B, study house, or family home with approx. 2700 square ft. of living space plus more. Contact: macrobiotic@macrobiotic.com or 413-623-5925.

Many thanks for “Happy Birthday George!” in the Autumn 2015 issue.

We are made rich by the foresight and dedication that Robert Mattson brought to the task of transcriptions of Morning Tea Talks at Vega Study Center in the late 1980s...and to Herman and Cornellia for sharing their memories of their teacher.

Thanks, as well, for “Macrobiotics, Meat Eating, and Human Ecology.” Bill Tara touches on important issues, and I appreciate his challenge (“If...macrobiotics is an ecological philosophy we need to think this problem out”) and call for a “consistent vision,” which will “move that ideal of a ‘healthy and Peaceful World’ beyond a slogan and closer to reality.” ‒ Sylvia Ruth Gray Strictly Macrobiotics Utah’s Home of Ohsawa

Hello from Down Under,

Herman was wonderful in so many respects. But to say it was a gimmick, or a bait, that Ohsawa advertised macrobiotics as a way to create a peaceful world seems to discredit Ohsawa’s thinking. George highly valued the truth and I believe he meant what he said.

Anyone who has eaten simple whole grains and vegetables, chewed them very well, and not eaten more than the body needs, would testify that after a short while, not only the body improves its condition, but the mind and emotions also improve.

Calmness, mental flexibility, clarity of mind, friendliness, intuition, and

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2 Macrobiotics Today

peacefulness are all enhanced. Body and mind are like a coin—front and back are inseparable.

The world is made up of billions of individuals. If each one can create a state of well-being and peace, using the proper way of eating as the base, world peace will follow naturally.

Seems unrealistic, but the more that take this course, the closer we’ll get to this ideal of peace (which isn’t a state of banality or boredom, but one of ever new joy).

Michio said “We don’t need any platform, we don’t need any weapons, we don’t need any laws, world peace can begin in the kitchen.” I believe this. Anyway, that’s my ten cents worth.

Thanks for the wonderful work to promote this deepest of teachings of our mentors—George, Michio, Herman, their life partner’s, and countless others. God’s strength to you my friend. ‒ Dean Cooling Sydney, Australia

Macrobiotics and Cancer,

The issue is not whether or not we become afflicted with cancer.

The challenge is to respect our bodies and try to make choices to supply nutrients, that with our best information, are suited to good health and an abundant life. The rest is beyond our control. To assume otherwise, in our imperfect state, is just delusion.

Making good choices is the challenge of a lifetime and the struggle is perhaps the reason we are here. ‒ Doug Overholt via email

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Features Continuous publication since 1960 Managing Editor Carl Ferré Associate Editor Julia Ferré

21st Century Macrobiotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Phyllis Parun

Publisher

George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation

Special Members

Nancy Adler, Michael Bauce, Sean Braniff, Michael Brown, James Brunkow, Kelsey Brunkow, Robert Carr Jr., David Catron, Maria and Mike Chen, Michael Clennan, Michele Clifford, Packy Conway, Elaine Danforth, Carl Ferré, Julia Ferré, Gus Ferré, Nels Ferré, Peter Fraser, Bob Fritz, Tim Galanek, Karen Garvey, Matthias Grabiak, Francine Harper, Susan Haase, Joel Huckins, Susanne Jensen, Andy Johns, Regina Izyderczak, Sue Hunter, Beth Kaufman, Kathy Keller, Dan Lennox, Bob Ligon, Kathy Ligon, Kerry Loeb, Mary Lore, Chuck Lowery, Gerard Lum, Gracie Malley, Karen and Neil Malley, Saci McDonald, Peter Milbury, Anita Miner, Friedmar Moch, Robert Nissenbaum, Missy Peebles, Michael Potter, Audrey Pulis, Pete Pulis, Fred Pulver, Jean Richardson, Michael Rossoff, Bob Ruggles, Alice Salinero, Sue Shimmon, Lino Stanchich, Laura Stec, Kathy Swasey, George Sweet, Hugh Tinling, Shirley Tung, Cynthia Vann, Verne Varona, Mark Vilkaitis, Kazuko Yamazaki, and Marketa Zeleznikova Underline indicates current Board of Directors

Macrobiotics Today is published quarterly by the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation, 1277 Marian Ave, Chico, CA 95928; 530-5669765. Copyright ©2016 by the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation. All rights reserved.

Annual subscription rate in the United States and possessions: $25; elsewhere, US$40. Yearly subscriptions with membership privileges (see back cover): in the United States and possessions: $25; elsewhere, US$40. Single copies of back issues are available upon request for US$7, includes shipping. For subscriptions, address changes, and advertising information, write PO Box 3998, Chico, CA 95927-3998, or call 800232-2372. For timely delivery, address changes must be received in our office by the 10th of the month preceding an issue.

Address editorial correspondence to PO Box 3998, Chico, CA 95927-3998. Send e-mail to: gomf@ohsawamacrobiotics.com. Manuscripts, photographs, and artwork are welcome. Submissions may be edited for clarity and space.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Macrobiotics Today, 1277 Marian Avenue, Chico, CA 95928.

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Transforming Stress into Equilibrium . . . . . . . . . 10

Bob Ligon

Another Miracle Cancer Cure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Carl Ferré

The Brain Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Gale Jack

Summer Conference 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Edward Esko and Alex Jack

The Seaweed Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Julia Ferré

Departments Editor’s Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Community Resources Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Back Page: The Seven and the Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Cover: Larch Hanson and Pinky. Photo by Julia Ferré.

Photos on page 18-19 by Gerard Lum.

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 3

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Private consultations & treatments available

Nutritional epidemiologist researching diet & lifestyle factors in cancer prognosis; chaired American Cancer Society commitee on cancer prevention guidelines LARRY KUSHI, SC.D. Co-author of The China Study and author of Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition; featured in the film Forks Over Knives T. COLIN CAMPBELL, PH.D. Macrobiotic leader and health educator for over four decades; author of Macrobiotics for Dummies and Nature’s Cancer-Fighting Foods VERNE VARONA Author of the Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics, the MILF Diet, and contributer to the Kind Diet; hypnotherapist and comedienne JESSICA PORTER Internationally-recognized macrobiotic counselor; faculty member of the Kushi Institute and the Strengthening Health Institute WARREN KRAMER Physician, author, and speaker on nutrition; founder of NutritionFact s.org; spoke at Congress, Dr. Oz and the Colbert Report MICHAEL GREGER, M.D.

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

21st Century Macrobiotics Phyllis Parun

I

t is not 1965. The natural healing landscape has changed since five of George Ohsawa’s students came to teach in the United States.

The plant-based diet is gaining momentum here and in the world at large. Current research is producing data showing that vegan diets promote health. Because most vegans do not know how to balance meals, they cannot really cook for wellness. They seem to depend on plants healing intrinsically without the use of the cooking science of traditional peoples. Surely, there is a lot to be said for simply removing foods like toxic meats, chicken, dairy, sugar, butter, and processed food that damages health. Cooking for health is more complex and requires extensive specialized training to produce effective healing and longevity.

Surely people need cooking schools that teach the specifics of preventing illness and promoting health.

This is where macrobiotic cooking classes come in handy. Macrobiotics combines Asian food energetics, the yin-yang principles of cooking, traditional healing recipes, and cooking methods. Macrobiotic classes aim to provide this education. Thus, we are now in a position to focus on www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Phyllis Parun

creating a more effective and global macrobiotic educational system.

Today’s World

Macrobiotic study is not an isolated island. It operates within a diverse, global arena.

Last month a woman called me to say that her father had liver cancer and she wanted to take a natural healing route. Her personal diet, which she was feeding her father, was raw food, fruits, and nuts. When I asked

her why she had chosen that diet, she said the media presented it as the best diet for health. Raw food is now getting a lot of positive press.

Macrobiotics is not featured in the media as a health promoting diet; it is not what the public is hearing.

Macrobiotics as a prevention diet is too invisible. And on the scale of need, macrobiotics is also unprepared to deal with large-scale public education. There are not enough teachers.

In order to carry macrobiotic teachings forward, many more professional cooks are needed. As early as the 1980s, Shizuko Yamamoto told me that we need one for every twentyfive people. We are nowhere near that ratio. One way we can begin to address this deficiency is to provide a mainstream career path for the employment of young students. Here is how I believe macrobiotics can begin to meet the needs of today’s public.

Today’s Macrobiotic Education

Let’s evaluate the current status of macrobiotic education and services in the United States First, there seems to be a lack of uniformity in established standards resulting in inconsistencies between

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 5

professionals with a common teaching core. What is the basis of these differing opinions? Why are there no educational standards in place? With a lack of uniformity and consistency in client recommendations coming from educated macrobiotic counselors, the existing consultant model fails to be the most effective structure for either promoting health or reversing illness.

Second, there is a prohibitively high cost of macrobiotic education for students and also for cooking services to ill client-employers, a shortage of trained professionals, a lack of job employment support, and no apprenticeship programs.

Cost of Macrobiotics as a Healing Service

Macrobiotics as a healing modality is too expensive for the people who need it. Consultations can cost

upwards of $700 and menu planning another $200 ($900 total). Cooking classes start at $500 plus time and travel out of one’s local area. Hiring a live-in macrobiotic cook costs upwards of $300 a day plus room and board. The live-in macrobiotic professional cook is for the super wealthy. Here’s the math.

Reversing disease can take a year.

At $300 a day for five-to-seven days a week, the cooks salary contract is currently in the annual range of $80,000. This is short term planning.

Only proven master chefs can command that salary, not new graduates or apprentices. Additionally, if a sick person needs caretaking services at home add the cost of a full-time person, another $80,000 to 100,000.

Such an expensive system does not inspire client confidence and cannot take hold in the lower and middle classes where it is needed most.

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Third, consumers of professional macrobiotic services have no way to measure a graduate’s skill and have no legal recourse for any failed verbal employment agreements. Currently both students and employers of cooks are left to hold onto sheer trust in “trained” individuals with no hard factual data to back up the schools or the cooks’ recommendations. In ancient China, doctors did not get paid unless the patient was cured. In England today, medical doctors get bonus pay if patients improve their health. In macrobiotics, counselors and cooks expect to be paid regardless of client results.

With no counselor follow up on recommendations, no engagement of employer evaluation, no live-in-cook or counselor evaluation, and no hard data collection available, clients who employ macrobiotic cooking school graduates have little to go on.

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

The Future: Mainstreaming Macrobiotic Principles and Lifestyle

After fifty years in the United States, macrobiotics remains a micro culture and has not grown a cohesive larger community. There is little attempt to develop needed services except to fill beginner classes. Additionally, there are no services for the lifelong practitioner and as such macrobiotics is not appealing as a sustainable life-long lifestyle. The macrobiotic way of living can become a more effective social force or will remain a micro culture and erode further into anonymity, thus giving the existing macrobiotic community little support and not propagating future community members.

The global health tasks facing macrobiotic educators are big and we need to rise to meet it. The current macrobiotic consult-teacher model does not address the current physical and mental planetary illness crises, nor does it address the needs of longtime students of macrobiotics.

One has to wonder where the leadership is going to come from to move macrobiotics onto the world stage to create a more effective system for producing more teachers who focus on promoting health and reversing socially supported destructive lifestyles.

(2) CEUs required of professionals, (3) An official apprenticeship program for in the field training of graduating students, (3) Measuring graduate’s effectiveness by client/family employers evaluating them, (4) Required clinical data collection from counselor and employer.

My detailed program may be found on pages 8 and 9.

It would be a shame to let macrobiotic lifestyle and cooking practices fade back into history once again.

Therefore, we need to move forward and meet the circumstances we now face. It is my hope that new young leadership will step up and move macrobiotics forward in the 21st Century so that macrobiotics can become a more effective social force in the world for health and well being.

Phyllis Parun’s life long motivation to promote health came out of the grief of her mother dying of cancer in 1959. An avid student of traditional practices, she studied with prominent masters of the Asian healing arts in macrobiotic cooking, shiatsu, meditation, and Qigong. This New Orleansborn artist-poet-philosopher, began her macrobiotic studies in 1984 becoming an early pioneer in the healing arts presenting at medical and public schools, healing arts, and Qigong conferences. Her second grief came in 2013 when her brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Phyllis used what macrobiotics could offer her to reverse his condition. When he died she looked at the structure of macrobiotic education, finding it deficient, she resolved to offer a new system to advance it into the 21st century.

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Macrobiotic Education Requirements

A new model, a Whole Lifestyle Macrobiotic Education model could improve professional performance and create more effective and affordable services. Such education should have the following features: (1) Skill testing of graduates to determine specific levels of competence and skill,

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 7

A Whole Lifestyle Education Institution

by Phyllis Parun

The Structure of Macrobiotic Education Since its introduction in the United States, macrobiotic education has never had universal standards. Teachers evolved into the profession and are never tested for skill sets. Currently, students enter a macrobiotic education or cooking program and become teachers, cooks, or counselors. There has been a split between cooking and counseling. Cooking is a tactile art and counseling is a more intellectual philosophical art. Typically, the women are directed to cooking and the men to counseling. This split is holding macrobiotics back. Joining the two to create a Diagnostic Cook-Counselor profession would be more effective for student and for client.

A macrobiotic core curriculum would address the Whole Health Lifestyle. There would be a two-year Fundaments Core program followed by specialized courses from which students would be able to elect a major specialty.

Educational Structure (1) Recruitment with intake requirements: Applicants need to meet specific standards, 2) Professional Macrobiotic Education with restructured client and student fees, (3) Graduation, (4) Certification Credentials, (5) Post graduate Apprenticeships, (6) Job Placement Program and follow up by school and employer/ clients, (8) Continuing Educational Units programs, (9) Data Collection.

Mission ● To build a career path for students who want to prepare for a professional health career resulting in a Masters of Science degree in Macrobiotic Health Promotion ● To offer a Fundamental Core Curriculum and Advanced classes ● To have students tested for competence in both academic studies and hand-on practical skills ● To provide education for professional career path leading to a certified and licensed profession

Degree Programs B.S. and M.S. in Holistic Macrobiotic Health Promotions. Specialties: Holistic Macrobiotic Counseling.

Macrobiotic Cooking.

Curriculum Prerequisites: Anatomy, Physiology. Psychology,

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Chemistry, Small Farming, Fermenting Foods, Beginning Macrobiotic Cooking Survey Foundation Courses Survey Courses in: Medical Systems of the World; World Spirituality and Religion; Classical Medicine of India, China, and Japan; Macrobiotics; History of Treatment for Mental Illness; Holistic Modalities for Emotional Wellness; Asian Cosmology and Eastern Philosophy; Principles of Cooking for Promoting Health and Healing Illness; Fundamentals of Macrobiotic Cooking; Chinese Dietary Therapy; Plant-Based Cooking.

Core Curriculum Constitutional and conditional diagnosis, Personal self-diagnosis, Emotions effect on Physical and Emotional Health, Personal self-diagnosis and principals self correcting methods, Chinese & Macrobiotic culinary science, Promoting Longevity, Understanding Acid and Alkaline, Production of Fermented Foods (miso, tofu, umeboshi, pickles, mochi, amasake), Macrobiotic First Aid, Health Promotion Cooking Classes, Healing Illness Cooking Classes, Movement, Massage, Meditation, Business Management skills, Motivational Studies and Health Consulting skills.

Motivational and Mental Health Counseling Training: Counseling is demanding and requires very specific skills. Mental health and thoughts are a big piece of recovery. Supporting client with the right words, motivating, and correcting behaviors is a necessary part of successful counseling. With a new approach to macrobiotic education, students would be required to learn skills in motivating mental health recovery.

Recruitment Intake requirements: Applicants will meet specific standards. The curriculum needs to be well defined and certification requirements need to be specifically stated and firmly established. Students need to pass both practical and theoretical tests before graduation is conferred and the student is allowed to practice and teach the public.

Graduation Whether a student elects to specialize in either a Health Promotion or Reversing Disease program, the graduating student must demonstrate skill and professional competence in a Whole Lifestyle approach, which would include high scores in the top three of the Taoist 8 Branches of Classical Chinese Medicine:

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1) Meditation, 2) Movement/Qigong exercise, 3) Food Energetics and Cooking.

The student could acquire postgraduate studies or elective classes in the other five branches as well: 4) Astrology, 5) Geomancy, 6) Massage, 7) Herbology, 8) Acupuncture/moxibustion.

If the student elects a Reversing Disease program, competence would be demonstrated in specific disease patterns: cancer (breast, prostate, brain, liver, kidney, pancreas, etc.), diabetes, MS, heart, and so on. Future employers would be assured by the school evaluation results that the Certified Cook-Counselor they hire is qualified to work with a client who has a specific disease. This would remove some uncertainty when selecting a cook.

Apprenticeship Following graduation, the graduate would then apprentice for at least two years under a Certified CookCounselor in their qualifying specialty who would be responsible for training and evaluating the apprentice for future job placement positions.

Job Placement The Job Placement department would place students in employment, monitor their probation, and serves in order to support and back up both student and employer. Placement with individuals or institutions could be illness specific.

Data Collection In the last thirty years, students of the first wave undergoing the education system at either the Kushi Institute or Vega Study Center simply studied and then went to work with the public uncertified and untested and did not collect clinical data in any systematic way nor was what information there was collected or available for research. This lack of information prevents the macrobiotic professional (and the employing public) from really knowing what worked best and what did not with any individual’s condition.

The entire macrobiotic field is fraught with too much speculation. And even though macrobiotic teaching is based on a long history of Chinese clinical data, what is being taught today is not the original traditional clinical Chinese teaching but is a derivative and therefore, to some degree speculative. This can change when a system of data collection is required.

Graduates would be required to keep accurate clinical records of client responses similar to what nurses and caregivers do. We can then begin to learn the

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effect of the macrobiotic educational system, menus, recipes, and bodywork by looking at hard data.

Other Directions for Developing Macrobiotics in Community A new professional school is only the beginning. To build community other important services are needed.

1) Macrobiotic Way of Life Support: Cooking schools mainly serve beginners in the first to fifth year. There are no programs for macrobiotic practitioner of 5-30 years who accept macrobiotics as a way of life. Advanced mature Macro Way of Lifers are left to fend for themselves in a hostile national western medical anti-healthy living environment. There is no End of Life Plan Macrobiotic Support Plan. After a lifetime of living a Macrobiotic Way of Life, the older macrobiotic person is left to his or her usually non-macrobiotic family or a retirement institution with no macrobiotic cooking support. Macrobiotics does not promise a future community of any longevity to a beginner – only short term fixes.

2) Retreat Centers should be available for quarterly respite for cooks, students, and caretakers to rest, meditate, do Qigong, and eat restorative macrobiotic foods.

3) Community Outreach: the Macrobiotic Road Show: Event planners used by lecturers and musicians could be engaged to put macrobiotic teachers on the road from city to city, teaching and building communities. Begin with New York City, New Orleans, and then San Francisco.

4) Macrobiotic Residential Centers: People who need intensive healing care and education could reside in centers, be cooked for, and taught how to take care of themselves. Here they would live in a supportive environment with highly trained professionals.

5) Focused Health Promotion Programs: a thorough grounding in prevention and a macrobiotic way of life focused for individuals, family, and community support.

6) Macrobiotic End of Life Support: There is no End of Life Macrobiotic Support Plan. After a lifetime of cooking according to macrobiotic principles and living a Macrobiotic Way of Life there are no services. As students/teachers age, it is left to their usually nonmacrobiotic family and city or a retirement institution with no macrobiotic cooking support.

Comments and suggestions may be sent to Phyllis via pbparun@yahoo.com, or to gomf@earthlink.net.

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 9

Transforming Stress into Equilibrium Bob Ligon event from your childhood? Is it that irritating personality trait of your spouse? Is it the annoying behavior of your overbearing boss? Driving in congested traffic? How does it feel?

Do you feel a physical sensation anywhere in your body? Can you put an emotional label on it?

Definitions

A dictionary definition of stress is: 1. pressure or tension exerted on a material object; or more to the point here, 2. A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. Some synonyms for stress are strain, pressure, nervous tension, worry, anxiety, trouble, difficulty.

Here are some other definitions of stress from my own thinking: • Anything you feel pressure to do that you don’t want to do.

• Anything you can’t transform back to equilibrium—too fast, too loud, too extreme (conflict, emotion, etc.)—that overwhelms.

• Stress changes order (from knowing who, where, what you are) into chaos (can’t make sense of anything).

• Stress is being overly attached to ___________ (fill in the blank… anything).

• Stress is ego run amuck—“I want this, I want that, or any would’a, should’a, could’a.”

Not All Bad

Bob Ligon

• Stress produces an acidic condition.

• Stress leads to all kinds of inflammation.

Pause for a moment as you’re reading this and think about what your own definition of stress might be. What is stress for you? Can you think of specific events, situations, people, or emotions that you experience as stress? Is it a specific event from somewhere in your life—an

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Not all stress is destructive. Stress can help you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, your response to stress can save your life. Your physiological response to stress activates the body’s defenses in a rapid, automatic process giving you extra strength to defend yourself; for example, slamming on the brakes (without thinking) to avoid an accident—a “fight-or-flight” reaction. The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress is what keeps you on your toes, sharpens your concentration, and drives you to perform work or study, or physically respond to danger—real or imagined. But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and can cause major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

your relationships, and your quality of life. Information accessed from the following website: http://www. helpguide.org/articles/stress/stresssymptoms-causes-and-effects.htm

Physiology of Stress – The Evolutionary Design

The experience of stress (real or imagined) releases cortisol, the “fight or flight” hormone. Fear increases cortisol. Cortisol floods the body with glucose providing extra energy to get ready to run. Imagine you are a prehistoric person out there on the savannah looking for roots, berries, and grasses and you’re confronted by a saber tooth tiger. Without thinking, your reaction is to run to the nearest tree and climb up to safety. That is flight to save your life.

Furthermore, cortisol inhibits the secretion of insulin, which keeps glucose from being stored and keeps it available for immediate use while you are running to safety. Cortisol also narrows arteries while epinephrine increases heart rate so that blood pressure elevates. Once you have gotten to safety and the saber tooth tiger wanders off, you would have successfully addressed and resolved that stressful situation and hormone levels would return to normal. That’s how our stress response, “fight or flight,” is designed to protect us.

Nowadays, most of us are not confronted with life threatening saber tooth tigers. Fortunately, most of us rarely encounter a serious threat to our physical wellbeing. However, it doesn’t take an imminent physical threat to trigger the stress response and the accompanying release of cortisol. In the modern world, stress factors that can trigger “fight or flight” are everywhere, all the time. Stress is nearly inescapable and can easily become chronic. Some examples: www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

External sources of stress • Health challenge or accident • Work or school • Relationship difficulties • Financial problems • Being too busy • Being in a hurry • Children and family Internal causes of stress • Chronic worry • Pessimism • Negative self-talk • Unrealistic expectations/ perfectionism • Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility • All-or-nothing attitude

Long-Term Effects of Chronic Stress

If stress is short-lived, infrequent, or better yet, you have developed successful strategies for managing stress, the effects on your health are minimal, perhaps even negligible.

If you had a happy childhood without any major physical or emotional trauma you probably didn’t experience any serious effects of stress.

Yeah right, how many of us can say that! Far more common is one or more physical or emotional traumas in childhood. And most people don’t develop successful strategies for managing stress. As I said earlier, stress these days is neither infrequent nor short-lived. Relentless overwhelming stress, sadly, is more the norm today than the exception.

Below are some of the long-term effects of chronic stress: 1. Chronic blood sugar imbalances can lead to Type 2 diabetes.

Long-term excess glucose in the blood (just as if you were eating

sugar all the time) and not enough insulin constantly stresses the body’s blood sugar regulating function of the pancreas, liver, and kidneys eventually exhausting this function and leading to Type 2 diabetes.

2. Weight gain—cortisol moves triglycerides from storage around the body and into visceral fats (deep in abdomen) leading to that Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum body shape.

4. High glucose/low insulin levels starve cells, trigger appetite, and can lead to overeating.

5. Immune system suppression: Cortisol checks inflammation, so chronic inflammation (from poor diet and stress) keeps cortisol high.

Your immune system then is always responding on high (“fight or flight”). Eventually, your immune system gets exhausted leading to increased susceptibility to colds, food allergies, gastrointestinal issues, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

5. Gastrointestinal problems: Digestion/assimilation occurs best in a peaceful state (parasympathetic nervous system dominates—“rest and digest”). Cortisol excites the nervous system (sympathetic nervous system dominates—“fight or flight”). So, eating in a stressful state compromises digestion/absorption, indigestion ensues, and the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract becomes irritated and inflamed, possibly leading to ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, and/or colitis.

6. Cardiovascular Disease: Arterial constriction and increased blood pressure can lead to vessel damage and plaque buildup resulting in increased risk of heart attack. Type A personalities (go all the time) have a higher risk of heart disease than type B personalities (more relaxed).

7. Fertility issues: Disruption of menstrual cycle, erectile dysfunc-

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 11

tion, decreased production of sex hormones.

8. Other effects—insomnia, chronic fatigue, thyroid disorders, depression, dementia.

Overwhelming and Paralyzing

When stress overwhelms you, it can be paralyzing. When you are unable to transform stress back into equilibrium you can feel stuck and powerless to change. In that powerless state you may succumb to strain, pressure, worry, anxiety, and that “stressed out” feeling. You want to curl up in a ball on your bed and shut out the world. The pint of HäagenDazs in the freezer beckons with the promise of stress obliterating sensual pleasure. But that pleasure is fleeting.

As soon as you’re finished eating the ice cream, the pleasure is gone, but the stress is still there and your body has a pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream to deal with. There are other ways to transform stress: first an analogy, then some general strategies, and then some specific actions that you can use to transform stress.

The Sphere Analogy

Take a look at the simple diagram on this page. It is supposed to be a three dimensional sphere with x- and y-axis in solid lines and the z-axis in a dotted line. The inner darkened sphere represents a space and state of equilibrium. The outer lines or outer surface of the sphere represent all of the situations, people, relationships, emotions, energies, or events that can pull or push you out of equilibrium.

The smaller darkened sphere in the center represents the space or state where you have effectively transformed stress into equilibrium. In that space your condition is neither too high nor low, forward nor back-

ward, fast nor slow, etc. It is a safe, secure place for body, mind, and spirit that you can inhabit if you are able to manage and transform stress to equilibrium. So how can you inhabit that space of equilibrium?

How to Manage Stress?

General Strategy

The fundamental, most basic, essential, crucial element for managing stress is to remember…You have a choice! Choice gives you the power to transform. Choice gives you the power to change. Choice gives you the power to create the life you envision. Never forget that. Remind yourself every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to sleep.

The first step in a general strategy for managing stress is to stabilize your physiology. It is absolutely necessary to stabilize your physiology, but it is not sufficient. If you are not able to stabilize your physiology you won’t get much further in managing stress.

You will remain preoccupied with the imbalances of your physiological condition and stress will build. And, even if you are able to stabilize your physiology it is not enough by itself.

More steps will be required.

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12 Macrobiotics Today

Stabilize Your Physiology

Emphasize primarily whole/natural plant-based food (some animal foods may be included) like a diet derived from applying macrobiotic diet and lifestyle principles.

• Include probiotic foods—fermented foods—miso, pickles, sauerkraut • Reduce/eliminate refined sugar and refined carbohydrates • Reduce/eliminate all processed/ refined food • Reduce/eliminate caffeine • Reduce/eliminate alcohol • Reduce/eliminate hard, dry, crispy, salty foods • Be careful with all salt—it raises cortisol • Practice regular, moderate, appropriate exercise—light aerobic exercise combined with some kind of stretching (yoga, Tai Qi, Qigong) • Get adequate rest.

• Learn to nurture, forgive, and be kind and generous to yourself for emotional maintenance.

Step by Step Transformation of Stress

1. Learn to recognize stress before it gets out of control. Remember how it feels?

2. Once you recognize it, remember that you have a choice of how to interpret/relate to stress, and then3. STOP—Intervene in your experience of stress by4. Taking a single conscious breath (doesn’t even have to be deep) and pausing to5. Reflect, so that you have the opportunity to bring6. Mindfulness to your experience of stress and then you canwww.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

7. See clearly the choice you are about to make and choose to make a new one and then8. Stress will dissipate.

How to Manage StressSpecific Actions/ Strategies

1. Consciously express gratitude for the abundance and comforts you enjoy. We really require very little in this life. As the Chinese proverb says: “Food on the table, roof over our heads, already in paradise.” Expressing gratitude can lift you above the pressure and strain of stress and bring you peace.

2. Meditate/pray as forms of gratitude for maintaining mindfulness (an essential quality for transforming stress).

3. Practice saying “no” to pressures, requests.

4. Limit screen time.

5. Take a break from social media and the news.

6. Dim the lights.

7. Reduce exposure to violent energy and upsetting or extreme energies.

8. Listen to relaxing music.

9. Take warm baths.

10. Massage your feet.

11. Engage in sensual touching with your partner, including sex.

12. Make use of essential oils—I like lavender.

13. Get outside yourself—giving and service; volunteer, helping of any kind.

14. Cry/sigh/moan—just let it out.

Tears of elimination (not rumination) lighten one’s load.

15. Do something fun, entertaining, outside the ordinary.

16. Mundane Life Activities can calm and distract the stressed and agitated mind. All of these help to www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

restore order: a. Make a healthy, nutritious, delicious meal. b. Clean anything. c. Wash dishes. d. Do Laundry. e. Repair something, especially if it is simple and has been broken a long time. f. Tidy up your desk or closet. g. Make your bed. h. Take a shower, shave, spruce yourself up. i. Change clothes—dress up/ down. j. Nap, sleep, go to bed early. k. Sing at the top of your lungs (in your car to your favorite song works nicely). l. Practice horizon gaze—a skill I learned in Southeast Asia. Look out on an ocean horizon or mountain panorama (photo will do in a pinch) and just gaze for long moments. Allow yourself to be mesmerized by the setting and just relax. You might be surprised how long you can horizon gaze. When you get good at it, you can do it for hours.

Conclusion

None of us can escape stress. As I said earlier, stress is everywhere and all the time in today’s modern world. However, we can learn to manage and transform stress back to equilibrium. Be patient with yourself and learn how to transform stress and persevere. Likely you will run up against long held and deeply ingrained patterns of responding to your experiences of life. Pick one specific incident of stress and work on just that. Apply some of the suggestions contained in this article, generate your own, and do more research to find out what can be helpful for you. Good luck!

Available from KushiStore.com

Quality Paperback, 296 pages ISBN: 1508852146

Bob Ligon worked at the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation and Vega Study Center from 1989 to 1993 and was the editor of Macrobiotics Today from 1992 to 2000. He is a lecturer and counselor at the annual French Meadows Macrobiotic Summer Camp. Bob studied acupuncture and herbology graduating from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego in 1998. He integrates his knowledge of macrobiotics and Chinese Medicine in his diet, lifestyle counseling, and life coaching.

Currently, Bob practices Traditional Chinese Medicine in Akron, Ohio and does counseling and life coaching by phone. He can be reached at 330-696-3385 for telephone appointments.

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 13

Another Miracle Cancer Cure Carl Ferré

S

ome researchers and internet sites claim that sodium bicarbonate, the active ingredient in baking soda, can be used as a cure for cancer and other diseases. The logic behind this assertion is that cancer is caused or aided by an overly acidic internal environment. Sodium bicarbonate is alkalizing and helps counteract this acidity. As the typical Western diet becomes more acid forming, alkaline solutions naturally proliferate.

Macrobiotic principles tell us that every front has a back and that the bigger the front the bigger the back. Anything that has the ability to “cure” cancer also has the capacity to do great harm. This is true of chemotherapy and is also true of baking soda. As with any remedy, one needs to weigh the benefits against the potential risks. This article examines the acid-alkaline consequences of using sodium bicarbonate internally.

Three of the most important abilities for life are breathing, having a heartbeat, and maintaining a blood pH of 7.35 to 7.45. We breathe whether or not we pay attention to it. The heart beats without monitor-

kaline-forming foods than acid-forming ones is a path to optimum health and longevity.

Background

Carl Ferré

ing. Our bodies strive to maintain the proper blood pH regardless of what we do or eat. We can improve our health by paying attention to each of these vital functions.

Daily meditation, yoga, or other relaxing practice that allows us to concentrate on breathing deeply is alkalizing in effect. The greater our cardiovascular health, the more we can do with less acidic effect. Eating a diet that includes slightly more al-

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14 Macrobiotics Today

One of the conclusions people reach after reading literature and websites promoting alkalinizing foods and activities is that alkaline foods and activities are “good” and acidic foods and activities and “bad.”

This conclusion simply isn’t true. We need both for optimum health. Our bodies go to extraordinary lengths to maintain a blood pH of 7.35 to 7.45, but our stomach pH needs to be about 2.0. The actual chemistry and the body’s buffering systems used to maintain a constant blood pH are quite complex; however, the basics are easy to understand in a simplified form.

Every substance is made up of many atoms. Some atoms have the same number of protons (positively charged) as electrons (negatively charged). Some atoms have more protons than electrons and such an atom (called an ion) is looking for an electron (or two) to balance its chemical charge. Such an ion is a proton www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

pH Values of Body Fluids

Acid Alkaline Companion

from acid to alkaline

Stomach juice Urine Skin (outer layers) Small Intestines Saliva (healthy) Skin (inner layers) Blood Pancreatic Juice Large Intestines

donor. Other atoms have more electrons than protons and such an ion is a proton acceptor. Every substance can be measured. If there are more proton donors, the substance is an acid. If there are more proton acceptors, the substance is an alkaline.

The pH scale was developed to measure the acidity or alkalinity of any substance. This scale sets 7.0 as neutral; values below 7.0 are acid and values above 7.0 are alkaline. Thus, we see that a blood pH of 7.35 to 7.45 is slightly alkaline on the pH scale.

Drug stores sell hydrion (litmus) paper that allows us to measure the pH of our drinking water, saliva, urine, and so on. The important thing to remember is that each of our bodily fluids has a different range of normal pH values. See the chart above.

We can determine the acidity or alkalinity of each of the foods we eat; however, the more important thing to know is the acid-forming or alkalineforming effect of each food. When the foods we eat enter the stomach, they encounter a pH of around 2.0.

This pH is 100,000 times more acidic than neutral and is what allows us to digest foods. The effect of the food after it leaves the stomach is either acid forming or alkaline forming.

It turns out that foods high in prowww.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

presents a clear explanationof acid and alkaline theory, how to tell one’s current condition, and numerous tables of the acid-forming or alkaline-forming effects of various foods. Also included are lifestyle factors that contribute to or help neutralize excess acidity.

1.7-2.0 4.5-8.0 (varies greatly) around 5.5 around 6.0 6.5-7.4 (varies greatly) around 7.2 7.35-7.45 7.5-8.8 around 8.0

tein, fat, and carbohydrates are all acid forming. Foods high in minerals and to lesser extent vitamins are alkaline forming. Thus, we can readily see that a typical Western meal of red meat, very little vegetables, and sugary desserts and drinks is strongly acid forming. Add in physical activity without relaxation time to breathe deeply and the need for quick alkaline solutions are evident. Enter expensive alkaline water machines and inexpensive baking soda to counter the effects of an overly acidic diet.

Thoughts on alkaline water machines may be found in the May/June 2013 issue of Macrobiotics Today and at our website.

Alkaline Elements and Excess Acidity

The four main alkaline-forming elements are sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. These elements form bicarbonates in the body.

One of the ways the body maintains a constant blood pH is by the kidneys either retaining or excreting bicarbonate as they filter the blood. If one’s diet and lifestyle are overly acidic for an extended length of time, the body runs short of bicarbonate. The body then looks to other buffering systems and in the extreme begins to take al-

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George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation PO Box 3998 Chico, CA 95927 800-232-2372 or 530-566-9765 530-566-9768 fax

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 15

This is one of the best introductory books on macrobiotic philosophy and diet uniting the three major expressions of macrobiotic teachings: George Ohsawa, Herman Aihara, and Michio Kushi.

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kaline elements such as calcium from bones, teeth, and other tissues.

One of the first signs of excess acidity is fatigue and dulled mental awareness as the body slows down its processes due to having to deal with excess acidity. Second, the kidneys get rid of excess acidity through the skin and through urination. Thus, any skin or urinary problems can be a sign of too much acidity. Anyone with osteoporosis would do well to alkalize as soon as possible to make certain the bones aren’t losing calcium due to an overly acidic diet.

Some people want to continue eating an excessive acid-forming diet and balance that with baking soda or alkaline water. This solution is rarely effective as the body wears down over time when dealing with such extremes. And, taking baking soda longer than two weeks can be dangerous. Still, some people may want to use baking soda for a short time to alkalize quickly while making dietary changes.

1. Be extremely careful if you follow a sodium-restricted diet for any reason or are taking any prescription drugs. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average intake of sodium by persons eating a typical American diet is 3,400 mg per day. The recommended daily allowance for sodium is an upper limit of 2,300 mg—1,500 mg if over age 51, black, or have high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. One teaspoon of salt contains 2,325 mg of sodium. One teaspoon of Arm and Hammer® Baking Soda contains 1,232 mg of sodium.

2. Do not give to young children (under age 5) or use if pregnant or

Using Sodium Bicarbonate Internally

breast feeding without consulting a doctor or health-care provider.

3. Consult a doctor if any sideeffects occur. Some frequent side effects are nausea, bloating/gas, and swelling of the abdomen. Major side effects are rare and include: swelling of hands/ankles/feet, unusual weight gain, dizziness, muscle aches/ spasms, mental/mood changes (e.g., confusion, irritability, memory problems), vomiting, weakness, change in amount of urine, chest pain, seizures, alkalosis, high amount of calcium in the blood, and severe allergic reaction.

4. Do not exceed ½ level teaspoon in 4 fluid ounces of water per use or more than seven ½ teaspoons per 24 hours, three ½ teaspoons if over age

Some websites touting baking soda as a cure for cancer claim that it is 100 percent pure, safe, and natural. At the other end of the spectrum is Webmd, which lists sodium bicarbonate as a drug and gives all kinds of warnings and possible side effects.

Doctors prescribe sodium bicarbonate (in pill form) primarily as a quickacting antacid to treat heartburn, indigestion, and upset stomach. It is only used for temporary relief (2 weeks or less) and never long term. There is no mention of using sodium bicarbonate as a cure for cancer.

Here is a list of precautions/warnings when taking baking soda internally.

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16 Macrobiotics Today

“One of the first signs of excess acidity is fatigue and dulled mental awareness....”

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

60. Note: Seven ½ teaspoons of baking soda contains 4,312 mg sodium, well above the upper limit of sodium per day.

5. Heed the warning on each box: “To avoid serious injury, do not take until powder is completely dissolved.

It is very important not to take this product when overly full from food or drink.” The introduction of a highly alkaline substance like baking soda into the stomach can interrupt the normal functioning of the stomach’s acids. The body needs both acids and alkalines and either extreme can be detrimental to health, especially if continued over a long period of time.

Self-treatment of cancer or other serious disease is never advised. Still, you might wish to discuss using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) with your doctor, especially if you are taking any medications. Make sure to study the warnings and possible side effects thoroughly. Anyone with acidosis (a persistent blood pH below 7.35) or alkalosis (a persistent blood pH over 7.45) should contact a doctor immediately because these are serious conditions and require a thorough examination of all the body’s functioning. Note: The only way to test blood pH is in a lab. The pH of saliva and urine varies greatly and is not an indicator of blood pH.

Buffering Over-Acidity

There are many ways to counter an over acidic condition that are easier on the body than using baking soda. The first step is to use sea salt and products made with sea salt rather than commercial salt. Sea salt contains calcium, potassium, and magnesium in addition to sodium and many healthy trace minerals. Products made with sea salt such as miso, soy sauce, and umeboshi are excellent alkaline-forming foods. The next www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

step is to analyze your current diet to figure out replacements for strongly acid-forming foods.

All protein-rich foods are acid forming; however some are less acid forming than others. One way to alkalize is to diminish the use of strong acid-forming foods while including more of the less acid-forming ones. In general, here’s a list of protein foods from strong acid-forming to mild acid-forming: red meat → poultry → fish → whole grains and dried beans → dairy products → nuts and seeds → eggs. A vegan diet (no animal-sourced foods) with limited or no refined sugar is an excellent option in terms of acid and alkaline.

Sea vegetables have lots of minerals and are strong alkaline forming.

Eating them regularly is a great way to alkalize as is including more fresh vegetables in meals. Most fruits are alkaline forming for people in good health but can be acid forming for those who have any disease. Refined sugar and sugary products are highly acid forming and should be avoided. Brown rice syrup or other grain sweetener is a good substitute. Information on fruits, other food groups, and most foods can be found in my book, Acid Alkaline Companion.

In conclusion, using sea salt rather than commercial salt, eating more vegetables and other alkaline-forming foods, and reducing strong acidforming foods are better alternatives for an over-acidic condition than taking sodium bicarbonate or other highly alkaline-forming substance.

Carl Ferré is author of Essential Guide to Macrobiotics and Acid Alkaline Companion, editor of Macrobiotics Today, and director of French Meadows Summer Camp. See www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com.

Discover what millions of men, women, and children around the world have found – the macrobiotic path to “Infinite freedom, absolute justice, and eternal happiness.”

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$15.95 plus $3.00 shipping = $18.95 Essential Ohsawa is the most comprehensive look at Ohsawa’s philosophy ever presented. In it, you will learn the essence of Ohsawa’s teachings – the need for and methods of simple, natural eating and drinking; and the concepts of the Order of the Universe and yin and yang.

George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation PO Box 3998 Chico, CA 95927 800-232-2372 or 530-566-9765 530-566-9768 fax

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 17

• Superb vegan macrobiotic meals • Lectures on macrobiotics and improved well-being Excellent children’s program • • Hiking and nature walks • Swimming in lakes and streams • Legendary co-ed volleyball • Solitude, peace, and quiet • Nightly campfires: singing, dancing, story-telling, variety shows • Spacious, pristine wilderness • Workshops, cooking classes, and much much more

French Meadows Camp

47th Annual

July 15 – 23, 2016

Fees — U.S. Funds Pay in full by March 15 and save $150 per adult, $75 per youth.

Adults $1,195 (195/day); Youth (3-18) $595 ($95/day) Babies (under 3 yrs.) -- Call or e-mail before registering Deposit — A $250 deposit reserves your place in the camp.

Registrations are processed in order of receipt of payment. Make checks payable to G.O.M.F. or pay at www.ohsawamacrobiotic.com.

For flyer, call or write:

French Meadows Summer Camp PO Box 3998, Chico, CA 95927-3998 530-566-9765; E-mail: gomf@earthlink.net www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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18 Macrobiotics Today

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Come Join

the

July 15-23, 2016

Fun!

French Meadows 2016 returns with all the traditions we love (beautiful nature, macrobiotic learning, daily exercise, scenic hiking, delicious food) and adds numerous never-before options like horseback riding (fee), water adventures, beautiful scenery, real cabins, and limited cell phone access.

Campground—Our 47th Annual Summer Camp takes place at beautiful Camp Sylvester near Pinecrest Lake in the mountains of Central California. Take a look at the photos and info about our all-new location at www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com. And, watch for exciting visitor features recently added to the site.

Special Pricing—This is the time to lock-in a special discounted

price for the 2016 camp. The special price is $1,045 per adult and $520 per youth (3-18). That’s a savings of $150 per adult/$75 per youth off the full prices. Complete pricing details (and cancellation policy) may be found on our Registration page (www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com).

REGISTRATION FORM — 2016 Name _____________________________________________________________ Phone __________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________ Phone 2 _________________________ City, State, Zip ______________________________________________________________________________________ E-mail _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Arrival date ___________________ time ______________ Departure date ____________________ time ______________ List names of any additional campers and ages of all children _________________________________ _________________________________ _______________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________ _______________________________ Send registration form to G.O.M.F. Summer Camp, PO Box 3998, Chico, CA 95927-3998 along with your check or money order made payable to G.O.M.F. Or, call 530-566-9765 and charge camp to your Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.

Full payment or a deposit of $250.00 per adult and $100.00 per youth three through eighteen is required to reserve a space. If it should become necessary for you to cancel your reservation, the amount refunded is based on the date of cancellation (see www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com for more information or contact us if you have any question about this).

Total Camp fees __________ Van service fee __________ Membership fee __________ Amount enclosed ___________ Visa, MC, or Amex # __________________________________________________________ Exp __________________ Signature ________________________________________________ Verification code (3 digits from back) ___________

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 19

The Brain Maker A Book Review and Personal Story Gale Jack

S

everal years ago, my elder brother was hospitalized for over two months then moved to rehab for another two before being sent home. I thought he had recovered from the illness so was shocked to get a phone call that he’d passed away from “inflammation.” How can someone die of inflammation and why hadn’t any of his myriad doctors or the drugs they recommended helped?

I was 1800 miles away, caring for my family—including a young grandson—and my brother and I had long ago accepted our different perspectives regarding diet though we continued to respect each other’s right to choose.

Perhaps if my brother, “M,” had been able to see Dr. Perlmutter, a board-certified neurologist, Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and author of the recently published book, Brain Maker, there might’ve been a different outcome.

Dr. Perlmutter feels that inflammation, “which means ‘to kindle’ or ‘set on fire’,” is involved in such diverse conditions as obesity, diabetes, cancer, depression, autism, asthma, ar-

Gale Jack

thritis, coronary artery disease, mood disorders, and multiple sclerosis as well as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease—and are all related to a “disrupted gut community.”

In the book’s introduction, he states, “It is now undeniable that our intestinal organisms participate in a wide variety of physiologic actions, including immune system functioning, detoxification, inflammation,

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20 Macrobiotics Today

neurotransmitter and vitamin production, nutrient absorption, … and utilizing carbohydrates and fat,” all processes that factor into allergies, asthma, ADHD, cancer, diabetes, and dementia. How we feel emotionally and physically—everything about our health in fact—depends on whether or not our microbiome (state of the gut) is healthy and dominated by friendly bacteria, according to Dr. Perlmutter.

This is not a new concept to those practicing macrobiotics with its emphasis on home-made pickles, sauerkraut, miso soup, tempeh, and other fermented products, but for those who have any doubt about the wide-ranging effects of a healthy microbiome to everyone, but especially during pregnancy and the differences between breast-fed and bottle-fed children throughout their life, this is the book to read. For anyone who loves a scientific explanation of the healing benefits of a healthy gut for chronic fatigue syndrome, mood disorders, diabetes, obesity, memory problems, atherosclerosis, and endless other conditions, this book presents the research that shows its www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

importance to “virtually any degenerative or inflammatory condition.”

In other words, according to Dr. Perlmutter, these good bacteria with their influence on all organs and systems are virtually in charge of our health including manufacturing 80 to 90 percent of the amount of serotonin in the body. Can’t we all use a little serotonin?

Unfortunately, his recommendations for correcting any deficiency in this area fall short of ideal from a macrobiotic perspective. His recommendations for foods containing probiotics focus on live-cultured yogurt, kefir (another fermented dairy product), and kimchi (a very spicy product), cultured condiments such as lacto-fermented mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish, hot sauce as well as fermented meat while excluding a very basic, dairy-free product that’s been part of the Japanese culture for generations and a regular part of a macrobiotic diet: miso soup.

His recommendations for healthy fats include ghee, grass-fed tallow, organic or pasture-fed butter, nut butters, and cheese except for blue cheeses. He includes recipes for yogurt, kefir, and ricotta made with fullfat milk.

For protein, he includes grassfed beef, poultry, pork loin, and wild caught fish as well as pickled sardines and fermented hard-boiled eggs. While excluding environmental chemicals and taking in sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and drugs, he suggests that we enjoy wine, tea, coffee, and chocolate, and the use of stevia as a sweetener.

What was most disconcerting for me, having had some experience with the weakening effect of enemas prior to being attracted to macrobiotics, is to read that he will sometimes recommend probiotic enemas as often as www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

three times weekly for 4 to 6 weeks.

If his research and recommendations lead anyone to change their habits, lessen the pain and suffering of anyone suffering from inflammation, as well as lowering the money spent on drugs and illnesses in our society including $200 billion a year on Alzheimer’s research and care alone, then it will be time and money well spent.

For myself though, I like having a unifying theory with all its details of yin repelling yin and yang repelling yang and yin and yang attracting each other as it applies to food as well as relationships and life itself. For example, unless one understands that the excessive intake of certain foods such as salt, meat, poultry, cheese, and other animal foods will cause a craving for sugar, chocolate, sodas, alcohol, prescription and recreational drugs (and thereby destroy beneficial bacteria in the intestines), then how can one decide how much of what he recommends to eat?

It’s much easier to choose a diet based on whole grains, beans and bean products, seaweeds, vegetables miso soup, and the occasional use of seafood if desired than it is to try to figure out where to get B12, whether or not Omega 3’s are needed if one hasn’t eaten meat or poultry for many years, or how much kefir, yogurt of any kind, cheese, poultry, eggs, or meat would be safe to eat without developing some kind of degenerative disorder.

My brother’s view was that people eating a modern diet live into their eighties and nineties having never heard of macrobiotics. I know that a strong constitution is a factor in living a long life as well as the simple diet people may have had growing up and the hard work necessary to survive in the early days of war, dust storms,

Yamazaki Umeboshi Plums $30 per lb plus shipping

530-566-9765 gomf@earthlink.net

and the depression. Also, many died in birth or early childhood. So, it was with mixed emotions that I attended family reunions where ham and barbecue beef were served and eggs and sausage were prominent at breakfast with very few vegan options and absolutely no brown rice available.

Dr. Perlmutter ends the book with a quote from Belgium Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlinck: “At every crossway on the road that leads to the future, each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand men assigned to guard the past.” I think we can value all that’s being done to help humankind in the present while appreciating the valuable traditions and lessons of the past.

Reference

Perlmutter, David, MD. Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life. London: Little, Brown and Company, 320 pages, print.

Gale Jack is a longtime student and associate of Michio and Aveline Kushi and a Kushi certified macrobiotic teacher. She received the Aveline Kushi Thank You award in 2011 for her contribution to the spread of macrobiotics. Gale coauthored, with Alex Jack, Promenade Home: Macrobiotics and Women’s Health as well as the Amber Waves of Grain cookbook. She resides in Lenox, Massachusetts. Gale can be reached at galejack@msn.com.

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 21

Summer Conference 2015 Edward Esko and Alex Jack

T

he Kushi Institute (K.I.) 2015 Summer Conference was an enormous success. Like the 2014 Conference, the two-week event was held at the K.I. campus in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. Instead of a big tent like the year before, everyone ate outside in the newly renovated Courtyard Kushi (named after the Courtyard Marriot in Brookline, MA, where frequent meetings with Michio took place.) Nature seemed to be supporting the Conference. The late July and early August weather was clear, sunny, and perfect.

The theme of the Conference was Preserving the Legacy and Furthering the Dream. The Conference was essentially a tribute to the legacy and vision of Michio Kushi, the founder of the Kushi Institute (Michio lectured at the 2014 Conference and participated actively in K.I. development until his passing in December 2014 at age eighty-eight.) It was Michio’s suggestion that the Conference take place at the K.I. in Becket, a suggestion that led to the overwhelming success of the 2014 and 2015 events.

For the 2015 Conference, the K.I.

Gala Dinner

purchased new picnic tables, umbrellas, and lanterns for the Courtyard.

The K.I. offered live music during meals, a talent show, and set up a night café for socializing after the evening keynote in the library.

The week prior to Summer Conference, a truckload of new mattresses arrived courtesy of a donation arranged by Maria Ahverdyan, 2015’s Summer Conference coordinator. They were valued at $138,000, and our staff promptly removed the

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22 Macrobiotics Today

in

Courtyard Kushi

old mattresses and installed the new mattresses in all rooms in the Main House and North Hall dormitory. The old mattresses were donated to local summer camps. Maria also initiated an online Kickstarter campaign that raised $16,000 for organic sheets, pillowcases, towels, and other linens designed for the comfort of Summer Conference and other K.I. guests.

The week before Conference was designated as Service Week. A team of volunteers, coordinated by Operawww.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

tions Manager Bill Shugrue and Programs Director Kris Tyler, cleaned, painted, and spruced up the K.I. buildings and surroundings. The result of their efforts was a clean, cozy, well lit, and comfortable environment for the Conference and future K.I. programs.

As a result of the dedication of the K.I. staff, management, and faculty, all aspects of the program were outstanding. Housing and transportation, coordinated by Nancy Segal, Bob Mattson, and Larry MacKenny, were pulled off without a hitch. Faculty and staff were housed at K.I. or at the nearby Lakeside Lodge and Courage House. Maria ensured a smooth flow of events with a diverse faculty and complex logistics. The kitchen, under the direction of master chefs Joel Liu and Simone Parris backed by a team of dedicated staff and volunteers, delivered consistently delicious, aes-

thetically beautiful, and healthful macrobiotic meals.

The Summer Conference faculty was world-class. In 2015, K.I. Resident Faculty, Bettina Zumdick, Chris Jenkins, and Amber Maisano, were joined by a U.S. lineup that included Denny and Susan Waxman, Lawrence H. Kushi, Gabriele Kushi, Angelica Kushi, Susan Kreiger, Jane and Lino Stanchich, Nadine Barner, Gale Jack, Sheri DeMaris, Christina and Bob Pirello, Judy and Larry MacKenny, Les Bolland, Anthony Dissen, Warren Kramer, Virginia Harper, Dr. Martha Cottrell, M.D., Olaf Fischer, Phil Jannetta, David Sergel, Anthony Dissen, Sommer White, M.D., Jessica Porter, Bill Spear, Sandy Pukel, Evan Root, Sachi Kato, and Kezia Synder.

International faculty included Weike Nelissen, founder and director of the Kushi Institute of Europe,

Patricio Garcia de Paredes, director of education at the Kushi Institute of Japan (KIJ), and David and Nicola McCarthy, founders of Big Life Organics in England. David and Nicola’s 13 year-old daughter Kerry, was a lively presence on campus. She organized the talent show together with Jessica Porter.

The K.I. also held a two-week “Super Level” track during the Conference. Students participated in the K.I. Level One curriculum while attending special presentations by Guest Faculty.

The Conference culminated on August 7 with a number of special events. The first was a special Commemorative Ceremony held at the Aveline Memorial Peace Park.

Speakers included Lawrence H. Kushi, Michio and Aveline’s second son, and Midori Kushi, Michio’s second wife. (Aveline passed away

“A Macrobiotic Classic” – Michael Bauce; “Brilliant” – Christine DeRocher; “The Finest Book on Natural Healing I have read in 25 years of Chiropractic Practice” ”-JB Vaughan DC; “Learnt more in the first 20 pages than I have in two years of study” - student ; “I read your book very hungrily as your perception is so clear and rarely have I come across the understanding and intelligence that shines through in your writing. In that way, your book felt like a friend, a much needed friend, so thank you.-Penelope Bjorksten”; “The End of Medicine” is a beautiful book, in my opinion one of the more important books about macrobiotics written since Ohsawa” – Isobel Carr Available at any online or regular bookstore or from http://www.alchemycalpages.com Also I have available DVD’s of talks I have given on Yin and Yang, Five Transformation Theory, Facial Diagnosis, Healing/Illness/Disease, Ginger Compress Demonstration. They are $12 dollars each and run upward of 2 hrs For a complete list and discounts for a multiple order please e-mail me at kaareb@mac.com

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 23

Remembering Michio Panel

in 2001.) A special panel, “Remembering Michio,” followed the event.

Long-time students and friends of Michio shared their fond memories and reminiscences of this great teacher. Panel members included Evan Root, Judy MacKenny, Sandy Pukel, Patricio Garcia de Paredes, Phil Jannetta, Weike Nelissen, Christina Pirello, and Bill Spear. The panel coincided with publication by the K.I. of the book by the same name.

Remembering Michio features original essays by 70 of Michio’s students, family, and friends. It is available from KushiStore.com and from Amazon.

The Remembering Michio panel was followed by the annual Aveline Awards presentation. The Award is presented each year for outstanding contribution to macrobiotic education and the health and well being of humanity. The 2015 Award was presented to Weike Nelissen; Evan Root, one of the Kushi’s first students in Boston and manager of Erewhon natural foods; Bruce and Crystal MacDonald, directors of Natural Import Company and natural food pioneers in Asheville, NC; and Waddy Fyler, who, over the past thirty years, has supported the Kushi Institute and

the macrobiotic association of Connecticut, and who, as a symbol of macrobiotic longevity at ninety-two, continues to develop projects while driving up and down the East Coast.

The Gala Dinner followed the Award Ceremony. The Gala fundraising auction raised $30,000 as Conference participants enjoyed a sumptuous dinner prepared by head chefs Joel Liu, Patricio Garcia de Parades, Sachi Kato, and Simone Parris. The auction featured spirited bidding, and among the many items donated were airfare and a 10-day holiday for two at a five-star hotel on Mauritius, a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. A special dinner cooked by the authors

Jessica Porter, Kerry McCarthy,

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24 Macrobiotics Today

and

went for a much more modest bid. In addition about $8,000 was donated for special projects, including expanding the K.I. Store inventory and new computers for the office.

Plans are already underway for the 2016 Summer Conference, scheduled for the first two weeks in August. The 2016 theme will highlight sustainability and the future. Many of the Resident and Guest faculty from the past several years will be presenting, as well as several special guests.

The K.I. is in discussion with Tom Monte, the well-known macrobiotic author and teacher, about presenting a workshop and keynote, and with Mayumi Nishimura, former head chef at the K.I. who went on to become Madonna’s private cook, about a series of special classes. Check KushiInstitute.org for ongoing developments and updates. We hope to see you in August.

Alex Jack and Edward Esko serve as Executive Director and Associate Director of the Kushi Institute.

They also serve as K.I. senior faculty.

Alex and Ed have traveled extensively teaching macrobiotics and have authored numerous books, essays, and articles. For more, see the K.I. website at www.kushiinstitute.org.

Brent MacPhail

at the

Talent Show

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Macrobiotic Cooking

The Seaweed Man Julia Ferré “Look for 23 mailboxes in a row on the right. Turn onto the private road, but you can’t use your GPS as it will take you to someone else’s house.

Rather, turn right at the wooden sign on the tree. Go one mile and turn left. The cove is on the right—take the road up the hill away from it and the driveway is the first on the left.”

T

he directions alone should have been a sign that this would be a unique trip. Carl and I were en-route to see Larch Hanson, aka The Seaweed Man, and little did we know what to expect. This was meant to be a networking trip with the man who is a pioneer in the natural seaweed industry. I was hoping to see seaweed, how and where it was harvested, and to acquire information and an interview. However, just like weather is never truly predictable, so was this visit. Larch is a man of vision and generous with his time. We spent two days with him and talked nonstop about seaweed, natural food history, and Maine love.

We discussed gardening, boats, and heritage. Larch Hanson and Maine are unforgettable. www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Larch Hanson Tending Seaweed in One of the Many Drying Beds

Maine is another world, at least to this California girl. The long, windy road drew us to the eastern edge of the United States, to a lush, cool, foggy, and moist environment. It was another world of tides and coves, of homes with boats in every yard, of streets with lobster huts. To live in such a place, a person needs vitality and independence. If you are not na-

tive born, then you must learn to live as a native.

Larch hails from Minnesota and is Scandinavian by heritage. However, many years in Maine have brought out his true nature. Originally studying with Helen and Scott Nearing in Vermont, Larch learned how to garden in New England, honoring the seasons and becoming a jack-of-alltrades. He learned how to construct a house, how to build a boat, how to repair things, how to keep a fire going. The old-time seaweed harvesters introduced him to the seaweed beds and specific coves over 30 years ago, coves still in production today.

There are many such spots tucked away among the nooks and crannies of coastal Maine. Larch contends that if more people knew of the bounty of the ocean then there would be flocks of seaweed miners, a Maine coast seaweed rush analogous to the 1849 gold rush in California. Alas, it never caught on. Larch is a lone man, filling his lone boats, poised on a seaweed revolution—one kelp frond at a time, one apprentice at a time, one customer at a time, one season at a time.

Larch has a year-round sched-

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 25

Larch Bailing One

of the

ule—seaweed harvest in warmer months, boat building in cooler months. During spring and summer, there are selected days to spend on the water, days determined by the position of the moon and tides. It is a cool job, requiring wet suits, rubber boots, and a clear day. Larch has three kinds of boats—a motor boat, a container boat, and a few rowboats. The motor boat tows the other boats close to the beds, and then is anchored so that no gas or motor oil drips into the water above the seaweed. The rowboats are maneuvered over the beds for harvesting. There he selectively harvests fronds—not too much and not too little—saving plenty of plants to reproduce and harvesting enough to stimulate growth. The harvest fills the container boat, and when ready, it is towed back to the cove.

Baskets of wet seaweed are hauled to the property, where, once home, it is time to rinse and dry the seaweed.

Seaweed hangs from clotheslines at first, and then moves into the drying sheds. The drying sheds are lined with green-house quality plastic and heated by wood. Fans and vents provide

Boats

at

circulation. Every day, Larch checks the drying seaweed and tests it for moisture content. If it is too moist, it won’t keep. If it is too dry, it becomes brittle. It can take time—and Larch maintains a precise schedule.

There is plenty to do, and he coordinates his activities by tides, weather, and growth of the particular seaweed.

He harvests enough of each selected seaweed so that he has enough for a year of sales and personal use.

Benefits of Seaweed

Seaweed is a mainstay in my home, a mainstay in Larch’s home, and a mainstay in the coves of Maine.

However, few people outside of Larch and yours truly (and perhaps you the reader) are familiar with all the benefits of seaweed. First, let me point out that seaweed to eat is not the sandy smelly fronds washed up on the beach. That seaweed is like rotten tomatoes in a compost bin.

Delectable seaweed is harvested by hand in the element—by boat. It is like picking a ripe tomato from the vine.

Seaweed is good for you. It con-

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26 Macrobiotics Today

Low Tide After Rain

tains iodine and a lot of it. Iodine is good for the thyroid, it provides energy and strength, and it protects against radiation. Some researchers claim that seaweeds bind with heavy metals and help remove them from the body. Many people became familiar with the importance of seaweed in 2013 after the Fukushima meltdown in Japan. Larch told me that he sold out of seaweed at that time.

It makes a difference the way seaweed is grown and harvested. While seaweed is from the ocean and seems to be a totally wild and natural product, there are varieties seeded and grown in Japan. There is plenty of demand in Japan so seaweed growers have to have abundant supplies, and they cultivate seaweed on nets.

When the nuclear plant contaminated the ocean, there were some beds that were destroyed completely, and it may take a lifetime to regrow.

Most edible seaweed is imported, except for a few harvesters such as Larch Hanson. Larch is a sustainable harvester, gathering enough to sell but not too much to decimate the plants. In addition, Larch is conscientious about the harvest. He builds his boats and coats them with linseed oil rather than marine varnish, so that there is no contamination when boats are floating above the beds. He also anchors the motor boat away from the beds so no gas can infiltrate to the seaweed.

Back at the House

Never a dull moment, Larch showed us house, buildings, and forest. The house has five stories. Hand built, with double wall construction and cedar shavings as insulation, the first floor holds the seaweed warehouse. The second floor is private quarters and the third floor holds www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

a communal kitchen and meeting space. Sleeping space for (timid) guests is on the fourth floor attic level. The fifth floor is under construction, to be a viewing platform to watch the stars.

Other buildings on the property include tool and bike sheds, garden greenhouses, a bread baking house, and a boat construction warehouse.

Larch divides the property into segments—lower paradise, where resides the house and gardens and upper paradise where guests can stay.

A dozen (or more) wooden platforms support tents, places where (hearty) visitors and apprentices can stay in the great woods of nature and commune. Between upper and lower paradise resides a hot tub, flower and herb gardens, and a meditation garden The House

apprentices who want to learn the seaweed and/or construction businesses. Apprentices learn to identify seaweed, to harvest it sustainably, to dry it, and to pack it. Some apprentices stay a fortnight, others a season, and others return yearly.

Carl and I had a hard time saying goodbye. Once there it was difficult to leave. Yet every bite of seaweed brings back the salty sweet air of Maine. Check it out. * * * * * with resident Buddha. Just outside of paradise resides the forest—the conifers and spruces of coastal Maine that have adapted to the salty marine air. One tree was knocked over by the wind. It trailed along the ground for 100 feet before it sprouted its trunk upright and reclaimed its position in the forest.

Larch welcomes visitors and encourages conversation. He takes on www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Using Seaweeds

The following text and recipes come from inserts when you purchase seaweeds from Larch Hanson, Maine Seaweed LLC or from Larch’s website. You may also purchase Larch’s book, Seaweed Soul: Recipes for a Nourishing Life with beautiful photos by Nina Crocker. See www. theseaweedman.com for more information or to order.

Digitata

Digitata kelp has the highest iodine content of all the seaweeds I harvest. It supplies iodine to the thyroid, and it helps to protect the thyroid against radioactive iodine being released by nuclear reactors which ends up in the air, the water, and the food chain. Digitata also has high alginate content which can aid the body in detoxing heavy metals. Digitata is the Atlantic equivalent of Japanese kombu. Digitata retains its own nature throughout the seasons, in the face of constantly surging surf, harsh summer sun, and snail pests. I’ve come to appreciate this plant’s tenacity and flexibility. It truly endures and thrives in a zone most would call “stressful.” May we all do as well.

Keep in mind that iodine is volatile. Avoid roasting because you will lose iodine to the air. Wet recipes are preferred, and keep the cook pans well covered. Digitata kelp is espe-

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 27

cially good for cooking with beans, and it will also make a creamy base for soups. It supplies the fifth taste, umami (a strong meaty taste), which enhances all savory dishes. Try adding burdock, carrots, parsnips, ginger, celeriac, shiitake mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley, summer savory, and thyme. Season with sea salt, miso, or tamari.

Depending upon your body weight, the goal is to eat 3-5 grams of kelp (dry weight) per day, which is a pound (dry weight) in 3-5 months. 3-5 grams is like the weight of 6-10 paper clips. Cut a strip of digitata with a scissors and rehydrate it in water for 5 to 15 minutes. Save the soak water to cook with grains, noodles, beans, vegetables, soups, and chowders.

Digitata kelp needs to be cooked for a least 20 minutes, and if you are cooking grains, beans, soup, or chowder, add the digitata at the outset so that it will have time to disintegrate, resulting in a nutrients-rich broth. If you are cooking digitata mixed with other vegetables, try it after 20-30 minutes.

Digitata with Spicy Root Vegetables 1 Tbsp light sesame oil 6” piece digitata, soaked and cut into thin strips Pinch cayenne pepper Shoyu Mirin 1 small leek, thinly sliced on diagonal ½ cup daikon, sliced in fine matchsticks ½ cup carrot, sliced in fine matchsticks ½ cup rounds of thinly sliced lotus root Juice of ½ lemon 1-2 sprigs parsley, minced Heat oil in deep skillet. Stir in digita-

ta and cayenne pepper. Add generous splashes of shoyu and mirin. Sauté 2-3 minutes. Stir in leek with a dash of shoyu and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in root vegetables and season lightly with shoyu. Stir-fry until carrots are crisp-tender (3-4 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and parsley.

Beans with Digitata and Vegetables Soak 1 cup of beans overnight with a 2" x 3" piece of digitata. Pressure cook 1 hour or simmer all day, adding seasonal vegetables when the beans are soft. Try burdock, carrots, celeriac, shiitake mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley, summer savory.

Season with sea salt, miso, or tamari.

Alaria

Alaria is one of the most versatile sea vegetables that we harvest.

The plants are graceful and delicate, yet strong. Alaria dancing in the surf reminds me of a beautiful ballerina: strong, yet gentle. Harvesting alaria in surf demands a sure agility and a consciousness that is constantly in the present moment. These qualities make alaria our most popular sea vegetable as more and more people find it a wonderful substitute for Japanese wakame in soup, beans, and vegetable dishes.

There are two ways to cut alaria.

The quick way is to cut dry alaria with scissors. Another way is to soak the alaria, then use a knife. Since alaria expands as it soaks, the second way will give you more control over the size of your final pieces.

Pre-soaking alaria is a method for tenderizing it. If you use the soak water, you will conserve all of the minerals…just remember to adjust your

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28 Macrobiotics Today

use of salt.

Cooking time for alaria (slow boil/fast simmer) needs to be at least 30-40 minutes. Remember that this isn’t like wakame, which is often parboiled by the harvesters before it is dried. So, if you want to cook one part alaria with three parts carrots, for instance, you might cook alaria for 20 minutes before adding the carrots.

Alaria is delicious when cooked with rice, barley, or millet. Cooked with beans (adukis, lentils, pintos, etc.), alaria will impart a rich “gravy” texture and help make the beans digestible.

Alaria-Miso Soup Alaria is very nice with miso soup and can be used year round. Vary the vegetables depending on the season.

The alaria may be soaked first and should be put into the cooking water first. While the alaria simmers on medium heat, chop and add your vegetables from yang to yin, (root vegetables first, then onions, then leafy greens). When the vegetables are tender, turn off the heat and add pureed miso. (Mix the miso with ¼ cup of warm water before adding to the soup.) Use older and darker misos in winter, lighter misos in summer.

Alaria miso soup is best when cooked at least 40-45 minutes before adding the miso, but adjust the cooking time to suit your taste.

Lemon-Ginger Alaria Salad Salad: ¾ cup alaria, soaked and sliced 1 medium carrot, grated or sliced in very fine matchsticks ½ red onion, sliced in thin halfmoons ½ cup diced cucumber ½ cup celery, cut in 1/8” slices www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

1968 Eden Co-op began in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Forty-seven years of doing what we set out to do –

1975 100% of EDEN grain and beans certified organically grown

1988 Eden bans any irradiated foods

1993 Eden bans all genetically engineered food and GMO derived substances

1999

Get the best food possible and share it with as many people as we can.

©2015 Eden Foods 08078

BPA free lined cans introduced

400 Pure & Purifying Foods ™

edenfoods.com

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 29

“An Essential Tool

in mastering the simple elegance of macrobiotic cooking…and a vital tool in learning to cook well for your loved ones and yourself.”

—Christina Pirello

20th

Anniversary

1-2 scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal 1 pear, cut in ½” chunks ¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts Dressing: 1” piece of fresh ginger, grated and juice extracted Juice of 1 lemon ¼ cup brown rice vinegar 1 tsp umeboshi vinegar 1 Tbsp rice syrup or honey ¼ cup olive or sesame oil Whisk together dressing ingredients.

Set aside. Combine salad ingredients, except for walnuts, chopping and adding pear last to prevent it turning brown. Add enough dressing to lightly coat salad ingredients and toss gently. (Extra dressing may be refrigerated to use on other salads.)

Allow salad to marinate 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle walnuts over top before serving.

Dulse

$17.95 plus $2.50 shipping = $20.45

“A Trustworthy Guide

for anyone ready to embrace the wisdom and great tastes in macrobiotic cooking.”

—Meredith McCarty

“An Excellent and Useful Cookbook.”

—Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.

George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation PO Box 3998 Chico, CA 95927 800-232-2372 or 530-566-9765 530-566-9768 fax

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Dulse is a summer plant in the New England seascape, and people have eaten it “as is” for centuries. It is traditionally dried “hard” and then “slacked,” that is, dulse is allowed to reabsorb humidity until it softens.

This is actually the beginning of an enzyme process, like aging cheese.

If you want to stop the process entirely, then dry the dulse completely, bone-dry, once again. Now you know the traditional secrets of dulse. Raw foodists eat it as a source of minerals, claiming that it’s “tender and easy to chew.” Well, yes, it is, once it’s been “slacked,” but if you tried to chew bone-dry dulse the day after it has been harvested, you would complain that it’s too tough to chew. In other words, the slacking process is a slow pickle process, and the flavors also change during the process, just as flavors in aging cheese mellow over time. Is there a limit to the aging?

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30 Macrobiotics Today

Yes, and normally, if the moisture content is right, the limit is reached after a year of storage in the early summertime, just as the new crop begins to come in. Just before the dulse begins to approach “sharp-like cheddar,” it’s time to halt the process, dry the dulse hard, and begin the new harvest. That’s how it goes. Don’t be alarmed by white powder on the surface of dulse. That’s a mixture of salts and sugars that are naturally occurring. If you see raised yellow bumps that become airborne powder when you blow on them, that’s mold, and the dulse is too damp. The dulse has not been sealed properly against high humidity.

If you like to make chowders, dulse goes well with fish, clams, potatoes, onions, scallions, celery, parsley, and corn. If you don’t want a dairy-based chowder, you can use oats or arrowroot to thicken the chowder. There are salad recipes at www.seaweedman.com. Enjoy!

Dulse with Green Onions and Rice 4 cups cooked rice 1 cup (½ oz) dried dulse 1 cup green onions Sesame oil for sautéing Snip dulse into small pieces. Slice scallions thinly. Sauté both in oil about thirty seconds. Add rice and sauté till very hot. Add shoyu to taste and sprinkle with lemon juice or fresh ginger juice.

Julia Ferré, CHT is a clinical hypnotherapist. She is author of Food and Intuition 101, Basic Macrobiotic Cooking, and French Meadows Cookbook. See www.JuliaFerre.com for more information or contact Julia by e-mail at juliaferre@yahoo.com. www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Community Resources Network Listings are supplied by the individuals and have not been verified by Macrobitoics Today.

Readers are encouraged to use their own judgment in deciding whether to use the services and/or products listed.

ARIZONA Prescott: David Jackson, Macrobiotics of Arizona, PO Box 12412, Prescott, AZ 86304; macjac76@hotmail.com; 928776-8364 • Counseling, Lectures, Cooking Classes.

Los Angeles: 7th Element Services; 818-512-9195; www. the7thElement.com; www.TurnAroundMyHealth.com: • Jeanne and Patrick Grosset provide Macrobiotic chef services, education and counseling. Educating, nourishing and empowering people on the path to good health.

Prescott: Prescott: Cynthia Vann, GMCS, PO Box 10130, Prescott, AZ 86304; 928-778-3351; cvann@cableone.net • Counseling, lectures, cooking classes. Unique Physical, Personality Iridology and Sclerology diagnosis techniques.

Find toxins (microwave/radiation/drug poisoning, heavy metals), weakened or clogged arteries, pre-aneurism conditions. Kushi Institute and Macrobiotics America trained.

Los Angeles area: Seed, 1604 Pacific Avenue, Venice, CA 90291; 310-396-1604; www.seedkitchen.com • Organic, vegan, macrobiotic cafe by Eric Lechasseur, renowned international macrobiotic chef, and Sanae Suzuki, Kushi Level 4 graduate macrobiotic counselor/educator. Open daily, Macrobiotic Community Night once a week, Event info: www.loveericinc.com.

Sedona: Pearl Pardee, Thai Spices Natural Restaurant, 928282-0599; www.ThaiSpices.com • “Nutritious Made Delicious” Where the healing properties of Macrobiotic meets the rich flavor of Thai cuisine. Available for lunch, dinner and Offsite catering for health conscious dinner group.

Los Angeles area: Macrobiotic B & B; 626-806-1060; eliztotalwelness@aol.com • Close to all main attractions and beaches. Stay includes macrobiotic meals, also cooking classes, and consultations are available from Elizabeth Gamboa, a graduate from Kushi Institute, Level IV. Call for more information.

Scottsdale: Vesna Cupara-Peters, MindBody Medicine Center, www.MindBodyMC.com; vesnacupara@cox.net; 480-6077999 • Macrobiotic Counselor.

CALIFORNIA Bay Area/Marin: Meredith McCarty, Healing Cuisine, P.O. Box 2605, Mill Valley, CA 94942; 415-272-5525; www.healingcuisine.com • Food Coaching, Cooking Classes, Lectures since 1977. Ask me about Multi-Pure Water Purifiers. Co-directed Eureka Macrobiotic Center for 19 years, former Associate Editor for Natural Health magazine, award-winning cookbook author.

Berkeley: Michael Bauce and Marta Serda; Michaelmacro@ gmail.com; 510-717-0112; Berkeleymacrobiotics.blogspot. com • Cooking classes adults/children. Consultations.

Chico: George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation, PO Box 3998, Chico, CA 95927; 800-232-2372 or 530-566-9765; www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com • publisher of quality macrobiotic books and Macrobiotics Today magazine, and conducts the annual French Meadows Summer Camp each July.

Fairfax: Kerry Loeb, Alternative Health Services, 20 Hickory Road, Fairfax, CA 94930; 415-454-6055 • Counseling, Shiatsu, Classes.

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Oroville: David & Cynthia Briscoe, Macrobiotics America/ Macrobiotics Global, 1735 Robinson St, 1874, Oroville, CA 95965; briscoe@macroamerica.com; 530-282-3518 • Interactive internet courses for home learning. Certified counselor and cooking teacher career programs. Excellent macrobiotic guidance by phone, in person, and online.

Palo Alto: Peninsula Macrobiotic Community, Gourmet Vegetarian Dinners held Mondays, 6:30 pm, at the First Baptist Church, 305 N. California Avenue, Palo Alto • phone 650-599-3320 for reservations.

Palo Alto/Bay Area: Patricia Becker, Health and Joy Wellness Coach; 650-285-1867; Patricia@YourHealthandJoy.com; www.YourHealthandJoy.com • “30 Day Vitality Boost” Online Programs, Multipure Distributor.

San Diego: Jean Richardson, Gold Mine Natural Foods, 13200 Danielson St, Suite A-1, Poway, CA 92064; 858537-9830; www.goldminenaturalfoods.com • Macrobiotic, organic, & heirloom quality foods, non-toxic household & body-care products, books & cookware. Exclusive importer of Ohsawa®, the most trusted name in macrobiotic foods. Free catalog, fast, friendly service: 800-475FOOD(3663).

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 31

Santa Rosa: North Bay Macro Group / Stephen Starkweather, 1545 Monroe Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404; 707-5429739; stephen@starkweather.biz • Monthly potlucks and social group! See www.northbaymacro.org.

Westlake Village: Diane Addison, Health Essentials for Natural Living, 4607 Lakeview Canyon #101, Westlake Village, CA 91361, 818-706-1888, 800-653-8881, Diane@ DianeAddison.com, www.DianeAddison.com • Personal/ private macrobiotic natural foods chef; cooking classes.

Products include safe, traditional, far-infrared Heavenly Heat Saunas, Lympholine Rebounders, water and air filters and hand-poured soywax candles with pure essential oils.

FLORIDA Coral Gables (Miami): Holistic Holiday at Sea, Sandy Pukel, 434 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134; 305-7250081; oakfeed1@aol.com • 7-day vegan/macrobiotic cruise; relaxing, educational and spiritual—the ultimate gift for your body, mind, and spirit, “Vacation with a purpose.” 40 years experience offering Macrobiotic Counseling. Contact 800-496-0989/www.holisticholidayatsea.com.

Fort Lauderdale: Gayle Stolove, BS, RN, LMT, Wholly Macro; 954-764-6371; whollymacro@bellsouth.net; www. whollymacrobiotics.com • KI Graduate, Personal Chef, Food Delivery, Classes, Consultations.

Melbourne: David Kerr, Zen Macrobiotic Dojo, 119 East Brevard Drive, #B, Melbourne, FL 32935; 321-725-4067; dajokerr@msn.com • Philosopher, writer, scholar, historian, 39 years macrobiotic.

Sarasota County: Judy & Larry MacKenney, 941-488-9509 or 941-525-4916; www.harmonyhavenhealingarts.com; LMacKenney@gmail.com • Kushi Institute faculty, ASAT certified holistic health counselors, 21-year cancer survivor/thriver (free DVD), Aveline Kushi Award recipient, compassionate macrobiotic counseling, hands-on cooking/ menu planning, personalized workshops, potucks, travel extensively.

IDAHO Hayden Lake: Jill Mikael, Go Mac; jimikael@cs.com; 208772-6240 • Hatha yoga instruction, macrobiotic cooking classes, consultations.

ILLINOIS Chicago: Dr. Jay Stone, D.C.H., M.B.A., 3166 North Lincoln, Suite 206, Chicago, IL 60657-3119; 773-665-4623; www.DrJayStone.com • Clinical Hypnotherapy, Macrobiotic counseling, instruction, cooking classes.

Mt. Prospect: Steve Nakon, 104 S George Street, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056; 847-590-1221; www.northwestyoga.org • Northwest Yoga – Classes, Workshops, Retreats, Individual Consultations.

KENTUCKY Bowling Green: Gretchen Collins, 270-783-8245 or 415-7103453 (cell), gretchenvcollins@aol.com • Macrobiotic study group, lectures, workshops, cooking classes, potlucks.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: Phyllis Parun, Foundatin for the Macrobiotic Way; 504-949-8876; pbpworld@yahoo.com • E-tutorials, Meditation, Effortless QI Exercise, Diet, Consultations.

MARYLAND Bethesda: Michael Rossoff, L.Ac., 45 years experience; www.michaelrossoff.com. Counseling, acupuncture, and lectures. For counseling call Michael’s office in North Carolina at 828-258-1883; www.MichaelRossoff.com • For lectures, cooking classes and more, contact call Juliette Tahar at www.HealthyLivingInc.org or 202-337-0362.

Gaithersburg: Susan Beram, The Healthy Chef; 202-2559370; skberam@hotmail.com; www.sites.google.com/site/ marylandmacrobiotics; • Potlucks, Lecture Series, Macro Meals to go delivered.

GEORGIA

MASSACHUSETTS

Atlanta area:Victoria Barayev, CHNC; www.victoriabarayev. com; creativehealing@victoriabarayev.com; 678-4375668; • Macrobiotic consultations, public andprivate cooking classes, potlucks.

Boston: Warren Kramer, 28 Perthshire Road, #2, Brighton, MA 02135; 617-562-1110; WarrenKramer@Live.com; www.Macrobioticsnewengland.com • Macrobiotic Counseling, extensive U.S. travel offering seminars and cooking classes. Strengthening Health Institute and Kushi Institute faculty member and Macrobiotic Educator’s Association member.

HAWAII Big Island: Diane Koerner, 808-651-7988; diane@HawaiiHealthGetaway.com for holistic health retreats; www.vrbo.com/90588 for environmentally-safe vacation cottage.

Honolulu: Kathy Maddux, 3368 Paty Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822; 808-988-7374; ktymdx@yahoo.com • Chef, cooking class instructor, nutritional and lifestyle consultant.

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Western Massachusetts: Yukiko Sato; Pittsfield, MA 01201; 413-464-4772; theberkshirevegan.blogspot.com; berkshirevegan@gmail.com • Cooking Classes, Meals, and Desserts. Will travel.

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

MICHIGAN Westland: Valerie Wilson, MacroVal, 6106 N Berry Street, Westland, MI 48185; 734-722-4553; www.macroval.com; val@macroval.com • Hands-on cooking classes since 1997.

Lifestyle counseling, Instructional DVDs/recipes, Food to go, Pot luck dinners, holiday events, Author “Perceptions In Healthy Cooking.” Hosts “Healthy Cooking with MacroVal” radio show on BodyMindSpiritRadio.com.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Gabriele Kushi, BFA, MEA, CHHP, AADP, Minneapolis, MN 55416; 612-834-1476; 952-915-1476; www.kushiskitchen.com; gkushi@kushiskitchen.com • Longdistance macrobiotic certified health coaching, Cooking DVDs, author.

NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque/Santa Fe: Jane Steinberg, Absolutely Macro; macrojane@hotmail.com; www.absolutelymacro.com; 505474-3896 • Individualized cooking instruction, macrobiotic counseling, Strengthening Health/Philadelphia Graduate; PCRM certification.

NEW YORK

Manhattan, NYC: Carol Anne Wasserman, www.GetHealthyWithCarol.com • Specializing in weight loss via the use of whole and natural foods. Fad diets don’t work; eating well does! Visit website for more info and delicious recipes.

New York City: Dan Becker, TCM Certified; 212-496-6200, 646-812-7810; www.holisticchef.biz, becdan@gmail.com • Macrobiotic Consultations / Holistic Chef Services .

New York City: Marcia Berry; mcberry@nyc.rr.com; 347429-0997 • Macrobiotic counseling. I make house calls.

Cooking classes. Workshops throughout NYC. Visit my website at www.berryhealthyeating.com.

New York City: Verne Varona, vv@vernevarona.com • Senior Consultant. Author of the newly revised Nature’s CancerFighting Foods (Perigee, May 2014) and Macrobiotics for Dummies (Wiley, April 2009).

NORTH CAROLINA

Asheville: Michael Rossoff, L.Ac., Macrobiotic Association, 52 Rollingwood Road, Asheville, NC 28805; 828-2581883; www.MichaelRossoff.com; www.MacroStudies.com • 45 years experience, macrobiotic counseling, acupuncture, special classes.

Asheville: Lino and Jane Stanchich, 101 Willow Lake Drive, Asheville, NC 28805; www.greatlifeglobal.com; 828-2998657 • International Macrobiotic Teachers-Counselors, Licensed Nutritionists, Authors, Aveline Kushi Award Recipients, offer consultations, classes, and seminars worldwide. Lino, a Licensed Massage-Bodywork Therapist, Member of Kushi Institute Macrobiotic Educators Association, is Multi-lingual.

Saluda: Holistic Holiday at Sea, Sandy Pukel and John Belleme, PO Box 457, Saluda, NC 28773; 800-496-0989 or 305-725-0081; www.atasteofhealth.org • Vacations with a Purpose: Relaxing, Educational and Spiritual. The Ultimate Gift for your Body, Mind, and Spirit.

NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: Tochi Products Health Food and Specialty Products, 1111 2nd Avenue North, Fargo, ND 58102; 701-232-7700 • Health foods, specialty products, organic merchandise, macrobiotic essentials.

OHIO Cleveland: François Roland, Cleveland Macrobiotic Center, 1793 Radnor Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118; 216-371-3222; www.ClevelandMacrobiotics.com; macrocenter@yahoo.com • Macrobiotic health counseling, lecture programs, cooking classes.

Cleveland/Columbus: Osbon Woodford, 2273 Riverside Drive, Lakewood, OH 44107; 216-280-0714; fax 216-2210565; osbonwoodford@gmail.com • Macrobiotic/spiritual counseling, cooking classes, massage, shiatsu.

Columbia Station: Harriet Bhumi Russell, Bhumi’s Yoga & Wellness Center, 19322 East River Road, Columbia Station, OH 44028; 440-236-6366; www.BhumiYoga. com; www.BhumiInternational.com • Lifestyle Coaching, Shiatsu, Yoga, Macrobiotics/Ayurveda, Retreats.

OREGON Portland: Margo Massoud Marver, Wellness Studio, 825 NE Laurelhurst Place, Portland, OR 97232; 503-232-3281; margomarver@yahoo.com; www.emargo.com • Reflexology/shiatsu treatments, cooking classes, meals, Arbonne consultant.

PENNSYLVANIA Devon: Sheri-Lynn DeMaris, M.Ed.; teawithsheri@aol.com; www.teawithsheri.com; www.cedartreebooks.com; 610-995-0595 • Macrobiotic Cookbook/DVD, Cooking Instructor, Lecturere, KI4 Graduate.

Philadelphia: Denny Waxman and Susan Waxman, 1223 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147; 215-271-1858; www. dennywaxman.com • Macrobiotic counseling in person or

by Skype, cooking instruction, and menu planning. Author of “The Great Life Diet.”

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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Philadelphia: Strengthening Health Institute, 1149 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147; info@strengthenhealth.org; 215-238-9212; www.strengthenhealth.org • Strengthening Health Institute offers a wide-range of educational programs to support and nurture your personal or professional macrobiotic practice.

Pittsburgh area: Rosemary Traill, Cooking Green with Rosemary; macrorose@msn.com; 412-741-5167; www.cookinggreenwithrosemary.com • Cooking Classes, Consultations, Lectures, Food is Elementary Educator.

TEXAS

INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA—Perth: The Great Life Cooking School and Macrobiotic Centre, Sahaja and Franco Rubinich, 41 Pelican Ramble, Yangebup 6164, West Australia; 08-94149992; www.thegreatlife.com.au; sahaja@thegreatlife.com. au • Cooking Courses, Macrobiotic Counseling, Potlucks, Accredited Journey Practitioner.

AUSTRALIA—Perth Hills: Macrobiotics WA, Western Australia; +61 433 782 576; rkustka@gmail.com; www. macrobioticswa.blogspot.com.au • Macrobiotics/Health/ Nutrition Consultations tailored to your individual needs.

Find balance in diet, exercise, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Cooking tuition. Private cooking. Food delivery.

Austin: Casa de Luz Center for Integral Studies, 1701 Toomey, Austin, TX 78704; 512-476-2535; fax 512-4760198; natalia@casadeluz.org; www.casadeluz.org • Studies in Macrobiotics, Classrooms, Auditorium, Consultation Rooms available for rental, Books/MB housewares store, Macrobiotic Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner prepared daily.

Yoga, Meditation, Tai Chi and other wholistic practices.

BELGIUM—Sabine Martens, Hoefijzerlaan 58, 8000 Bruges, 0032 - (0)50/38 24 29, 0032 - (0)474/68 77 57; info@sabinemartens.be; www.sabinemartens.be • Pharmacist, macrobiotic counselor, group and private cooking classes.

Austin/Dallas: Christy Morgan, Author Blissful Bites; info@theblissfulchef.com; www.theblissfulchef.com 469-444-0822; • Vegan macrobiotic chef, available for travel, classes, coaching.

CANADA—Alice Fava; Macrobiotic Center of Toronto; www.torontomacrobiotics.com; alicefava@rogers.com; 416-932-1222 • Macrobiotic health consultations, cooking instruction, meals; MEA member.

Dallas area: Margaret Lawson, 129 Deer Crossing Drive, Pottsboro, TX, 75076; macrobioticteacher@gmail.com • Macrobiotic cooking classes, B&B.

CZECH REPUBLIC—Bob Carr, 143 Zamecka, 74757 Slavkov u Opavy; RobertNCarrJr@hotmail.com; +42774-757-212 • Macrobiotic Counselor, teacher, shiatsu, consultations (live, e-mail, Skype).

UTAH Salt Lake City: Sylvia Ruth Gray, Strictly Macrobiotics Est. 1986; 801-521-7936; sylviaemail@gmail.com • Consults/ teaching in the spirit of Ohsawa/Aihara.

VERMONT Vermont and New England area: Anna Bond, Touching Ground, 8 Woods Road, East Dummerston, VT 05346; rejoice@sover.net; 802-387-2341 • Personal consults by phone, online, in person. Macrobiotic teacher, counselor.

Thirty-five years experience. Cooking for longevity, ethnic pickling/fermentation, gardening, qigong, wild food/herb foraging, Nine-Star Astrology. Country-style bed and breakfast.

ISRAEL—Sheldon and Ginat Rice, www.TheRiceHouse. com; shelgin@netvision.net.il; 9724-870-1078 • B&B Accommodations; Numerology; Palmistry; Macrobiotic Guidance, Shiatsu; Catering.

MEXICO—Cuernavaca, Mor.: Linda Moscona; U.S. telephone 1-917-969-4565; lindamoscona@mac.com • “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi.

To advertise, contact:

Macrobiotics Today

WASHINGTON Seattle: Michael W. Chen, Starched Press, P.O. Box 30783, Seattle, WA 98103-0783; starchedpr@hotmail.com • Rewrites, scripts, treatments, ideas, illustrations.

530-566-9765; gomf@earthlink.net

or: www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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34 Macrobiotics Today

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

The Seven Laws of the Order of the Universe 1. What has a beginning has an end.

2. What has a front has a back.

3. There is nothing identical.

4. The bigger the front, the bigger the back.

5. Every antagonism is complementary.

6. Yin and Yang are the classifications of all polarization. They are antagonistic and complementary.

7. Yin and Yang are the two arms of One (Infinite).

The seven laws of the order of the universe as translated from the 1962 French edition of The Atomic Era and the Philosophy of the Far East by Michael and Maria Chen.

The Twelve Theorems of the Unique Principle 1. Yin-Yang are two poles which enter into play when the infinite expansion manifests itself at the point of bifurcation.

2. Yin-Yang are produced continually by the transcendental expansion.

3. Yin is centrifugal. Yang is centripetal. Yin and Yang produce energy.

4. Yin attracts Yang. Yang attracts Yin. 5. Yin and Yang combined in variable proportion produce all phenomena.

6. All phenomena are ephemeral, being of infinitely complex constitutions and constantly changing Yin and Yang components. Everything is without rest.

7. Nothing is totally Yin or totally Yang, even in the most apparently simple phenomenon. Everything contains a polarity at every stage of its composition.

8. Nothing is neutral. Yin or Yang is in excess in every case.

9. The force of attraction is proportional to the difference of the Yin and Yang components.

10. Yin repels Yin and Yang repels Yang. The repulsion is inversely proportional to the difference of the Yin and Yang forces.

11. With time and space, Yin produces Yang, and Yang produces Yin. 12. Every physical body is Yang at its center and Yin toward surface.

The twelve theorems of the unique principle as translated from the 1962 French edition of The Atomic Era and the Philosophy of the Far East by Michael and Maria Chen.

www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

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Macrobiotics Today WINTER 2016 35

George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID CHICO, CA PERMIT No. 1709

1277 Marian Avenue Chico, CA 95928-6914 www.ohsawamacrobiotics.com

or current resident

George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation • promotes George Ohsawa’s teachings • publishes books, including Acid and Alkaline,

Food and Intuition 101, and Zen Macrobiotics

• hosts the annual French Meadows Summer Camp at Pinecrest Lake, July 15-23, 2016

• publishes Macrobiotics Today quarterly • provides access to macrobiotic counseling • provides resource connections to people • maintains a presence on the world wide web at www.ohsawamacrobiotics.com

• has two e-mail addresses: gomf@earthlink.net and gomf@OhsawaMacrobiotics.com • offers discounts to members

George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation 800-232-2372; 530-566-9765

e-mail: gomf@OhsawaMacrobiotics.com website: www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com

Membership Members of the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation receive a year’s subscription to Macro-

biotics Today, discounts on book purchases, informational mailings, and the joy of contributing to contribute in the Foundation’s efforts to spread macrobiotics throughout the world. More information may be found online at www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com.

Make check or money order payable to G.O.M.F. and send to: Macrobiotics Today at the address above.

U.S. membership fee, $25 per year; elsewhere, US$40 (air mail)

Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City _____________________________ State ________ Zip ___________________ New member ______________ Renewal ____________ Fee $_____________________ Donation ____________