Am I Against Macrobiotics?
Before I answer that question, let me state that I am not only "for" macrobiotics. Well, let me restate that. Macrobiotics is not the only game in town that is correct. Macrobiotics is a really good idea, but its discipline may prove too difficult for some.
The Preventive Medicine Center does not take care of "some" of the people who come to it, the Preventive Medicine Center takes care of all of the people who come to it. Our approach to care not only includes macrobiotics but it includes pork, bacon, eggs, cheese, and butter, etc. - with the hope of reducing these latter three etc., as much as possible and moving towards, what I have called "The Food Mantra". The Food Mantra states that the preferred diet for our human physiology and makeup is to eat "fresh (fruits and vegetables), whole and unprocessed (grains and beans), organic (everything), and fiber (at the 95 plus percent level)."
I am not perfect in my diet. As an inspiration, Bonnie, Jane, and Ginny are excellent in their diet. But there are those of us who find the struggle/temptations more than we can 100% adapt to at this moment, which leads me to my position on the Food Mantra that underlies macrobiotics.
People need to move from where they are to as much of The Food Mantra/macrobiotics as they can reasonably do. Everything that the Preventive Medicine Center does is an "invitation to consider....". That is, we are here to serve, not command/demand. You are in charge and make the decisions. In that sense, I wish everybody would eat more in the direction of barley, millet, brown rice, broccoli, collard greens, carrots, onions, lentils, red beans, navy beans, black eye peas, a few nuts and seeds, and more berries and other fruits = the Food Mantra.
One of my patients referred to this plan for the purposes of weight loss as "beans and greens." Weight loss is important for most of us but that, too, is not the whole story. The correct idea can also be said as grains-vegetables-beans-fruits-nuts/seeds-fish twice a week with anything once in a while, whether it is pizza, pork, or ice-cream! The Preventive Medicine Center is, as Bill Spear once stated, about accuracy, not rigidity. We hope this is a help and an encouragement to you. Do as best you can, as you know life is a journey and so my encouragement to you is to move more in the direction of The Food Mantra/macrobiotics and less in the direction of animal/processed foods/binge eating.
H. Robert Silverstein, MD
Hartford, CT