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1. Is macrobiotics an “all or nothing” proposition?
2. How do I deal with ribbing from
family/friends/or doctors about eating this way when
everyone else is eating “normally?”
3. What about going out to eat or
to someone’s home
for dinner? I don’t want my friends to feel uncomfortable
because of what I’m eating!
4. How did you integrate this into
your family’s
diet?
5. What is a normal breakfast for you now?
6. With no dairy in your diet, how do you get the calcium
you need?
7. Where do you get your protein?
8. I have a friend with cancer. I
get the macrobiotic diet’s benefits, but I know she’d
be resistant to trying it. Is there anything I can say
to her?
1. Is macrobiotics an “all or nothing” proposition?
If you have cancer, yes, I do definitely recommend you
jump right in to macrobiotics link to macrobiotics page.
However, during chemo – which is so depleting to
the body – a macrobiotic counselor would adjust
your diet so that you’re getting everything you
need. For example, you might be allowed to have more
oil in your diet during this time.
If you’re not trying to heal from a serious illness,
I think that even small changes are a great step in the
right direction.
I once heard a macrobiotic counselor suggest that it’s
better to do macrobiotics less strictly over the long term
than to just go gung-ho – changing everything at
once – and then getting frustrated and quitting because
it’s too hard to maintain. That’s why they
call it a macrobiotic practice. We have to keep practicing!
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2. How do I deal with ribbing from
family/friends/or doctors about eating this way when
everyone else is eating “normally?”
First of all, if you have cancer, I’d let them know
you’re eating this way because … you have
cancer.
If they’re interested in exploring what you’re
doing from a scientific/medical perspective, you could
direct them to: www.cancerproject.org or www.nutritionmd.org for physicians. And I’d point them to “The
China Study” (T. Colin Campbell’s groundbreaking
book about the link between diet and health, based on 40
years of government-funded research).
For me, I knew that what I was doing was the right thing
because of all I’d read about the connections between
diet and cancer and about food’s effect on the body.
But as important … because of how I felt while eating
this way. It felt right, and I was feeling so much better.
I’ve come to realize that many people who rib you
do so because if they agreed with you they’d have
to really examine the much less healthy way they’re
eating (the standard American diet) and, in doing so, realize
that perhaps they should change their approach. And most
people who don’t have cancer don’t want to
do this.
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3. What about going out to eat or
to someone’s home
for dinner? I don’t want my friends to feel uncomfortable
because of what I’m eating!
Many restaurants do have foods that you can eat. Find some
in your area that do. And good friends who invite you over
will know what you’re doing and likely serve fish
or something else that you can have. I often bring something
with me when I go to a friend’s home for dinner.
Try to put your friends at ease about it and let them know
that you’re not suddenly the food police! If people
ask me about my diet, I’ll tell them, but I don’t
push it or proselytize. I think it’s very important
to recognize that everyone’s on their own path.
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4. How did you integrate this into
your family’s
diet?
It was a very gradual evolution, really. At first, since
I had advanced cancer, I cooked what I needed to cook for
myself and cooked them their normal diet. As time went
on, I’d offer them small portions of my food, and
they started trying some of it. When I found things they
really liked, I’d make those more often. Sometimes
I’d make a plain soup without spices, ladle out a
portion for me, and then add seasonings or more oil for
them. In the beginning, because they didn’t eat all
the things that I did (like seaweed), I might cook fish
or organic meat for them once or twice a week in small
portions. My daughter (8 at that time) quickly transitioned
to no animal products. My son (12 then) didn’t start
eating this way completely until he was 19. The toughest
thing for the kids, I think, was getting the junk food
out of our house. I got healthier snack versions at first,
and then we just didn’t have it.
*A suggestion: If you’ve got cancer, you might cook
a macrobiotic meal and let whoever’s eating with
you cook their own meat for themselves. This worked for
a great couple I met at the Kushi
Institute (where I learned so much about the macrobiotic approach
and about cooking this way).
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5. What is a normal breakfast for you now?
Typically, I have either oats, cornmeal (polenta) or reheated
leftover rice along with steamed greens and another vegetable.
Most people who follow a macrobiotic diet eat their miso
soup for breakfast, too.
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6. With no dairy in your diet, how do you get the calcium
you need?
Leafy green vegetables – such as kale, collards,
bok choy, and other leafy greens – and sea vegetables
(various types of seaweed) are amazing sources of calcium.
One cup of collards has about 249 milligrams of calcium
per cup (cooked). And the body absorbs these sources of
calcium more readily than calcium from dairy.
Many things in a typical American diet actually deplete
calcium in our bones: too much animal protein, sugar, and
carbonated beverages.
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7. Where do you get your protein?
I get most of my protein from a wide variety of beans and
some from grains. Our bodies actually need much less
protein than most Americans believe. And it’s far
healthier to eat get protein from a vegetarian source
(such as beans, bean products and grains) than from animal
sources.
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8. I have a friend with cancer. I
get the macrobiotic diet’s benefits, but I know she’d
be resistant to trying it. Is there anything I can say
to her?
You could gently recommend some easier steps that would
just make her feel better. As a start, cutting back on
the amount of sugar in her diet – and adding some
more vegetables – alone would help boost her immune
system. If she’s open to trying this, you might also
send her a link to one of the above resources – and
to this site or my blog.
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*Have another question? Please e-mail me, and I’ll try my best to help.
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