Editing Macrobiotic diet (section)

== Conceptual basis ==
[[File:Yin yang.svg|thumb|right|260px|Macrobiotic diets are based on the concept of balancing [[yin and yang]].<ref name=zen-ten/>]]
The macrobiotic diet is associated with [[Zen Buddhism]] and is based on the idea of balancing yin and yang.<ref name=oxref>{{cite book |author= Bender DA |title=A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191752391.001.0001/acref-9780191752391-e-7301 |isbn=9780191752391}}</ref> The diet proposes ten plans which are followed to reach a supposedly ideal yin:yang ratio of 5:1.<ref name=zen-ten>{{cite book |vauthors=Roth RA, Wehrle KL |title=Nutrition & Diet Therapy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cu5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |year=2016 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-305-94582-1 |page=43 |quote=The macrobiotic diet is a system of 10 diet plans, developed from Zen Buddhism |chapter=Chapter 2: Planning a Healthy Diet |edition=12th}}</ref> The diet was popularized by [[George Ohsawa]] in the 1930s and subsequently elaborated on by his disciple [[Michio Kushi]].<ref name=ACS/> Medical historian Barbara Clow writes that, in common with many other types of [[quackery]], macrobiotics takes a view of illness and of therapy which conflicts with mainstream medicine.<ref name=clow>{{cite book |title=Negotiating Disease: Power and Cancer Care, 1900-1950 |year=2001 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |page=63 |author=Clow B|isbn=9780773522107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pFyee0XcIfoC&pg=PA63 |quote=Before we explore medical reactions to therapeutic innovations in this era, we must stop to consider the meaning of 'alternative medicine' in this context.  Often scholars use the term to denote systems of healing that are philosophically as well as therapeutically distinct from regular medicine: homeopathy, reflexology, rolfing, macrobiotics, and spiritual healing, to name a few, embody interpretations of health, illness, and healing that are not only different from, but also at odds with conventional medical opinion.}}</ref>

Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown [[whole grain]] [[cereal]]s, [[Pulse (legume)|pulses]] ([[legume]]s), [[vegetable]]s, [[edible seaweed]], [[fermented soy products]], and [[fruit]] combined into meals according to the ancient Chinese principle of balance known as [[yin and yang]].<ref>[[William Dufty]] with [[Nyoiti Sakurazawa]] (1965) ''You Are All Sanpaku'', University Books.</ref> Some macrobiotic proponents stress that yin and yang are relative qualities that can only be determined in a comparison. All food is considered to have both properties, with one dominating. Foods with yang qualities are considered compact, dense, heavy, and hot, whereas those with yin qualities are considered expansive, light, cold, and diffuse.<ref>Porter, pp. 22–25</ref> However, these terms are relative; "yangness" or "yinness" is only discussed in relation to other foods.<ref>Porter, pp. 44–49</ref>

Brown rice and other whole grains such as [[barley]], [[millet]], [[oats]], [[quinoa]], [[spelt]], [[rye]], and [[teff]] are considered by macrobiotics to be the foods in which yin and yang are closest to being in balance. Therefore, lists of macrobiotic foods that determine a food as yin or yang generally compare them to whole grains.<ref>Porter, pp. 71–78</ref>

[[Solanaceae|Nightshade]] vegetables, including [[tomato]]es, [[Capsicum|peppers]], [[potato]]es, and [[eggplant]]; also, [[spinach]], [[beet]]s, and [[avocado]]s, are not recommended or are used sparingly in macrobiotic cooking, as they are considered extremely yin.<ref>Kushi and Jack, p. 119.</ref> Some macrobiotic practitioners also discourage the use of nightshades because of the alkaloid [[solanine]] which is thought to affect calcium balance.<ref>Stanchich L "All About Nightshades". ''New Life Journal: Carolina Edition'', Apr/May 2003, vol. 4, no. 5, p. 17, 3 pp.</ref> Some proponents of a macrobiotic diet believe that nightshade vegetables can cause [[inflammation]] and [[osteoporosis]].<ref>Porter</ref>

===History===

Macrobiotics was founded by George Ohsawa and popularized in the United States by his disciple Michio Kushi.<ref name="Barrett 1993">{{cite book |last=Barrett |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Barrett |date=1993 |title=The Health Robbers: A Look at Quackery in America |url=https://centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/quackwatch/health_robbers.pdf|publisher=Prometheus Book |pages=225–233 |isbn=0-87975-855-4}}</ref> In the 1960s, the earliest and most strict variant of the diet was termed the "Zen macrobiotic diet" which claimed to cure [[cancer]], [[epilepsy]], [[gonorrhea]], [[leprosy]], [[syphilis]] and many other diseases.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/><ref name="CA 1993"/> Ohsawa wrote that dandruff is "the first step toward mental disease".<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> Ohsawa wrote about the diet in his 1965 book ''Zen Macrobiotics''.<ref name="CA 1993"/> The Zen macrobiotic diet involved 10 restrictive stages with the highest stage eliminating all foods in the diet apart from whole grains. Fluid intake was discouraged at all stages.<ref name="JAMA 1971">{{cite journal|year=1971|title=Zen Macrobiotic Diets|journal=JAMA|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210019088754&seq=95|volume=218|issue=3|pages=397|doi=10.1001/jama.1971.03190160047009|pmid=5109865}}</ref><ref name="Barrett 1993"/>

In 1965, a young follower of the macrobiotic diet had died from malnutrition.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> George Ohsawa was sued for malpractice and the Ohsawa Foundation in New York was closed after a raid by the [[Food and Drug Administration]]. In 1966, a Grand Jury who reviewed several cases of death from malnutrition among macrobiotic proponents concluded that the diet "constitutes a public health hazard".<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> In 1967, the first case report of [[scurvy]] on the macrobiotic diet was reported.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> In 1971, the [[American Medical Association]]'s Council on Foods and Nutrition commented that followers of the diet were in "great danger" of malnutrition.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> Their report concluded that "when a diet has been shown to cause irreversible damage to health and ultimately lead to death, it should be roundly condemned as a threat to human health".<ref name="CA 1993"/><ref name="JAMA 1971"/>

After the Ohsawa Foundation in New York was closed, Michio Kushi shifted operations to [[Boston]], where he opened two macrobiotic restaurants.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/><ref>{{cite news|author=Lewin, Tamar|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/05/us/michio-kushi-advocate-of-natural-foods-in-the-us-dies-at-88.html|title=Michio Kushi, Advocate of Natural Foods in the U.S., Dies at 88|newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 4, 2014}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In the 1970s, Kushi established the ''East West Journal'', the East West Foundation and the Kushi Institute. In 1981, the Kushi Foundation was formed as a parent organization for the institute and magazine.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> The Kushi Institute was located on a large site in [[Becket, Massachusetts]] where it hosted macrobiotic conferences, lectures and seminars. Kushi combined macrobiotics with numerous paranormal and [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] ideas including [[Aura (paranormal)|auras]], astrology, [[chakra]]s, oriental physiognomy, [[palmistry]] and extra-terrestrial encounters.<ref name="Barrett 1993"/> The Kushi Institute closed in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Lindsay, Dick|date=2017|title=Kushi Institute closes; owes Becket nearly $50,000|url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/archives/kushi-institute-closes-owes-becket-nearly-50-000/article_fc87b8fd-9508-536c-ac12-01141b90cae3.html|website=The Berkshire Eagle|language=en-GB|archive-date=|archive-url=}}</ref>