[net.veg] geo.osawa

ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/16/84)

george osawa died of cancer:  
he smoked cigarettes like a fiend.
he figured that, macrobiotically, 
cancer was expansive,
smoking cigarettes was contractive, 
therefore, smoking cured cancer,  
and so he died.

i was strictly macro for 1 yr. or so, and gradually moved
into lacto-ovo vegetarianism, with fish a few times a year,
no fowl and certainly no red meat.
i felt that macro biotics was not truly nutritionally sound, tho'
it had the potential to be (i do not believe that the human body
can create all the protein it needs from brown rice alone) -
(and so much of macrobiotics depends on faith and spiritual
explanations rather than what i accept as scientific reality.
i do have my own spiritual beliefs, which encompass some of
what is included in macrobiotics (i consider myself somewhat of
a closet Buddhist), but i do not reject modern science.).
the philosophy of `Diet for a Small Planet' could be used for
good protein combination within a macrobiotic diet.
also, the choice of foods i found too limiting - and `heavy'
macros tend to be rather exclusively Japanese in food style-
(macrobiotics doesn't have to be that way, but tends to)
i am a bit of a sensualist, and i like variety of taste and
texture, as well as spices (which are acceptable on a Hindu/yoga
based vegetarian diet)
i had some intestinal problems from excesses of high-fiber carbohydrates.
after i went off macrobiotics and into my own nutritionally researched
vegetarianism i was the healthiest i've ever been.
i am no longer a vegetarian - 
the spirit was willing, but the tastbuds got weak when i 
discovered Southeast Asian foods.  i still eat little meat -
1 or 2 times a month at the very most, generally only in Thai 
or Indonesian restaurants, and chicken a bit more often, 
though not more than once a week.
(after living in Southeast Asia and watching my sister-in-law 
kill her own chickens for dinner, i am now LESS squeamish than before)
i have vegetarian Southeast Asian recipes if anyone's interested.

ahearn@convex.UUCP (08/18/84)

#R:ucla-cs:-81500:convex:56000007:000:2456
convex!ahearn    Aug 18 11:26:00 1984

About Georges Ohsawa:

1. According to his wife, Lima, he died suddenly one morning, apparently
   of a stroke (my interpretation). He was 76. The account of his death
   was included in one of his posthomously published books. If anyone is
   *really* interested, I'll post a reference. There was no mention of
   cancer in Lima's account of his death.

2. Ohsawa did smoke cigarettes like a fiend. Many macrobiotic people do.
   The rationale is that tobacco is "yang-izing" (constrictive) and will
   therefore help one avoid yin diseases. (There is more fear of Yin dis-
   ease, since most macrobiotic folk tend to believe we Americans eat too
   much Yin food.)

3. Ohsawa apparently ate huge amounts of sea salt, miso, and tamari. He 
   nearly died of tuberculosis at 19, and he attributed his recovery and
   subsequent good health to an incredibly Yang, highly restricted macrobiotic
   diet. It is alleged that he occasionally sweated small crystals of salt.
   (Is this even possible?)

4. After his recovery, Ohsawa by all accounts was a man of prodigous activity.
   He took at least one degree in science at a French University, traveled 
   widely, published hundreds of books and pamphlets, lectured, conducted sem-
   inars, and worked fr several import-export trading houses. He wrote some-
   where that he was capable of working for days on end with little or no 
   sleep. This ability he also attributed to macrobiotics.

My perception is that Ohsawa is now something of an embarrassment to macros.
His regimen is almost impossible to maintain (even Ohsawa "binged" on
hamburger, eggs, whiskey, and candy) and his teaching by today's standards
appears restrictive and misogynistic. Nevertheless, he is the founder and 
chief proselytizer of an international movement that apparently has done a
lot of people a lot of good. I don't know what to do with him. Sometimes I
read his books and think he's really onto something, other times I throw his
books against the wall.

I would reccomend *You Are All Sanpaku* as introduction to the Ohsawa brand
of macrobiotics. It's well-written, funny, and useful. For a real treat, pick
up some of the pamphlets he wrote about fruit, marijuana, or drugs.
Hysterical apocalyptic nightmares about eating citrus fruit and smoking
joints. Highly recommended to fans of the bizarre.

----------------------------------------------------

Joe Ahearn    {allegra, ihnp4, uiucds, ctvax}!convex!ahearn