Cancer & Macrobiotic Diets
Despite having been invented in the 1930s, the macrobiotic diet still experiences widespread popularity as a proffered "cure" for cancer. While this is certainly a bold claim, a number of individuals have credited the diet with being at least partially responsible for their recoveries. If you, or someone you know, has been diagnosed with cancer and is considering the macrobiotic diet, here are the facts you should know.
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About the Macrobiotic Diet
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The macrobiotic diet was developed by a Japanese researcher and philosopher as an attempt to blend together the concepts of Buddhism and Christianity, alongside both Western and Eastern medicine. The macrobiotic diet embraces a return to a more nature-based style of eating, utilizing the findings of cancer research to present a diet that will minimize the risk of developing this horrible disease.
Following the Macrobiotic Diet
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The macrobiotic diet is primarily vegetarian. Thus, the bulk of your food intake will be from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The other basic tenets of the diet are that it is both low in fat and high in fiber, two purported elements of a cancer-fighting diet. While on the diet, you may still consume items such as fish, nuts, and seeds to round out your protein and fat intake, but you are wholly prohibited from consuming eggs, sugar, coffee, dairy, processed foods, poultry, and red meat.
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Sample Macrobiotic Foods and Additional Rules
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Sample foods to consume while you are on the macrobiotic diet include whitefish, beans, grains, miso, pickles, avocado, spinach, beets, peppers, tomato, eggplant, and potatoes. One major caveat is that you should avoid fruits and vegetables that are not locally occurring. Thus, if you live in a temperate climate, avoid eating tropical foods like pineapples or bananas. Finally, all of your cooking should be done with steel, glass, enamel, or wood equipment. Avoiding cooking with electricity or microwaving your food as well.
Additional Benefits
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The primary purported benefit of the macrobiotic diet is in its supposed ability to cure or prevent cancer, but that is hardly the only benefit to be reaped from this style of eating. Following this plan will certainly help you manage your weight and body composition, which are two important goals for those seeking to live a long and productive life. Additionally, the lack of red meat in the diet can help to lower blood pressure and might help stave off cardiac conditions.
Macrobiotic Diet and Cancer
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No studies conclusively state that the macrobiotic diet can play any role in curing cancer. Although the tenets of the diet seem to suggest cancer prevention properties (by increasing vegetable intake and limiting red meat), preventing and curing cancer are hardly the same thing. Thus, while the macrobiotic diet might certainly help with an anticancer regime, or could even help during a cancer treatment plan, do not rely on the diet alone to cure your condition.
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