SALT
Salt is essential to life, and all cultures and civilizations have utilized salt. Unrefined sea salt, evaporated from the ocean, preserves many of the minerals and trace elements refined from ordinary table salt.
Refined table salt, high in sodium, is associated with high blood pressure, stomach cancer, osteoporosis, and bronchial irregularities. See Schweitzer.
• Medicinal Benefits of Salt - Human blood corresponds with the ancient ocean in which life began, according to macrobiotic educator Michio Kushi. Salt is essential to strong blood, lymph, and bodily fluids, as well as digestion and nervous functioning. Sea salt is especially beneficial to the kidneys, bladder, heart, and small intestine. A salt pack reduces inflammation.
Source: Michio Kushi, Healing Foods, (Becket, MA: One Peaceful World Press, 1998).
• Dead Sea Salt Benefits Psoriasis and Healthy Skin - Israeli researcher reported that in a study of five minerals abundant in Dead Sea brine, salts high in magnesium bromide and magnesium chloride had a strong antiproliferative effect on psoriasis and healthy skin cells compared with potassium salts or sodium chloride. “These results were obtained with both psoriatic and healthy skin fibroblasts, indicating that the inhibitory effect of the selected Dead-Sea minerals is present in healthy and psoriatic skin cells,” the scientists concluded.
Source: F. Levi-Schaffer et al., “Inhibition of Proliferation of Psoriatic and Healthy Fibroblasts in Cell Culture by Selected Dead-Sea Salts,” Pharmacology 52(5):321-28, 1996.
SCHWEITZER, DR. ALBERT
Looking back over four decades of medical work in French Equatorial Africa, Dr. Albert Schweitzer reported that he had never had any cancer cases in his hospital and that its occurrence among the African people was very rare. He attributed the rise of degenerative diseases to the importation of European foods including condensed milk, canned butter, meat and fish preserves, white bread, and especially refined salt. “It is obvious to connect the fact of increase of cancer with the increased use of salt by the natives. In former years there was only available the little salt extracted from the ocean.”
Dr. Schweitzer himself practiced a semi-vegetarian philosophy which he called Reverence for Life.
Source: Albert Schweitzer, M.D., Briefe aus dem Lambarenespital, 1954.
SCIENCE
In a study of creativity and modern thought, Alex Jack traces the decline and fall of holistic understanding in the agrarian, industrial, and scientific revolutions and describes how the modern diet (high in meat and sugar, dairy and processed foods) contributed to the development of the scientific method and the theory of gravity, evolution, germ theory of disease, and nutritional science. Case histories include Leonardo da Vinci, Columbus, Shakespeare, Descartes, Newton, Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein), Darwin, Pasteur, and Fannie Farmer.
“The enclosure movement of 16th through 18th century England... led to a dramatic change in agriculture and food preparation . . . In the 17th century, as a culmination of trends set in motion by the Crusades and the exploration of the New World, meat, poultry, dairy, and sugar, spices, and tropical fruits and vegetables started to become daily fare. In England and later throughout Europe, traditional fields and commons were hedged off and the scientific breeding of sheep and cattle came into vogue.
“A major change in food precedes a major change in the life of an individual, society, civilization, or species. Following the Renaissance, a new model of the universe developed in conjunction with the new way of farming and eating. . . . Building on Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Descartes, Newton perfected a model of the universe that made a sharp division between mind and matter. The Newtonian-Cartesian model, as it is often called, effectively hedged off and enclosed spirit, mind, and consciousness from daily life. . . .
“The quantitative triumph of matter, the idea of the whole being reducible to the sum of its parts, the emphasis on an horizontal rather than a vertical dimension to life—the seeds of the modern mentality can all be seen in the grand synthesis presented in Newton’s Principia. Its algebraic order and geometric structure, like an elaborate 17th or early 18th century banquet, was served up in three courses complete with requisite appetizers (definitions and rules), sumptuous entrées (the theory of gravity), diverting side dishes (the precessional shift and motion of the tides), and associated desserts and ices (scholia and lemmas).
“Eventually, the entire world was enclosed by the Newtonian synthesis. The modern system of colonialism and imperialism, spearheaded by the British Lion, spread around the world, and one by one traditional cultures and societies were hedged off or transformed into satellites circling a powerful, central sun. Haciendas, plantations, factories, etc. displaced family farms and small villages and towns, and modern architecture and city planning based on lines of force moving rectilinearly replaced older curvilinear structures. Newton was an early advocate of enclosure and enthusiastic about the new agriculture based on utility and profit. According to his secretary, he could not endure to see a weed growing in his own garden. Whether in his theories or on his own land, he could not appreciate diversity and complexity. His universe was depopulated of spirit, mind, and even seemingly useless, unproductive matter.”
Source: Alex Jack, Profiles in Oriental Diagnosis, Vol. I, II, III (Becket, MA: One Peaceful World Press, 1995, 1998, 1999).
SEA VEGETABLES
Edible seaweeds are among the most important foods in traditional cuisines. High in minerals, vitamins, and complex carbohydrates, they aid digestion, benefit the heart and circulatory system, and have a stabilizing effect on the brain and nervous system. Beside daily cooking, sea vegetables have many medicinal applications, as food and side dishes, teas, and external compresses.
Japanese sea vegetables are usually stronger and especially recommended for superior health, medicinal cooking, and home remedies. Domestic varieties are suitable for ordinary cooking and cost about half as much. A variety of sea vegetable powders, flakes, pickles, and snacks is also available, though making them oneself is preferable. See Breast Cancer, Herpes, Hiziki, Infertility, Kombu, Nori, Nuclear Radiation, Prostate Cancer, Vitamin B-12, Wakame.
• Seaweed Inhibits Bacterial Infections - An American marine biologist noticed the lack of bacteria in penguin intestines and held the antibiotic qualities of seaweed responsible.
Source: J. M. N. Sieburth, Sciences 132:676, 1960.
• Seaweed Inhibits Breast Cancer - In Japan, tests on six groups of female rats showed that adding sea vegetables to the diet resulted in significant inhibitory effect on induced mammary tumorigenesis. “Tumor incidences were 35 percent (7/20), 35 percent (7/20) and 50 percent (9/18), respectively [for groups fed nori, kombu, and another type of kombu], whereas that in the control group was 69 percent (920/29),” investigators reported. The onset of tumors was also delayed in the seaweed groups, and the weight of tumors was lower.
Source: Ichiro Yamamoto et al., “The Effect of Dietary Seaweeds on 7,12-Dimethyl-Benz[a]Anthracene-Induced Mammary Tumorigenesis in Rats,” Cancer Letters 35:109-18, 1987.
• Seaweed Offsets Food Poisoning - Test-tube studies have found that seaweed extract is as effective as antibiotic drugs against common food-poisoning bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes and E. coli; the fungus Candida albicans; and a bacterium associated with causing pneumonia.
Source: O. H. McConnell in H. A. Hoppe et al., Marine Algae in Pharmaceutical Science (New York: DeGruyter, 1979).
• Seaweeds as Source of Vitamin B-12 - A study of macrobiotic and vegetarian mothers suggested that nursing mothers with low vitamin B-12 levels could get an acceptable source of this nutrient by consuming sea vegetables that are naturally high in B-12. “The relatively high vitamin B-12 content of sea vegetables is thought to reflect a high content of vitamin B-12 producing microorganism[s] in these plants. Although these analyses need to be confirmed with further studies, sea vegetables may represent a potentially important source of this vitamin in the strict vegetarian diet.”
Source: B. L. Specker et al., “Increased Urinary Methylmalonic Acid Excretion in Breast-Fed Infants of Vegetarian Mothers and Identification of an Acceptable Dietary Source of Vitamin B-12,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 47:89-92, 1988.
• Seaweed Revives African Economy and Raises Status of Women - After eucheuma, a seaweed imported from the Philippines, was transplanted to the east coast of Unguja Island in Tanzania, seaweed farming flourished and revitalized a community. According to medical researchers, the number of children suffering from malnutrition has decreased, the health of mothers has improved, and the seaweed industry has fostered self-employment and brought prosperity to the whole region. The seaweed harvesters are primarily women, and the social and economic status of women has risen substantially.
Source: Flower E. Msuya, “Seaweed Farmers of Zanzibar,” University of Dar es Salaam, Institute of Marine Sciences, Zanzibar, Tanzania, 1998.
SEEDS
Organic seeds may be saved or obtained from a seed company. Standard, heirloom, or open-pollinated seeds refer to traditional nonhybridized seeds that give strong energy and produce the best quality crops and food. Several seed banks specialize in preserving traditional seeds that are in danger of extinction from modern farming and monoculture. See World Hunger.
• Terminator Seeds - A new technique that makes seeds sterile would end the centuries' old practice of saving seeds for the next planting. Hope Shand, research director for the Rural Advancement Foundation International in Pittsboro, N.C., said, "We call it terminator technology. It will force farmers to return to the same company year after year for their seeds."
The USDA and the Delta and Pine Land Co. of Scott, Miss., patented the new procedure in 1998 for cotton seed. Developed through genetic engineering, the new seeds contain an array of new genes that when sprayed with a chemical compound turns off a "blocker" switch that normally allows the plant's seeds to be fertile. Used so far for cotton and tobacco, researchers say it will soon be tried on wheat, soybeans, and other crops.
Jane Rissler, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the seeds could lead to mass hunger in developing countries where farmers cannot afford to buy expensive genetically altered seeds. "The companies want to control all the seeds," Rissler said. "It gives lie to the notion that the biotechnology industry wants to feed the world." Delta and Pine, which was subsequently bought by Monsanto, and the U.S.D.A. have applied for patents for the new technology in 78 countries.
Source: "Sterile Seeds Patent Sparks Debate," Associated Press, July 23, 1998.
• Ancient Lotus Seeds Sprout - A 1288-year-old lotus seed from China produced a tiny green shoot. Scientists say it is the oldest seed ever to germinate and may hold clues to prolonging life. "This sleeping beauty, which was already there when Marco Polo came to China in the 13th century, must have a powerful genetic system to delay its aging," said Dr. Jane Shen-Miller, a botanist at the University of California.
She obtained the brown, oval-shaped seeds from a dry lake bed that had once been the site of a lotus pond cultivated by Buddhists. Researchers speculated that the seed's thick shell and presence of a special protein-repair enzyme may have contributed to its longevity.
Source: “Scientist Germinates 1288-Year-Old Seed,” The Minnesota Daily, November 14, 1995.
• Seeds of Peace - Sunflower seeds were scattered in Kiev in June, 1996, to mark the completion of the official nuclear disarmament of Ukraine. The ceremony at the Pervomaisk missile base marked the end of a three-year process in which 1900 strategic warheads were prepared for destruction. U.S. Secretary of Defence William J. Perry, along with the Defense Ministers of Ukraine and Russia, planted sunflowers and wheat above the missile silos.
Source: One Peaceful World Journal 27:4, Summer 1996 and wire service reports
• Ancient Rice Seeds as a Solution to Modern Epidemics - Whole grain rice from ancient burial mounds was discovered in Japan in the late 1990s. Dating back thousands of years, the rice is a dryland variety that existed during the Jomon culture. Present day rice in Japan, America, and most other parts of the world is paddy rice, requiring intensive irrigation, while dryland does not require much moisture. The rice comes in seven colors, including red and black.
According to macrobiotic educator Michio Kushi, who is growing the rice in Japan, it has much stronger vitality and life energy (ki) than present organic rice and may be strong enough to help offset modern diseases and epidemics, including a decline in human immune function as the result of environmental pollution.
The ancient rice may be particularly helpful in protecting against the human form of mad cow disease and other prion disorders characterized by degeneration of the nucleus and DNA of cells. "Natural foods are gradually losing their ki because of the worsening environmental crisis, chemical contamination, and artificial seeds," Kushi explained in an interview. "As seed quality declines, the functioning of the brain, intestines, and ultimately the reproductive organs is affected. DNA in the sperm and egg govern our ability to reproduce. It is essential to secure the best quality seeds and food. The seeds must be cultivatable." The black variety, he said, was the strongest.
In the Philippines, the International Rice Institute, which popularized the Green Revolution with hybrid seeds a generation ago, announced plans to introduce a new genetically engineered strain of rice that gives two to three crops a year and needs no sunlight. Commenting on this development, Mr. Kushi said that this rice was "so yin, no sunlight!" and would produce weakening effects. "I am hopeful that our macrobiotic community, along with the natural foods and organic agriculture movement, will be strong enough in the years ahead to offset the evolutionary crisis. I hope heirloom seeds can return to being the standard and that organic farmers, food processors, natural food stores, and natural foods consumers will resist the temptation to use less expensive hybrid seeds."
Source: Alex Jack, "Seeds of Future Harmony," One Peaceful World Journal 31:1, Summer 1997.
SEITAN
Seitan, also known as wheat meat, is a dynamic, rich-tasting food made from wheat gluten cooked with shoyu and kombu. High in protein and containing no cholesterol or saturated fat, it makes delicious stews, sandwiches, and casseroles. Its rich, dynamic taste makes it a favorite for vegetarian burgers and children’s lunches. It can be made at home or be purchased at the natural foods store. It is strengthening to the liver and gall bladder.
SELENIUM
Selenium is a trace mineral that helps protect cell membranes and other structures from damage by lipids. Functioning as part of the enzyme system, selenium’s role in the body parallels that of vitamin E whose antioxidant activity neutralizes free radicals. Intake of foods naturally high in selenium, such as whole grains, green leafy vegetables, and seafood, is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and in normal fetal development. See Selenium.
• Whole Foods High in Selenium Protect Against Prostate Cancer - Whole grains, vegetables, and other foods high in selenium may prevent prostate cancer. In a study of 33,737 men, researchers at Harvard University found that higher selenium levels were associated with a reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer. The scientists found that over a four-year period the men with the highest selenium levels had only one-third the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer as those with low selenium intakes. Researchers cautioned against taking selenium supplements, which may have adverse effects, and recommended that selenium be taken in whole form through daily foods.
Source: Edward Giovannucci, “Study of Prediagnostic Selenium in Toenails and the Risk of Advanced Prostate Cancer,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 90(16):1219-24, 1998.
SESAME
Sesame seeds, native to the Far East, Middle East, Africa, and South America, are highly nutritious. They are used to make gomashio (sesame seed salt), tahini (sesame butter), and sesame oil. In Oriental medicine, sesame oil is used to treat arthritis, rheumatism, and ear and eye ailments. Sesame seed tea is used to darken the hair and treat menstrual irregularity.
• Traditional Use of Sesame - In his book on the energetics of food, Michio Kushi explains the uses of sesame oil for burns, eye and ear ailments, dandruff, and pains and aches, as well as the use of raw sesame seeds and gomashio for a variety of common conditions.
Source: Michio Kushi with Marc Van Cauwenberghe, M.D., Macrobiotic Home Remedies (Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1985).
• Sesame Oil Beneficial in Treating Burns - Sesame oil is the key ingredient in a new Chinese ointment that aids in the healing of burn injuries. Chinese doctors reported that the herbal compound MEBO (“moist, exposed burn ointment”) resulted in dramatic improvement in severely burned patients after treatment. Altogether some 50,000 patients have healed unusually quickly when tested with the substance.
Source: Judy Foreman, “New Chinese Ointment May Aid in the Healing of Burn Injuries,” Boston Globe, November 23, 1990.
• Sesame Oil Lowers Cholesterol - In laboratory experiments, researchers at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that a diet high in sesame oil significantly lowered cholesterol levels in the liver of test animals.
Source: S. Satchithanandam et al., “Effect of Sesame Oil on Serum and Liver Lipid Profiles in the Rat,” International Journal of Vitamins and Nutrition Research 66(4):386092, 1996.
• Sesame Oil Beneficial for the Kidney and Heart - In an investigation of the effects of sesamin, a natural phytoestrogen found in sesame oil, Japanese scientists reported that in laboratory studies a diet high in this nutrient helped reduce renal hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy.
Source: S. Kita et al., “Antihypertensive Effect of Sesamin,” Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 18(9):1283-85, 1995.
• Sesame Enhances Nutrition of Bread - In a study of the effect of adding sesame seeds to wheat flour bread, an Egyptian researcher reported that sesame products increased protein content of the loaf as well as mineral and total essential amino acids, especially lysine. The sesame also improved protein digestibility.
Source: T. A. El-Adawy, “Effect of Sesame Seed Proteins Supplementation on the Nutritional, Physical, Chemical, and Sensory Properties of Wheat Flour Bread,” Plant Foods and Human Nutrition 48(4):311-26, 1995.
SEXUAL VITALITY
Sexual function disorders, including low sexual desire, sexual aversion disorder, premature ejaculation, and pain during intercourse, are widespread in modern society. The role of diet in contributing to sexual vitality and fulfillment is beginning to move from a focus on aphrodisiacs to daily food. See Impotence, Sexual Vitality.
• Diet and Sex - After counseling thousands of people, macrobiotic educator Michio Kushi concluded that diet has a profound influence on sexuality. “Female sexuality depends upon the smooth flow of upward, yin energy in the body. At the moment of orgasm, sensations originating in the vagina and clitoris radiate up through the pelvis and along the primary channel to the upper chakras [energy centers]. Animal foods are strongly charged with the opposite or downward (yang) energy, and when eaten in excess inhibit the natural unfolding of upward energy in the female body. Animal foods tighten and constrict the chakras and can limit the range of pleasure and depth of emotion that a woman experiences during sex. . . . This is a leading cause of the inability to achieve orgasm during intercourse.”
In women, he observed, animal food consumption is also connected with fibroid tumors, blockages in the Fallopian tubes, dermoid cysts, vaginal discharge, and in extreme cases cancer of the ovaries, uterus, or cervix—conditions which can interfere with healthy sexuality.
In men, excessive animal food intake can lead to prostate enlargement, premature ejaculation, or exclusive “concentration on orgasm without the more total involvement of the mind and emotions.” Meanwhile, sugar, dairy food, tropical fruits, and other more expansive (yin) food can diminish sexual vitality and lead to impotence.
“The complex carbohydrates in whole grains, beans, and fresh local vegetables have a number of advantages in helping to promote sexual harmony,” Kushi reported. “Because they are slowly broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream, they provide a slow, steady supply of energy. This contributes to endurance and staying power.” In particular, he recommended brown rice, miso soup, root vegetables such as burdock, carrot, and jinenjo (Japanese mountain potato), beans (especially azuki beans), sea vegetables, and gomashio (sesame seed salt) to enhance sexual potency, as well as a special recipe for Vitality Stew.
Source: Michio Kushi with Edward and Wendy Esko, The Gentle Art of Making Love (Garden City Park, N.Y.: Avery Publishing, 1990).
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
The United States has the highest rates of STD of any country in modern society and no comprehensive approach to this epidemic, according to a panel of the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences. Common STD include chlamydial infection, syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, and hepatitis B virus. STD are associated with infertility, cancer, birth defects, and miscarriages. Rates of gonorrhea are 150 per every 100,000 compared with 18.6 in Canada and 3 in Sweden. One-quarter of new cases are adolescents. See Herpes.
SEWAGE SLUDGE
Toxic sludge, recycled into fertilizer from the incineration of medical and municipal wastes, and from mining, smelting, cement-making, and wood product manufacturing, has spread invisibly throughout the nation's cropland. Patty Martin, mayor of Quincy, Wash., focused public attention on the practice when local cattle and crops began to show debilitating effects and investigators discovered that wastes were being added to fertilizer without being listed as ingredients on the label.
In Gore, Ok., a uranium-processing plant disposes of low-level radioactive waste by licensing it as a liquid fertilizer and spraying it over 9000 acres of grazing land.
In Camas, Wash., lead-laced waste from a pump mill is hauled to farms and spread over crops destined for livestock feed.
In Moxee City, Wash., dark powder from two Oregon steel mills is poured from rail cars into silos under a federal hazardous waste storage permit and then used as fertilizer. "When it goes into our silo, it's a hazardous waste," Dick Camp, president of Bay Zinc Co., said. "When it comes out of the silo, it's no longer regulated. The exact same material."
Source: "Toxic Chemicals Recyled into Fertilizer," Deja News, July 8, 1997.
• Plants Susceptible to Toxins in Sewage Sludge - Sewage sludge, a toxic mixture of municipal and industrial wastes that is recycled in fertilizer for farms and gardens, contains low levels of PCBs, dioxins and furans, cholorinated pesticides, carcinogenic polynuclear-aromatic hydrocarons, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, parasitic worms and fungi, industrial solvents, asbestos, petroleum products, etc.
In scientific tests, sewage sludge has been found to be mutagenic, causing inheritable genetic changes in organisms. It releases toxic metals into ground water, wildlife, and crops. Research indicates that some toxic metals and organic industrial poisons can be transferred from sludge-treated soils into carrots, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, chard, and other crops. Livestock grazing on plants treated with sewage sludge may ingest the pollutants. For example, sheep eating cabbage in sludge-treated soils developed lesions of the liver and thyroid. Pigs fattened on sludge-grown corn had high levels of cadmium in their tissues. Dioxin levels in humans rose after eating beef or cow's milk produced from affected soils.
Source: "New U.S. Waste Strategy: Part 2: Sewage Sludge," Environmental Research Foundation, August 28, 1997.
SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS
Shiitake, a mushroom native to the Orient, is used in naturals foods cooking and holistic health care. Dried are preferred for medicinal use, while either fresh or dried may be used in soups, stews, and casseroles. Its strong antitumor effect is now coming under close medical scrutiny. See Wakame.
• Traditional Use - Educator Michio Kushi describes the traditional medicinal use of shiitake mushrooms to help dissolve animal fat in the body and help relax a contracted or tense condition and presents recipes for several teas in which shiitake are the main or supplemental ingredient.
Source: Michio Kushi, Basic Home Remedies (Becket, MA: One Peaceful World Press, 1994).
• Shiitake Have Strong Antitumor Effect - Japanese scientists at the National Cancer Center Research Institute reported that shiitake mushrooms had a strong anti-tumor effect. In experiments with mice, polysaccharide preparations from various natural sources, including the shiitake mushroom commonly available in Tokyo markets, markedly inhibited the growth of induced sarcomas resulting in “almost complete regression of tumors . . . with no sign of toxicity.”
Source: G. Chihara et al., “Fractionation and Purification of the Polysaccharides with Marked Antitumor Activity, Especially Lentinan, from Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Sing. (An Edible Mushroom),” Cancer Research 30:2776-81, 1970.
• Shiitake Protects Against Clotting - Japanese scientists reported that in laboratory experiments dried shiitake prevented the formation of blood clots in the lungs in test animals.
Source: M. Otsuka et al., “Influences of Shiitake-Fructo-Oligosaccharide Mixture on Experimental Pulmonary Thrombosis in Rats,” Yakugaku Zasshi 116(2):169-73, 1996.
SHOYU
Shoyu, or natural soy sauce, is one of the basic seasonings in Far Eastern, natural foods, and macrobiotic cooking. In the natural foods store, there are many types available. Ordinary shoyu, containing fermented wheat and sea salt, is the most suitable for daily use.
Tamari, often confused with shoyu, is the byproduct of the miso-making process and is thicker and richer in taste. Tamari is used as a special seasoning.
Shoyu aids in digesting grains and vegetables and is used in traditional remedies such as shoyu bancha tea to strengthen the blood, relieve fatigue, and neutralize overacidity. See Mental Illness, Miso.
• Shoyu Inhibits Stomach Cancer - The high rate of stomach cancer in Japan caused some Japanese scientists to speculate that a diet high in soy sauce might be a factor. However, researchers at the University of Wisconsin observed just the opposite. In laboratory tests, mice given fermented soy sauce experienced 26 percent less cancer than mice on the regular diet. Also soy-supplemented mice averaged about one-quarter the number of tumors per mouse as the control group. Soy sauce “exhibited a pronounced anticarcinogenic effect,” the researchers concluded.
In subsequent studies, the scientists further isolated the characteristic flavor components of shoyu that inhibited the anticarcinogenetic effects.
Sources: J. Raloff, “A Soy Sauce Surprise,” Science News, 139:357, 1991; S. Kataoka et al., “Inhibition of Benzo[a]pyrene-Induced Mouse Forestomach Neoplasia and Reduction of H2O2 Concentration in Human Polymorphonuclear Leucocytes by Flavour Components of Japnaese-Style Fermented Soy Sauce,” Food and Chemical Toxicology 35(5):449-57, 1997.
SKIN PROBLEMS
Healthy skin is closely associated with daily diet as well as sunlight, which helps the body produce vitamin D. Excessive consumption of foods high in fat and cholesterol, simple sugars, and dairy causes increased skin ailments. See Breast Cancer, Ginger, Natural Cosmetics, Rice Bran, Sesame, Watercress.
• Diet and Skin Conditions - In a comprehensive approach to natural health and beauty, several macrobiotic cooking teachers and an Ayurvedic teacher describe special foods, remedies, and applications for skin problems of all kinds.
Source: Aveline Kushi, Wendy Esko, and Maya Tiwari, Diet for Natural Beauty, (Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1991).
• Low-Fat Diet Protects Against Skin Cancer - In a two-year dietary intervention trial involving 133 patients with skin cancer, researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston reported that 75 patients randomly assigned to a 20 percent low-fat diet had fewer occurrences of cancer than controls consuming the average modern diet containing 38 percent fat.
Participants in the intervention group attended eight weekly diet classes and monthly follow up classes with a dietitian and were instructed to increase their intake of carbohydrate, especially whole grains, vegetables, and fruit, to compensate for reduction in fat intake. Recurrence of cancer, i.e., cumulative numbers of skin cancers per patient per time period, were 0.21 and 0.19 for the control and intervention groups respectively after 8 months and 0.26 and 0.02 and the second 8-month period, a drop of more than ten times. “These data indicate that a low-fat diet can significantly reduce occurrence of a highly prevalent form of cancer,” the scientists concluded.
Source: H. S. Black et al., “Evidence That a Low-Fat Diet Reduces the Occurrence of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer,” International Journal of Cancer 62(2):165-69, 1995; S. Jaax et al., “General Guidelines for a Low-Fat Diet Effective in the Management and Prevention of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer,” Nutrition and Cancer 27(2):150-56, 1997.
• Milk-Free Diet Reduces Dermatitis - In a study of 100 infants with dermatitis, Finnish researchers reported that a milk-free diet was able to control symptoms in all patients. The average age of the children was 7 months and duration of breast-feeding was associated with progression of the symptoms.
Source: E. Isolauri et al., “Elimination Diet in Cow’s Milk Allergy,” Journal of Pediatrics 132(6):1004-09, 1998.
• Dermatologists Set Up Nutritional Task Force - In 1998 the American Academy of Dermatology announced at its annual meeting the formation of a task force on nutritional and alternative therapy. “The use of herbal remedies and other alternative therapies for skin disorders goes back hundreds of years,” the AAD said. Numerous skin disorders, speakers at the meeting noted, result from nutritional excesses or deficiencies or are accompanied by nutritional problems.
Source: “Diet May Affect Skin Cancer Prevention,” Journal of the American Medical Association 279(18):1427-28, 1998.
SMOKING
Smoking, a major health concern, is associated with increased risk for heart disease, cancer, emphysema, and other disorders. The synergistic relationship between diet and smoking is coming under increased study. See Exercise, Heart Disease, Lung Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Watercress.
• Diet and Smoking - In his book on cancer and diet, educator Michio Kushi asserts that dairy food and other fatty, mucous-producing, and sticky foods are the primary cause of lung cancer and other smoke-related problems, trapping tar and other tobacco particulates in the lungs and other organs. Overall, smoking produces more contracting effects and in many cases is related to living a more sedentary way of life. Increased physical activity, including walking, exercising, gardening, and outdoors activities, reduce the desire to smoke.
Source: Michio Kushi with Alex Jack, The Cancer-Prevention Diet (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993).
• High-Fat Diet Enhances Effects of Smoking - In a review of the relation of diet, lifestyle, and lung cancer, researchers found that calories from dietary fat were highly significantly associated with lung cancer mortality. For example, male lung cancer deaths are highest in West European countries where a high-fat diet is consumed, and lowest in Thailand, Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, and Japan where a low-fat diet is eaten.
While noting that smoking is still the major causative factor of lung cancer, the scientists theorized that a high-fat diet might also trigger the process by which cigarette smoke is harmful to the lungs. It is conceivable that “tobacco smoke is readily oxidized to the ultimate carcinogen as a consequence of a high-fat diet.”
Source: Ernst L. Wynder, James R. Hebert, and Geoffrey Kabat, “Association of Dietary Fat and Lung Cancer,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 79:631-37, 1987.
• Smoking Reduces Antioxidant Status - In a study of diet and smoking habits in 459 healthy French men, researchers reported that smokers ate less fruit and vegetables than nonsmokers, leading to lower vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotene intakes. Smoking, moreover, had an adverse effect on antioxidant status, as vitamin intakes were reduced in smokers and plasma antioxidant levels were modified independent of dietary consumption. Antioxidants occur naturally in grains, vegetables, fruits, and other fresh foods and help protect against heart disease and cancer.
Source: K. Marangon et al., “Diet, Antioxidant Status, and Smoking Habits in French Men,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 67(2):231-39, 1998.
SOIL DEPLETION
By 1976, farmers in the U.S. were losing an estimated six tons of soil for every ton of grain they produced. Almost half of America's cropland is losing soil faster than it can be replaced. A 1982 survey placed the annual loss at 3.1 billion tons, almost as high as during the Dust Bowl years. Worldwide, the loss is estimated at 24 billion tons a year.
Source: Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, 1998.
SOY FOODS
Soy products including miso, tofu, tempeh, and natto are moving into the mainstream diet. Another high quality soy food is yuba, made from the skin that forms on the surface of soymilk.
In recent years, there has been an explosion of processed soy foods, including soy milks, soy cheeses, soy yogurts, soy ice creams, tofu hot dogs, soy luncheon meats, etc. The quality of these foods is low, the processing is intensive, and they are difficult to digest. Such foods are not recommended by many nutritionists and dietary counselors.
Further, genetically engineered soybeans have recently been introduced and now account for 38 percent of the American market. Independent lab testing has confirmed that these soybeans are used in many processed soy foods sold in the U.S. They may also be used in soy foods made in Japan from imported American soybeans. Since no labeling is required for genetic foods, it is highly recommended that organic tofu, miso, and other soy foods be purchased, as there is less likelihood that the organic soybeans are genetically altered.
See Breast Cancer, Cancer, Children’s Lunch Programs, Cholesterol, Immune Function, Isoflavones, Leukemia, Menopause, Peace, Prostate Cancer, Phytoestrogens, Shoyu, Stomach Cancer, Tempeh, Tofu.
• Soybeans Decrease Risk of Breast Cancer - Scientists reported that a diet high in soybeans reduced the incidence of breast cancer in laboratory experiments. The active ingredient in the soybeans was identified as protease inhibitors, also found in certain other beans and seeds.
Source: W. Troll, “Blocking of Tumor Promotion by Protease Inhibitors,” in J. H. Burchenal and H. F. Oettgen (eds.), Cancer: Achievements, Challenges, and Prospects for the 1980s, Vol. 1, New York: Grune and Stratton, pp. 549-55, 1980.
• Soyfoods Center - The Soyfoods Center provides information and research on all aspects of soy foods, including nutritional and health benefits, home food processing, technical development, and marketing. Directed by William and Akiko Shurtleff, the authors of The Book of Miso, The Book of Tofu, and The Book of Tempeh, the center provides extensive bibliographies and source books on the soybean plant, soymilk, soy fiber and dietary fiber, hydrogenation, and industrial use of soybeans.
Source: Soyfoods Center, Box 334, Lafayette CA 94549.
• Soy Lecithin Prevents Cirrhosis - Cirrhosis is the fourth leading cause of death among urban Americans aged 25 to 65. Lecithin, a soybean extract, can delay and possibly prevent cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol consumption, according to researchers. In ten-year studies with baboons, scientists in New York found that diets supplemented with about three tablespoons of soy lecithin daily protected the monkeys from scarring and development of cirrhosis. The scientists concluded that this nutritional factor might also be of benefit in humans suffering from alcohol-related liver diseases. Lecithin is found in whole form in miso, tempeh, and other soy foods.
Source: Charles S. Lieber et al., “Attentuation of Alcohol-Induced Hepatic Fibrosis by
Polynsaturated Lecithin,” Heptology 12:1390-98, 1990.
• Soy Nutrient May Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease - Studies have found that people with Alzheimer’s disease have reduced levels of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, in the brain that is stimulated by dietary factors such as choline and lecithin, a substance found naturally in soybeans and other legumes.
Source: R. J. Wurtman, “Alzheimer’s Disease,” Scientific-American 252:62-74, 1985.
• National Cancer Institute Sponsors Workshops on Soy Foods - At a workshop sponsored by the National Cancer Institute on the role of soy products in cancer prevention, medical researchers presented evidence that soybeans and soy products such as tofu, miso, and tempeh can help prevent the onset of induced cancer in laboratory animals. “The consensus of the meeting was that there are sufficient data to justify studying the impact of soybean intake on cancer risk in humans,” the researchers reported.
Source: Mark Messina and Stephen Barnes, “The Role of Soy Products in Reducing Risk of Cancer,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 83:541–46, 1991.
• Soy Protein Reduces Cholesterol Scientists at the University of Western Ontario reported that the addition of soy protein in a person’s diet could reduce serum cholesterol levels irrespective of other dietary considerations. In addition to animal studies, the researchers compared human volunteers who drank either cow’s milk or soy milk and reported that “both cholesterol and triglyceride values dropped substantially during the soy period.”
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association 247:3045-46, 1982.
• Traditional Soy Foods Increase Iron Absorption - Traditional naturally processed soy products produce more iron than soy foods that are processed in modern ways. South African researchers report that the bioavai-lability of unprocessed soy flour that is commonly used in modern foods was poor and could inhibit iron absorption from other foods in the diet. In comparison, miso, tempeh, natto, and other traditionally processed soy products were found to have greater bioavailability.
Source: Bruce J. Macfarlane et al., “Effect of Traditional Oriental Soy Products on Iron Absorption,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 51:873-80, 1990.
• Soy Products Protect Against Endometrial Cancer - In a study among the multi-ethnic population of Hawaii, researchers at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii reported that high consumption of soy products and other legumes reduced the risk of endometrial cancer by 54 percent. Similar reductions in risk were found for increased consumption of other phytoestrogens such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and seaweeds. "These data suggest that plant-based diets low in calories from fat, high in fiber, and rich in legumes (especially soybeans), whole grain foods, vegetables, and fruits reduce the risk of endometrial cancer," the researchers concluded. "These dietary associations may explain in part the reduced rates of uterine cancer in Asian countries compared with those in the United States."
Source: Marc T. Goodman et al., American Journal of Epidemiology 146:(1997), 294-306.
• NCI Official Lists Benefits of Soy - Soy products are high in nutrients that inhibit cancer growth, lower the risk of heart disease, and reduce menopausal symptoms. "They're a high-quality protein, they're low in saturated fat, they're cholesterol free," says Dr. Mark Messina, a nutritionist and former program director at the National Cancer Institute. They are also one of the few good plant sources of linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid associated with lower risk of heart disease and strengthening the immune function.
Source: Amanda Hesser, "Miso Goes Beyond Japanese Cooking," New York Times, Sept. 3, 1997.
• Soy Products Protect Against Endometrial Cancer - In a study among the multi-ethnic population of Hawaii, researchers at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii reported that high consumption of soy products and other legumes reduced the risk of endometrial cancer by 54 percent. Similar reductions in risk were found for increased consumption of other phytoestrogens such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and seaweeds. "These data suggest that plant-based diets low in calories from fat, high in fiber, and rich in legumes (especially soybeans), whole grain foods, vegetables, and fruits reduce the risk of endometrial cancer," the researchers concluded. "These dietary associations may explain in part the reduced rates of uterine cancer in Asian countries compared with those in the United States." Source: Marc T. Goodman et al., “Association of Soy and Fiber Consumption with the Risk of Endometrial Cancer,” American Journal of Epidemiology 146: 294-308. 1997.
• NCI Official Lists Benefits of Soy - Soy products are high in nutrients that inhibit cancer growth, lower the risk of heart disease, and reduce menopausal symptoms. "They're a high-quality protein, they're low in saturated fat, they're cholesterol free," says Dr. Mark Messina, a nutritionist and former program director at the National Cancer Institute. They are also one of the few good plant sources of linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid associated with lower risk of heart disease and strengthening the immune function.
Source: Amanda Hesser, "Miso Goes Beyond Japanese Cooking," New York Times, Sept. 3, 1997.
SPOCK, DR. BENJAMIN
Dr. Benjamin Spock, described by the New York Times as "the most influential pediatrician of all time," followed a macrobiotic way of eating during the last decade of his life and in the final edition of his world-famous book, Baby and Child Care, released just weeks after his death at age 94, recommended that children be brought up on a predominantly vegetarian diet.
"We now know that there are harmful effects of a meaty diet," the book says. "Children can get plenty of protein and iron from vegetables, beans, and other plant foods that avoid the fat and cholesterol that are in animal products."
"When parents offer healthy foods—vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans—at home, and when the whole family, including the parents, makes these foods front and center in the diet, children learn tastes that can help them throughout life."
Dr. Spock recommended that whole grains constitute about 50 percent of the daily way of eating, vegetables 25 to 30 percent, and the remainder be made of beans and bean products such as tofu or tempeh, as well as fruit, seeds, and nuts.
Within 2 weeks of starting macrobiotics and discontinuing dairy foods, "my chronic bronchitis went away after years of unsuccessful antibiotic treatments," Dr. Spock observed. See Dairy.
Source: Benjamin Spock and Charles Parker, Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1998).
STOMACH CANCER
Stomach cancer is the primary cancer in Japan, Korea, and other East Asian countries. Its incidence in the West has sharply declined with the reduced consumption of cured meats high in nitrates. See Broccoli, Cabbage, Chili Peppers, Miso, Onion, Rice, Shoyu, Sugar, Tofu.
• Dietary Risks of Stomach Cancer - In a study of dietary factors, researchers in Seoul reported that people who frequently consumed broiled meats and fishes, salted side dishes, and salty stewed foods were at higher risk for the disorder. Conversely, frequent consumption of mung bean pancake, tofu, cabbage, spinach, and sesame oil decreased the risk. For meat and fish, pan-frying lowered risk, while stewing or broiling increased it. Pickled vegetables increased the risk, whereas fresh vegetables did not. Soybean foods and green vegetables also protected against the disease in a related study.
Source: Y. O. Ahn, “Diet and Stomach Cancer in Korea,” International Journal of Cancer Suppl 10:7-9, 1997.
STROKE
Whole grains, vegetables, and fruits can help protect against strokes, the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Every year 500,000 Americans suffer a stroke, about 150,000 of whom die. An estimated $20 billion a year is lost in productivity and medical costs. See Rice, Vegetables.
• Whole Foods Reduce the Risk of Stroke - Consumption of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits reduces the risk of stroke, according to a Harvard School of Public Health study. In a study of 44,000 men, those whose intake of these foods ranked in the top fifth had 38 percent less stroke than those in the bottom fifth. “The beneficial effect appears to be due to the high potassium content of these diets, but other components of fruits and vegetables may also contribute to the reduced risk of stroke,” Dr. Alberto Ascherio, the chief researcher, stated.
Source: “Potassium in Foods May Curb Stroke Risk,” Boston Globe, September 22, 1998.
• Vegetables and Fruits Protect Against Stroke - In a 20-year study of 832 men free of cardiovascular disease, researchers at the Framingham Heart Study reported that men who consumed eight or more servings of vegetables and fruit a day had up to 59 percent less strokes compared to men who neglected these foods. Researchers speculated that the folic acid, potassium, vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and riboflavin were the key nutrients in the foods that stabilized arterial walls and prevented blood clotting. In an earlier study, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston reported similar results in a study of 87,000 female nurses.
Source: M. W. Gillman et al., “Protective Effect of Fruits and Vegetables on Development of Stroke in Men,” Journal of the American Medical Association 273(14):1113-17, 1995.
SUGAR
Sugar refining began in the Middle Ages and spread from the Middle East to the Mediterranean islands and to the Caribbean and South America, where it was one of the principal economic factors in the rise of modern slavery. Used to sweeten tea and coffee, as well as constituting the main ingredient in sweets and desserts, sugar consumption has steadily increased over the last several centuries.
Sugar’s effects on personal health and the environment are now more widely known. In the body, it passes quickly into the bloodstream, creating an acidic condition, leading to mineral depletion, calcium loss, and bone weakening. It also weakens the villi of the small intestine, impairing digestion. Regulated by enzymes in the pancreas, excess sugar creates a blood sugar imbalance that can lead to diabetes or hypoglycemia. Stored in the form of fatty acid, sugar can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, certain cancers (especially lung and colon), osteoporosis, and hyperactivity in children.
See Arthritis, Attention-Deficit Disorder, Cancer, Children’s Health, Dental Problems, Heart Disease, Infertility, Myopia, Pancreatic Cancer, Premenstrual Syndrome, Sexual Vitality.
• Sugar Increases Risk of Lung Cancer - In a case-control study involving 463 lung cancer patients and 465 controls, Latin American researchers found that consumption of sugar-rich foods increased the risk for lung cancer by up to 55 percent. Foods high in sucrose included rice pudding, marmalade, ice cream, custard, desserts, soft drinks, and coffee with sugar. Risk was highest among patients with small and large cell undifferentiated carcinomas. The study controlled for the potential confounding effects of tobacco smoking, total calories, total fat, vitamin c, and beta-carotene intakes.
Source: E. De Stefani et al., “Dietary Sugar and Lung Cancer: A Case-Control Study in Uruguay,” Nutrition and Cancer 31(2):132-137, 1998.
• Sugar Linked to Aggressive Behavior - Scientists at Yale University have linked sugar consumption by children with abnormal behavior. Research presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Research showed that a concentrated dose of sugar elevated blood levels of adrenaline in children up to ten times higher than normal. Adrenaline, associated with the fight-or-flight response in emergencies, can lead to anxiety, irritability, hyperactivity, or aggression. The scientists said sugar might make the children cranky, anxious, and unfocused.
Source: Jane Brody, “New Data on Sugar and Child Behavior,” New York Times, May 10, 1990.
• Sugar Leads to Digestive Disorders - A diet high in refined carbohydrates has been associated with ulcerative colitis, non-occlusive ischemic colitis, diverticular disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. A British researcher suggested that eating sugar, white flour, and other simple sugars reduces fecal bulk, allowing intense muscle spasms to occur.
Source: D. S. Grimes, “Refined Carbohydrate, Smooth-Muscle Spasm and Disease of the Colon,” Lancet 1:395-97, 1976.
• Low-Sugar Diet for Hepatitis - A low-sugar diet may be beneficial to persons suffering from hepatitis. In clinical studies, 21 normal men ate the standard American diet with about 25 to 30 percent sucrose for 18 days and an experimental diet containing less than 10 percent sucrose for 12 days. Levels of transaminase and triglycerides in the blood rose while on the high-sugar diet and returned to normal on the low-sugar diet, suggesting that sugar be reduced or avoided to help protect against hepatitis.
Source: K. P. Porikos and T. B. van Itallie, “Diet-Induced Changes in Serum Transaminase and Triglyceride Levels in Healthy Adult Men,” American Journal of Medicine 75:624, 1983.
• Sugar and Schizophrenia - In 1971, a South African doctor observed, “Regarding mental disease in the people of the Transkei, I can say that in the past 11 years I have not diagnosed a single case of schizophrenia in a tribal African living on an unrefined carbohydrate diet, whereas this disease is the commonest psychosis among the urbanized Africans.” Dr. G. Daynes attributed the development of mental illness to white sugar and refined corn flour.
Source: T. L. Cleave, The Saccharine Disease (Bristol: John Wright & Sons), 1974, p. 25.
• Sugar Enhances PMS - A survey found that women with anxiety symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome, including nervous tension, mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and insomnia, ate two and a half times as much sugar as women without PMS or with mild cases. Dairy and caffeine intake have also been associated with PMS in other studies.
Sources: G. E. Abraham, “Magnesium Deficiency in Premenstrual Tension,” Magnesium Bulletin 1:68-73, 1982.
• Sugar and Tooth Decay - In a National Health Survey, Americans of both sexes and all ages from one to 74 had an average of 13 decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth. An estimated 15 percent of adults had lost all their permanent teeth. “Until the 1970s, caries was most prevalent (affecting 95 percent of the population) in developed countries,” researchers noted, “especially in those with diets high in refined carbohydrates. The only exception occurred during and just after World War II, when the prevalence rates of caries dropped precipitously, although temporarily, in children living in Europe.”
Source: National Academy of Sciences, Diet and Health (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press), 1989, p. 127.
• Sugar and Stomach Cancer - A French study of 92 patients with stomach cancer and 128 controls found that consumption of sugar increased the risk of this disease by up to 68 percent, cakes and pastries 196 percent, and saturated fat 67 percent, while pasta and rice reduced the risk by 50 percent and the fiber from vegetables and fruit lowered it by 53 percent.
Source: J. Cornee et al., "A Case-Control Study of Gastric Cancer and Nutritional Factors in Marseille, France," European Journal of Epidemiology 11(1):55-65, 1995.
• Sugar Increases Hyperactivity - Children's adrenalin levels rise twice as high as adults following consumption of sugar, according to Yale researchers, and may cause hyperactivity and loss of concentration.
In a test of 25 healthy children between 8 and 16 and 23 young adults, blood sugar levels rose quickly, peaked, and dropped. However, within 3 and 5 hours after taking the drink, equal to two 12-ounce cans of soda pop or about 80 grams of sugar, the children's adrenalin levels rose twice as high as in the adults.
The children also were anxious and nervous, while the adults did not show these symptoms. The Yale scientists further found altered brain waves in the youngsters but not in the adults.
A control group of children who did not receive the sugary drink remained free of these symptoms and showed no changes in blood-sugar levels. "This really supports good basic common sense about eating a balanced diet. If a child gets up in the morning and washes down a Twinkie and a Coke, it's not surprising the child might have problems just a few hours before lunch," said Dr. William V. Tamborlane, a professor of pediatrics who led the research at the Yale University School of Medicine.
Source: T. W. Jones et al., “Enhanced Adrenomedullary Response and Increased Susceptibility to Neuroglycopenia: Mechanisms Underlying the Adverse Effects of Sugar Ingestion in Healthy Children,” Journal of Pediatrics 126(2):171-77, 1995.
• Emotional Effects of Sugar - In a study of sugar metabolism, nutrition researcher Paul Pitchford concludes that it can contribute to psychological and mental disorders as well as physical ones. “It weakens the mind, causing: loss of memory and concentration, nervousness, shyness, violence, excessive or no talking, negative thought, paranoia, and emotional upsets such as self-pity, arguments, irritability, and the desire for only sweet things in life. This last consequence is the author’s personal observation that those who fail to accept the appropriate and often-difficult challenges in life usually consume an excess of sweet food, which fuels their laziness. . . . “People who stop eating sugar nearly always experience higher spirits, emotional stability, improved memory and speech, restful sleep and dreams, fewer colds and dental problems, more endurance and concentration, and better health in general.”
Source: Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1993).
• History and Effects of Sugar - In his classic study of sugar and its effects, a journalist documents the impact of white, refined sugar on civilization, especially on personal and public health. “In the Dark Ages, troubled souls were rarely locked up for going off their rocker. Such confinement began in the Age of Enlightenment, after sugar made the transition from apothecary’s prescription to candy maker’s confection. ‘The great confinement of the insane,’ as one historian calls it, began in the late 17th century, after sugar consumption in Britain had zoomed in 200 years from a pinch or two in a barrel of beer here and there to more than 2 million pounds per year. By that time, physicians in London had begun to observe and record terminal physical signs and symptoms of the sugar blues.”
Source: William Dufty, Sugar Blues (Chilton, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1975).
• Diagnosing Excessive Sugar Consumption - In his book on physiognomy, educator Michio Kushi includes methods of diagnosing sugar and refined carbohydrate consumption and its effects on specific organs, systems, and functions of the body.
Source: Michio Kushi, How to See Your Health: The Book of Oriental Diagnosis (Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1980).
• Sugar and Civilization - In Sweetness and Power, Sidney W. Mintz, a professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University, outlines the place of sugar in modern history. Between 1700 and 1800, per capita intake of sugar in England rose from 4 pounds to 18 pounds. “Sugar, then, was a cornerstone of British West Indian slavery and the slave trade, and the enslaved Africans who produced the sugar were linked in clear economic relationships to the British laboring people who were learning to eat it.”
By 1840, sugar intake had risen to 40 pounds, and today it is 125 pounds. From 1900 to 1970, the world production of sugar increased between 500 and 800 percent, and today nearly 10 percent of all available food calories in the world are consumed in the form of sucrose. Along with fat, Mintz concludes, sugar consumption, has gradually eroded consumption of complex carbohydrates and transformed personal and social health.
Source: Sidney W. Mintz, Sweetness and Power (New York: Viking, 1985).
SUPPLEMENTS
A well balanced diet provides abundant energy and a complete source of nutrients, so that the vitamins, minerals, and other supplements are usually unnecessary. However, for those in transition or for certain medicinal conditions, some special nutritional supplements may temporarily be needed.
• Guidelines for Supplements - Educator Michio Kushi offers comprehensive guidelines for the temporary use of supplements, medications, and other products, including powdered algaes, vitamins and minerals, digestive enzymes, and soil-based organisms.
Source: Michio Kushi, Standard Macrobiotic Diet (Becket, MA: One Peaceful World Press, 1996). |