[karnul]

Dear Brent,
I suggest that you read the chapter about Diabetes in the recent book "The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health" by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack.
It has special reccommendation and healing diet for diabetes. Furthermore, you have to know which type of diabetes and what is the underlying cause in that specific case. Diabetes is usually created by over consumption of refined sugars of any kind (including refined grains), however, sometimes a contributing factor can be that the spleen/pancreas is too tight because the person has also consumed extreme yang - like many salty, baked foods, meat, eggs and hard cheese.
As far as I know, most counselors today will consider a rice fast to be quite extreme. It is no longer a standard macrobiotic practice, and most people agree that a gradual transition is more beneficial and gives the person time to adjust to the diet, and to deal with discharges and other discomforts in a more balanced way.

Things that are helpful for diabetes are: sweete vegetable drink (see recipe in the same book), sweet vegetable dishes (like nishime and kinpira cooking styles), whole cooked grains and aduki beans.
Things to avoid: sugar and sweeteners of any kind (including artificial sweeteners, honey, maple syrup, and fruit juices), fruit and fruit juices (at least in the beginning), refined grains and white flour products, baked food (if the person really desires bread then have 1 slice of steamed sourdough bread), eggs, meat. try not to eat too salty - grains and vegetables should taste naturally sweet.
Chew well (50-100 times each mouthful) to bring out the natural sweetness of you food.

If your mate is seirous about healing with macrobiotics, I would also suggest to direct him to an experienced macrobiotic counselor in your area.

Regards,

Karny