Hey everyone! New macro eater here! Plus questions.

[AkiNara]

Just dropping in to say hello. I'm a twenty year old guy with Muscular Dystrophy from Massachusetts. It's been a bit difficult so far since my dad has to cook for me and is busy, but with some organization I know we can get this thing healing me.

I have just have a few questions:

1. I read in The Cure Is In The Kitchen by Sherry Rogers that you should avoid leftovers as they're not as full of nutrients as fresh meals. Now, I've been eating mostly steamed leftovers for my meals. Should I be concerned with this?

2. I'm close to the Kushi Institute, but not too close. Around 2.5 hours away. I also have a paranoia about driving. Has anyone heard of a macrobiotic counselor making house calls?

3. How much harder is it to heal if you aren't religious/spiritual? I've never really been either, so I'm wondering if I'll have troubles keeping my head in the right place while I heal.

Thanks to you all in advance. I'm glad I found this place!

[Bruce Paine]

AkiNara,

How do you feel after eating leftovers?

Leftovers should not last more than two or three days.

But it is true that for people who are healing difficult conditions, the freshest food is the best.


Maybe for the first counseling session, you should go to see the counselor as some of them are very busy.

If money is not an issue for you, there might be counselors that can come to you for first counseling sessions.

I know of one, for instance, who will travel anywhere and cook. teach cooking, yoga, meditation and give shiatsu.


Regarding spiritual and religious practice, it's all up to you.

If you believe that your body can heal itself without spiritual or religious practice then so be it.

There are people who have experienced great macrobiotic healing through a spiritual practice and there are others who have experienced great healing just through daily cooking and eating of macrobiotic food

Just remember that macrobiotics uses yin and yang principles which do not easily translate into scientific thinking, so you might find yourself experiencing something that you can't easily explain to a doctor or a scientist.

From The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health: A Complete Guide to Preventing and Relieving More Than 200 Chronic Conditions and Disorders Naturally by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack :

"Muscular Dystrophy. Muscular dystrophy is an inherited disease that involves weakness and progressive atrophy of the muscles in the central part of the body. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy affects young boys and manifests as weakness in the pelvis, shoulders, and heart. Children with this condition have difficulty moving, climbing, and getting up from a sitting position. The muscles around the joints in the arms and legs contract to the point that the elbows and knees will not extend fully. Scoliosis, or curvature of the back, usually develops by early adolescence and patients are bound to a wheelchair. Death from pneumonia or other illness usually comes by age 20. Becker's muscular dystrophy, another form of the disease, strikes older adolescent males, who rarely require wheelchairs and have a longer life expectancy.

From the medical view, muscular dystrophy is genetically transmitted because it is confined to males. All boys who have the defective X chromosome lack the ability to produce dystrophin, a muscle protein necessary for the maintenance of muscle cells, or else the protein is too large and malfunctions. From the macrobiotic perspective, inherited or constitutional tendencies arise from past ways of life, especially the past way of eating, of parents, grandparents, and ancestors. While dystrophin may be lacking or insufficient in males with this tendency, susceptibility to clinical manifestations of muscular dystrophy depend largely on the child's diet. It can arise from extreme dietary factors, including too much chicken, eggs, meat, and other yang, contractive foods or from sugar, chocolate, honey, and other refined sweeteners; milk, ice cream, and other light dairy; light pastries and other refined flour products; too many fruits and juice; tropical foods and spices; too much beverages and fluids; and other overly expansive items. Intake of animal protein and fat, especially poultry, can cause the muscles of the arms and legs to contract and accelerate the spread of the disease. Chicken in particuar leads to contraction and weakness in the arms, shoulders, and legs and should be strictly avoided. Muscular dystrophy that begins from the leg is more yang in origin, while that which begins in the hand or upper limbs is more yin.

While muscular dystrophy may not be completely reversed, symptoms can be reduced or controlled to a large extent through proper diet. The standard recommendations will greatly help alleviate this condition. Follow Diet #1 for conditions caused by extreme yin factors or Diet #2 for conditions caused by extreme yang factors. A daily BODY SCRUB will help promote energy circulation and dissolve stagnation. A HOT TOWEL COMPRESS or a GINGER COMPRESS on the weakened muscles will also help provide relief and speed healing. In the event of swelling or inflammation, a cooling application should be used instead such as a TOFU PLASTER or LEAFY GREENS PLASTER."

Does this answer your questions, sufficiently?

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[AkiNara]

Thanks a lot, Bruce! That was what I was looking for. Very helpful!

Do you have any idea how I could go about looking for a traveling macro counselor like that? I'm pretty curious about looking into that option. Thank you!

[Bruce Paine]

AkiNara,

Try this for starters:

http://www.9starki.com/will.htm

Where is 2 1/2 hours, anyway?

Thank you, very much.

_||_

Bruce Paine

[Neleh]

Hello Akinara,

I hope that you fell better since you began to eat macrobiotically.....?
I tried to do so for my father, but it was hard because his head wasn't really happy to do so. It helped him but....
It 's great that your father helps you to do so.
And how do you fell on the spiritual level. Personnally I wasn't ill physically but for my mind it has really been a good healing! there is steel some job!
And you?

See you! Neleh