Macrobiotics and supplements?

[Ruby]

I went to an accupuncturist and she recommended I take some supplements for my back pain. I always thought that supplements were not used on a macro diet. What is the overall opinion on supplements? She wants me to take coral calcium, sulfuzyme and detoxzyme to help with some lingering firbromyalgia pain. I have been on a macrobiotic diet for 3 months and my condition has improved greatly. Any suggestions or opinions would be helpful. thanks

[Bruce Paine]

Ruby,

Though some acupuncturists are macrobiotitic, most are not!

Did you tell this acupuncturist about your new dietary approach and what it entails?

It's like going to a doctor who advises that you drink 8 glasses of water per day.

Most people in the United States need 8 glasses of water a day because the diet they eat is so dehydrating.

Today's macrobiotic diets are so moist that our water supplementation is minimal, and for some, non-existant

Supplements benefit a partial dietary practice like the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) because many needed nutrients are missing.

Practiced correctly, a macrobiotic diet provides all the necessary nutrients, so supplements are not needed.

In time, your body could become so balanced that acupuncture is no longer needed.

I recommend that you take whatever supplements that you feel that you need and slowly transition away from them.

Start eating a more balanced diet http://www.kushiinstitute.org/whatismacro.html and in time you won't need to do all those extra additional things like supplements and acupuncture.

Also, for lower back pain, if you have a lot of weight around the middle, you need to lose some weight, but if you are medium weight to thin for your height and age, then you might consider doing ginger compresses ( Celebrating Light ) either by yourself which is harder or with someone applying the compresses to you.

Also, if you find that if you are doing the compresses but it is too cumbersome for you to use rubber gloves or do it barehanded, David Jackson has a method that employs wooden bowls (from http://www.alchemycalpages.com/ginger.html ):

"Here is another method for doing the ginger compress, which I learnt from David Jackson, a macrobiotic teacher and counsellor living in Arizona, who learnt it from his teacher, Roy Steevensz.

Instructions.
I gallon container(thick sides) of boiled water.
1/4 cup freshly grated unpeeled ginger root(does not have to be organic) in a cloth bag.
2 cotton towels, folded to cover the abdomen from the sternum to the pelvic bone and from one hip to the other.
1 dry towel.
2 wooden bowls about 10 inches diameter ( http://www.instawares.com/Woven-Wood...WWB-10.0.7.htm ).

The bag of ginger is squeezed to get the ginger juice into the pot of boiled water(do not boil the ginger), right after you have boiled the water, and then the bag of ginger is placed in the hot water.
David's method is different from those in the books where he has two of the wooden bowls you can buy at oriental stores, the bowls being the ones made of interwoven strips of wood. These are about 8-10 inches in diameter. What you do is place one of the folded towels between these bowls and immerse it in the ginger water so that the towel gets heated and because you are holding the towel between the bowls you do not have to put your hands in the water.
Then you put the other dry towel try against the skin of the abdomen, and, after immersing the two bowls with the other towel place between them in the hot ginger water, you lift the bowls out of the water, and squeeze them firmly together to squeeze the excess ginger water from out of the towel. Then you take one bowl off the top of the ginger towel and place it underneath the other bowel, and place the hot ginger towel on top of the dry towel on the skin of the abdomen(you are doing the compress lying back against some pillows against a couch or wall).Then you cover that towel with another dry bath towel, also folded.
The heat and ginger chi penetrates through the dry towel into the abdomen, and you can feel your skin heating up. After a few minutes, as you feel the heat cooling down, you take off the top covering towel, and flip over the two towels on the abdomen so that the towel that has been recently soaked in the ginger water is now directly on the skin. You then place the one that was originally on the skin between the two bowls, while covering the one on your abdomen with the dry towel. You then immerse the two bowls with the towel inserted between them in the hot ginger water, take them out, squeeze the excess liquid out, and lifting off the covering towel, place the hot ginger towel on top of the one still on the skin, and cover them both with the covering towel. Then, once you feel the towel against the skin cooling off, you flip the towels over so that the recently heated towel is directly on the skin and proceed to take the top towel and place it between the two bowls, having placed the covering towel on top of the ginger towel on the abdomen, and immerse the bowls in the hot ginger water, etc. You go through this procedure for half an hour. If you have a gallon pot with thick sides, then the ginger water should easily retain enough heat for half an hour.
This method ensures that you have constant heat on the skin throughout the course of the half hour treatment.".

Other ways of relieving back pain, of course, is through various exercises including yoga, tai chi, pilates, massage, Alexander Technique, etc.

Find one that fits your lifestyle and proceed with it.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Ruby]

Thank you for the info on the ginger compressess. I will give it a go. I did tell my accupuncturist that I was following a macrobiotic diet and she thought that was great. She always recommends a detox cleansing diet to her clients. It's very similar to a macro diet. She said I was already detoxifying myself but she still wanted me to take supplements. I dont think I will though.
As far as my weight goes, I am 5' 5inches and weigh 117lbs. I lost 7lbs eating macro foods. And I eat a lot. I love the food too much.
I do love to do Yoga and have signed up for a Tai Chi class, but sometimes my lower back is so painful I cant even do yoga. That's one of the reasons I went for accupuncture. I've only been on the diet for just under 3 months so I probably need more time until like you said I am completely desludged. Afterall, I was taking meds everyday for 11 years.
Again, thank you for your input. I value your advice.