Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site duke.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!mcnc!duke!crm From: crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin) Newsgroups: net.cooks,net.med,net.misc Subject: Re: Metabiotic diets (Information wanted) Message-ID: <5168@duke.UUCP> Date: Wed, 12-Dec-84 13:58:40 EST Article-I.D.: duke.5168 Posted: Wed Dec 12 13:58:40 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 14-Dec-84 05:48:32 EST References: <2175@garfield.UUCP> Organization: Duke University Lines: 34 Keywords: metabiotic,diet Xref: watmath net.cooks:3232 net.med:1155 net.misc:7119 I think you are talking about a MACROBIOTIC diet, and that's "yin" and "yang" usually. Look for books on macrobiotics and similar by Michio Kushi. In general, a macrobiotic diet is very heavily based on grains and beans, with vegetables added. It's roughly like the diet that is eaten in any arbitrary Zen monastery in Japan. The interest in macrobiotic diets comes from the fact that people who live in zendos tend to live a long time (although some have claimed that it just *seems* a long time...). In addition, some have claimed that macrobiotic diets have a pallative effect on cancer. Two caveats: 1) they eat like that in zendos mostly because it is cheap, and members of the sangha are really supposed to be living only on begging... although that isn't really true any more. They don't live on that kind of diet because it's somehow better for you -- and in fact people in zendos are sometimes prescribed to leave the zendo for a meal or two a week because the diet is hard on their health. 2) Some versions of a macrobiotic diet suggest that you can live ONLY ON BROWN RICE, with nothing else. THIS IS NOT TRUE and will do you no end of harm after more than a couple of weeks. If you can stand it, you will lose weight on just brown rice, but don't push it. -- Opinions stated here are my own and are unrelated. Charlie Martin (...mcnc!duke!crm)