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Special
Features >
Jeffrey
Reel
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Q
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How
did you start with macrobiotics?
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A
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It's
a long story. I had known, since age 12 or so,
that milk was not good for the human body -- at
least after weaning, and mother's milk in fact.
But like most goof-balls my age, I had been indroctrinated
into drinking milk and eating lots of dairy products.
At the time, I did not know what the alternative
to dairy would be. Ten years later I am living
in San Franscisco and volunteering at the Institute
for Food and Development Policy, an organization
co-founded by Francis Moore Lappe, author of "Diet
for a Small Planet." This book introduced
the American public to alternative diets. It was
a ground-breaking book. In the book, Frankie listed
many alternative diets, but she warned us away
from one dangerous one -- macrobiotics, because
the macrobiotic diet discouraged consuming dairy
products. So a light went on in my head and I
immediately turned my attention to the East Coast,
where a Mr. Michio Kushi was teaching. I moved
to Manhattan shortly after that and began attending
Thursday evening lectures at the Doral Inn in
mid-Manhattan. I have never looked back since.
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Q
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How
has macrobiotics helped you? |
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A
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Too
long to mention. Although I was not suffering
any health problems at the time, macrobiotics
(and by that I include Do-In, meditation, breathing
exercises as well as diet) allows me the opportunity
to advance physically, mentally, emotionally,
spiritually, yes even politically.
The sky is the limit.
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Q
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What
do you offer and specialise in?
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A
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I import/distribute
organic Japanese brown rice sake. I write essays
(newspapers and magazines) on health, politics,
spirituality and the environment. I will soon
be living in both the United States and Japan
with the aim of opening a macrobiotic bed &
breakfast in Japan, perhaps a store as well.
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Q
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What
one piece of advice would you give to someone trying
macrobiotics for the first time? |
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A
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If
you are not being pushed by a specific, acute
health concern, introduce yourself to it gradually,
but be consistent and give it time. Take cooking
classes, and find others practicing macrobiotics
who can help support your practice. Enjoy as much
as you can eating other people's cooking in the
beginning.
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