The word "macrobiotic" comes from Greek roots and means "long life". The macrobiotic diet and philosophy were developed by Japanese educator,George Ohsawa, who believed that simplicity and balance were the key to optimal health.
The diet Ohsawa recommended included ten progressively restrictive stages. The last stage of his macrobiotic diet consisted only of brown rice and water. Though this extreme is no longer recommended by macrobiotic diet counselors, Ohsawa created the important foundation of a perfectly balanced, healthy way of eating designed for optimal life happiness.
Michio Kushi expanded on Ohsawa's macrobiotic theory and opened the Kushi Institute in Boston in 1978. Together with his wife Aveline, Kushi published many books on macrobiotics and was responsible for popularizing the diet in North America.
Kushi's several dozen books include The Book of Macrobiotics (Japan Publications, revised edition, 1987), The Cancer-Prevention Diet (St. Martin's Press, 1983),Diet for a Strong Heart (St. Martin's, 1985), One Peaceful World (St. Martin's, 1987) and AIDS, Macrobiotics, and Natural Immunity (Japan Publications, 1990).
In the 1990s, Kushi developed the One Peaceful World Network -- a global membership organization of macrobiotic friends, businesses, educational centers, and other associations -- which helps lead the planet safely into this century and ensure humanity's continued biological and spiritual evolution.
]]>