Planetary Health, Inc.
PO Box 487
Becket, MA 01223
info
By Alex Jack and Edward Esko*
Note: The theory that Ebola originated in modern agriculture and food practices, or in chemical-intensive forestry or mining, in Central Africa is tentative and remains to be established. However, this hypothesis follows generally accepted scientific and medical understanding of the rise and spread of Ebola. Our proposed approach to preventing and treating Ebola is based on principles and practices in the international macrobiotic community advising and guiding people with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. We do not yet have any direct experience with Ebola, so these guidelines are preliminary. They will be updated in light of new clinical evidence and ongoing dietary, nutritional, and medical research and insights.
*Alex Jack is president of Planetary Health, general manager of Kushi Institute, and author or editor of 25 books on diet, health, and the environment, including The Cancer Prevention Diet with Michio Kushi (St. Martin’s Press), Aveline Kushi’s Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking (Warner, 1985), The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health with Michio Kushi (Ballantine, 2003). Edward Esko is vice-president of Planetary Health, assistant manager of Kushi Institute, and author of editor of many books including Holistic Health Through Macrobiotics with Michio Kushi (Japan Publications, 1994). Contact: alex@EbolaandDiet. com.
Stage 1 Seeds of Destruction
Ebola virus emerged in Central Africa in the 1970s following major changes in agriculture and regional food patterns as well as deforestation and mining. Chemical farming, including the use of pesticides and fertilizers, substantially increased, and traditional natural and organic farming decreased. New hybrid seeds with higher yields began to replace traditional open-pollinated varieties. Commodity crops and monocultures replaced wild polycultures. Clearing of forests for agriculture or urban development and advances in mining also involved the introduction of new chemicals and unsustainable techniques. These changes raised living standards, but at a longtime cost to human health and the environment.[1] They upset the delicate checks and balances in the soil biota and in local ecosystems, giving rise to virulent new strains of microorganisms, including Marburg virus, Ebola virus, HIV, and others.
This syndrome is not unique to Africa. In fact, Ebola also appeared in the Philippines in 1989 (see Appendix A). In South America, herbicides introduced into the pampas in the 1950s altered the ecology, leading to the emergence of the corn mouse (Calomys musculinus) that was the carrier of a deadly new virus that produced Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF).[2] AHF is an acute affliction that may progress to recovery or death in 1 to 2 weeks and has a mortality rate of 15-30%. Its trajectory shares affinities with Ebola. The incubation time of the disease is between 10 and 12 days, after which the first symptoms appear: fever, headaches, weakness, loss of appetite and will. These intensify less than a week later, forcing the infected to lie down, and producing stronger symptoms such as vascular, renal, hematological, and neurological alterations. This stage lasts about 3 weeks and the patient either dies or recovers following hydration, rest, and other medical attention. Bolivian hemorrhagic fever follows a similar course.
In Central Africa, widespread poverty, sickness, and cultural decline in the colonial and post-colonial eras led to the decline of traditional agriculture and diets based on brown rice and millet as main staple food. Cassava, a root crop imported from South America to Africa in the 16th century and traditionally consumed as an emergency crop during periods of famine and scarcity, became principal food.[3] Brown or lightly polished rice also gave way to white rice and highly refined grain products. Increased intake of animal protein, dairy food, and sugar (and other commodity crop foods such as bananas, coconut, palm oil, coffee, etc.) further led to the decline of native diets and decreased health and vitality.
Following independence from Belgium, France, and Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, social problems and epidemic disease continued throughout the region, including hunger, political instability, malaria, tuberculosis, sickle-cell anemia, and other infectious or wasting conditions. Well-meaning but nutritionally deficient international relief efforts (including the donation of foods high in sugar, white flour, powdered milk, etc.) saved lives but resulted in nutritional deficiencies and a further decline in health and well being. Mass vaccination campaigns had a similar impact, protecting people in the short run but weakening their resistance to disease over time. During the last several generations, the constitutional strength and conditional vitality of Central Africans steadily declined. After coming into contact with animals infected with Ebola virus, SIV (Simian Immune-deficiency Virus, the precursor to HIV), and other pathogens or eating contaminated bushmeat, people in this region acquired natural immune deficiency, and Marburg (1967), Ebola (1976), AIDS (1981), and other lethal diseases took hold and begin to spread.
Central Africa is also a major site of uranium, and during the Cold War the United States and Soviet Union competed aggressively for resources from Zaire (the former Belgian Congo) for their nuclear arsenals.[4] Mining, transport of radioactive materials, and accidental release of toxic materials further weakened the population, as it did the Navajo in the desert Southwest who experienced a similar fate. As a result of these trends, diminished health, vitality, and consciousness gave rise to further political, economic, and social instability across Central Africa in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Following a legacy of slavery and colonialism, agribusiness, mining, and deforestation contributed to widespread upheaval, including civil war, disputes over blood diamonds and conflict minerals, and genocide. Africa, the cradle of humanity, was transformed into a graveyard. The entire region became ground zero, or the epicenter, for a historical spiral that imperils human survival on the planet.
Stage 2 Fruit Eating Bats
Exactly where and how Ebola virus, HIV, and other virulent viruses emerged is unknown. Epidemics of Ebola are seasonal, and outbreaks occur primarily during wet seasons when fruits ripen.[5] Scientists believe fruit bats are the primary natural reservoir for the virus. They are small, wiry, and compact and serve as carriers of the virus, heating, condensing, and strengthening it. In effect, these warm-blooded mammals “cook” the virus and make it even more virulent and lethal. The bats themselves remain largely immune to its effects. But their saliva, feces, and urine harbor the virus and can pass it on.
Bats coat bananas, plums, or other fruit with their saliva. Whether the virus originates in the bats, the soil, in the fruit, in mines, or in jungle forest being cleared for development, the bats contaminate the fruit with their virus-covered saliva. They drop some of the fruit pulp, or deficate or urinate, and in the course of their flights spread it around the jungle and other habitats.
Stage 4 Infected Bushmeat
Gorillas, chimpanzees, and other nonhuman primates (NHP), eat or come into contact with the contaminated fruit and pick up the Ebola virus. The virus takes hold and many die, including up to 98% of the local great ape populations in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.[6] A small number of other animals also periodically can become infected by the virus, including forest antelope and porcupines, but they are not impacted to the extent of NHPs or as widely consumed by humans. Once again, the virus’s virulence multiplies, as it comes into contact with an even more advanced line of evolutionary mammals—NHPs—whose warm-blooded bodies served as factories or reactors for manufacturing and strengthening the virus.
Stage 5 The Human-Monkey Connection
Human beings eat or come into contact with bushmeat (primarily gorillas and other primates hunted or killed in the jungle and prized as a convenient, opportunistic, or affordable source of animal protein) and become infected with the Ebola virus.[7] Gorillas and NHP are not natural reservoirs for the virus but susceptible hosts. Another dietary vector is bats themselves, which are considered a delicacy and customarily eaten smoked, grilled, or in a spicy soup. Still other people fell ill after eating fresh and smoked antelope or monkey meat.
Traditionally, gorillas and other NHP are rarely eaten by human beings.[8] On the evolutionary ladder, human beings customarily ate animal food the most distant from their own species, especially fish and seafood. The next major type of animal food consumed historically by human beings was wild birds and eggs (e.g., turkey, quail). The most recent species on the evolutionary scale are mammals, such as rabbits, deer, sheep, camels, goats, pigs, and cattle.[9]
In the modern area, animal food consumption around the world skyrocketed in the 20th century.[10] Factory farming replaced traditionally hunted wild animals and the scientific breeding of herds and flocks that began with the Industrial Revolution a few centuries earlier. In the U.S., Japan, and parts of Europe, beef (especially hamburger) became the main source of animal protein along with commercial milk, cheese, ice cream, and other dairy. Animal food became the center of the meal, replacing whole cereal grains, and chronic diseases emerged.[11]
Prior to the mid 20th century, coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other degenerative conditions were rare.[12] As WHO, the U.S. Government, and other international bodies now recognize, the modern diet high in animal fat and protein is the major cause of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases in temperate and tropical latitudes. The exceptions to this rule are people living in deserts, mountains, cold northern polar regions, and certain islands where grains, vegetables, and other plant foods are scarce, and people traditionally ate an animal-food based diet. Such a way of eating is healthy in those areas, but in other climates and environments, and especially among people today living increasingly sedentary lifestyles, a heavy meat, poultry, or dairy food diet is harmful.
Eating gorillas, chimpanzees, and other NHP was taboo in many regions because they were considered “first cousins” of human beings. Eating gorillas or other primates is an evolutionary dead end. It is akin to cannibalism and could lead to serious mental, emotional, and spiritual disorders as well as physical disorders. Actual cannibalism among humans has been linked to kuru (an incurable degenerative neurological disease) in New Guinea, and forcing cattle to consume meat from other cattle (known as rendering or giving ground up cow parts to other cows) is the main cause of Mad Cow Disease.[13] Any species that begins to devour itself is destined for extinction. Eating closely related species puts it at grave risk. In poverty-stricken, sickness-prone, and war-torn Africa, it is understandable why many people resorted to eating gorillas, bats, and other bushmeat. However, it is extremely risky. Eating NHP with Ebola virus or HIV exposes humans to the most distilled form of the microbes. The end result was a multiplication in the strength of the viruses and the emergence of the Ebola and AIDS epidemics. Human beings—the third mammalian species in this chain of viral transmission from bats to gorillas to humans—further concentrated these pathogens, heightened their virulence, and passed them on to family, friends, and neighbors. Jet travel quickly spread them around the planet.
Outcomes
In the case of Ebola, affected individuals either die (about 50 to 90% depending on the outbreak) or recover.[14] Whether any given person comes down with the disease upon exposure and then survives depends on a multitude of factors that affect their natural immunity to infection and disease, as well as natural healing ability and recovery. These include their constitution at birth, condition of health (day to day, year to year condition after birth), climate, environment, diet, lifestyle, education, activity level, age, sex and gender, socioeconomic status, mental/emotional state, level of consciousness, spiritual practices, and other factors.
Treatment and Recovery
The onset of Ebola generally proceeds through four stages[15]:
1) Day 1: Influenza like symptoms that appear abruptly with high fever, headache, myalgia, sore throat, nausea, and other non-specific symptoms or signs
2) Days 1-6: Acute persistent fever that does not respond to antimalarial drugs or to antibiotics, as well as headache, intense fatigue, followed by diarrhea and abdominal pain, anorexia, and vomiting
3) Days 7-8: Pseudo-remission during which the patient feels better and seeks food and experiences some improvement. Some patients recover during this stage and survive
4) Day 9: In most cases, the status worsens and may be followed by respiratory disorders, including dyspnea, throat and chest pain, cough, and hiccups. Also symptoms of hemorrhagic fever, including bloody diarrhea, and hemorrhagic bleeding from the gums, nosebleeds, and other sites; purpura and other skin manifestations; prostration, delirium, confusion, coma and other neurological or psychiatric symptoms, and cardiovascular distress and shock leading to death
From the macrobiotic view, as the infection spreads, the body tries to discharge the virus by vomiting, diarrhea, and high fever. These defense mechanisms naturally serve to eliminate the invasive and spreading virus by eliminating it to the outside. If these efforts are unsuccessful, the virus will continue to multiply and reach critical mass inside the body. Eventually the viral matter overwhealms the circulatory system, respiratory system, liver, or kidneys, causing hemorrhaging internally and externally in about half the cases through the mouth, nose, eyes, and broken skin. Unless the virus is checked, death will result.
Macrobiotic home remedies, including special dishes, drinks, and compresses, may be able to bring down the fever, stop the vomiting, and clear up the diarrhea so the patient does not become exhausted, weak, and further susceptible to infection or decline.
Except for palliative care, current medications are not effective in treating Ebola.[16] New drugs and vaccines may prove helpful, but they may also accelerate or impede the natural process of discharge or, if they include chemicals and other artificial or unnatural ingredients may lead to undesirable side effects and contaminate the environment. The decision to have medical treatment is up to each individual in consultation with his or her family and physician. In general, we recommend that medical treatment, despite the risks, be used, concurrently with diet and natural home remedies. In this case, the best of both approaches may enhance the chance of recovery. Extreme and potentially harmful medical treatments, such as GMO vaccines or drugs, should only be used as a last resort if the dietary approach and/or conventional medical attention are unsuccessful.
The macrobiotic approach is aimed at neutralizing and eliminating the virus from the body by strengthening the blood, lymph, and other bodily fluids, as well as by nourishing and rejuvenating the cells, tissues, organs, systems, functions, and other aspects of mind/body and enhancing natural resistance to disease.[17] Since the latest Ebola outbreak began, transfusions of blood plasma from survivors to patients still experiencing the viral disease have generally proved effective. In principle, someone with strong, healthy blood would not symptomatize and naturally produce antibodies to protect from infection if exposed to the virus.
Most of the symptoms of Ebola outlined above can be relieved or minimized with the macrobiotic dietary approach, including special medicinal dishes, drinks, and other home remedies. For example, umeboshi, a traditional salted, aged, sour plum, is an integral part of a macrobiotic and natural way of eating and has traditionally been used to strengthen the blood and lymph, boost natural resistance to infection, and treat diarrhea (all major symptoms of Ebola). Researchers at Wakayama Medical University in Japan reported that an extract from umeboshi can suppress the growth of the H1N1 virus associated with the recent Swine Flu epidemic. The growth of the virus was suppressed after consuming 5 small pieces of plum by nearly 90% after 7 hours.[18]
To prevent and relieve Ebola, the diet should be limited to centrally balanced foods, including whole grains as principal food, supplemented by mineral- and fiber-rich vegetables, beans and bean products, sea vegetables, and a variety of seasonings, condiments, garnishes, and clean water for cooking and non-stimulant, non-aromatic teas and other beverages. To prevent the spread of the virus, as a rule, sour and bitter tastes are slightly preferred over sweet or pungent ones, and the use of salt (from the sea, not rock salt which is too acidic) should be moderate.
Extreme foods can be divided into two types—contractive and expansive—and they give opposite effects. Animal quality food, which is very dense, compact, and energizing incubates the virus and makes it more virulent. This includes meat, poultry, eggs, fatty fish and seafood, and other animal foods. In the case of the emergence of Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF) beef eating in Argentina would appear to be a main factor in susceptibility to the viral disease, as Argentina has long enjoyed the reputation as red-meat capital of the world. (It was overtaken by Uruguay in 2013.)
Expansive food has an opposite, dispersing, softening, and weakening effect and spreads the virus. This includes sugar (white, brown, cane, beet, honey, chocolate, agave, stevia, Nutrasweet), milk or other light dairy products (soft cheese, butter, cream, ice cream), white flour, juice, raw salad or other uncooked foods, spices, coffee, black tea, herb tea, alcohol, and drugs. For persons with Ebola or at high risk for the disease, oil, fruit, and natural sweeteners should be strictly avoided or drastically reduced (and then always be cooked and not consumed raw) until recovery or the danger has passed. Please click here for Planetary Health’s dietary guidelines for Ebola.
Out of Africa
The Ebola epidemic (and other emerging contagions, including AIDS, Mad Cow Disease, and hemorrhagic fevers in Latin America and other regions) are an evolutionary wake up call to our species to avoid or substantially reduce overall pollution, especially the use of chemically produced food and animal food consumption in temperate and tropical latitudes. Modern factory-farmed meat, especially beef, pork, and other mammals, but also industrial raised chickens, eggs, and other poultry, as well as dairy food and farm-fed fish and seafood, must be considered a risk factor for developing Ebola and other virulent viral diseases. Anyone who eats hamburger, cheese pizza, or ice cream regularly is weakening their natural immunity to infection and disease, as well as increasing their risk of heart disease, selected cancers, and other chronic disorders. Such foods are an incubator for disease. Good health requires the free flow of energy in and out of the body. Excessive animal food consumption, in particular, especially those from mammals, leads to stagnation, hardness, and blockage, as well as atherosclerotic plaque, cysts, and tumors. They also overheat the body, lead to inflammation of cells and tissues, and incubate microbes. Like a nuclear reactor, hemorrhagic fever is hard to cool down and, if the virus reaches critical mass, is in danger of exploding throughout the body.
The agricultural origins of Ebola (and Marburg and AIDS) has yet to be proved. But virus-tainted bananas have been linked with both Ebola and Marburg (see Appendix B). It is possible that the filoviruses (as the microbes associated with both these diseases are known) first emerged or mutated about fifty years ago from ancient, benign varieties or precursors. In all likelihood, agriculture chemicals were the underlying cause of the ecological disruption, but it could also have been chemicals from mining or other industrial activity that bats picked up. Most of the index or first cases of Ebola in many outbreaks over recent decades were miners or foresters. They could have come into contact with the virus through industrial chemicals or contact with infected bats which particularly inhabit mines. Bats are also natural pollinators of bananas and other fruit, so the vector could go in several ways. It remains unkown whether bananas, bats, or some other animal or plant is the original natural reservoir of the virus as distinct to serving as a carrier or host.
As researchers pointed out in a review of the emergence of Ebola in “Ebola Virus Outbreaks in Africa: Past and Present”: “From a broad anthropological point of view, it is noticeable that the increase in Ebola outbreak since 1994 is frequently associated with drastic changes in forest ecosystems in tropical Africa. The perturbation of these ecosystems due to extensive deforestation and human activities in the depth of the forests may have promoted direct or indirect contact between humans and a natural reservoir of the virus. EBOV [Ebola Virus] infection has therefore been related to human economic activities like hunting . . . farming . . . and gold digging.”[19] Marburg virus, a deadly strain similar to Ebola, has been linked with two species of insectivorous bats in a mine in the Republic of Congo (see Appendix 2 below).[20]
After millions of years of hominoid evolution in Africa, our species—homo sapiens, a scientific term in Latin meaning “wise person”—emerged several hundred thousand years ago as a result of eating a diet based largely on wild cereal grasses and grains supplemented by wild plants and a small amount of animal food.[21] Over the last ten thousand years, the Neolithic or farming revolution saw rice, wheat, maize, millet, and other domesticated grains develop as the foundation of human culture and civilization. The diet was based on grains in most parts of the world and was 100% natural and organic for 99.99% of humanity’s existence on the planet. It did not include chemicals, additives, GMOs, or other artificial ingredients.
It would be tragic if our species declines as a result of unwise modern agricultural, dietary, and social trends leading to outbreaks of epidemic disease that radiate from Africa and engulf the world. Foremost among these trends is the displacement of whole cereal grains by meat, poultry, dairy, and other heavy animal food, commodity crops (e.g., bananas, coconut, coffee), and nutritionally and energetically weaker but higher yielding emergency crops (e.g., cassava, potato). The modern food pattern, based on heavy animal food; vegetable, fruits, and other plant food grown from hybrid seeds with chemical methods; and food subjected to high energy refining, processing, and cooking methods (e.g., white rice, white flour, and food cooked with electricity or microwave) is a recipe for disaster and constitutes the root of the current Ebola crisis and other humanitarian catastrophes. Agribusiness and modern food processing, especially beef-eating and the cattle culture and the widespread use of chemicals, is also the main cause of global warming, climate change, water pollution, soil erosion, air pollution, loss of biodiversity, and environmental destruction, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.[22]
We would do well to remember our origins in earth and sky, return to a wiser, balanced, natural way of living, including farming, cooking, eating, and healing, and realize our destiny in the harmony of the spheres.
Appendix A: Ebola in the Philippines
Outside of Africa, the Philippines is the only other country in which Ebola virus has naturally emerged. It is associated with imported crab-eating macaques (used as laboratory monkeys) that tested positive in the United States for a new strain of the disease in 1989 known as Reston virus. The outbreak was traced to a farm in the Philippines that was part of a breeding/export facility. It was the first known natural infection of Ebola in nonhuman primates (NHP). The disease was fatal in 35% of the monkeys but had a low pathogenicity and led to no illness or deaths in humans. Following discovery of the Philippine strain of Ebola in the U.S., the CDC tested other monkeys in Reston, Virginia, site of the research lab, and found that a majority that tested positive were from Indonesia. A follow up investigation in Sumatra found no trace of the virus. In 2008, pigs from farms north of Manila tested positive for the Reston virus. Although the etiology of this new strain of Ebola is unknown, it is linked in several instances with farms in the Philippines.[23] As in Africa, the Philippines served as the site of the widespread introduction of chemical inputs for farming, including pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers—known as the Green Revolution. The Reston virus appears to have emerged from contaminated soil or crops, possibly bananas or other fruit crops, which are eaten by monkeys. However, the absence of bats in the cycle of transmission led to a weaker viral strain. It also suggests that the original contamination in Africa was not through chemicals in mining (linked to African bats living in mines that carried the virus) but to chemicals used in farming or deforestation (often to clear jungle for monocultures or commodity crops).
Appendix B: Marburg and Ebola
Marburg, a hemorrhagic fever virus that is nearly identical to Ebola, emerged in Marburg, Germany (after which it is named), Frankfurt, and Belgrade in the 1960s. Industrial workers were exposed to tissues of infected monkeys from Uganda used in laboratory experiments to develop a measles vaccine. The incident took place at the Behringwerke, the city’s former main industrial plant, and 31 people were infected of whom seven died. Marburg later appeared in Rhodesia and Johannesburg, South Africa in 1975, in Kenya in 1980 and 1987, and in the Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Uganda in following decades.[24] In Africa, fruit bats appear to be the host for Marburg, as they are for Ebola.
For 40 years the source of the virus remained a mystery. But in 2008, according to Dr. Bernhard M. Thimm, the German microbiologist and epidemiologist who exported the Green Vervet Monkeys to Marburg, the site of the first outbreak, the new virus was conclusively traced to fruit bats in Uganda where the monkeys originated. The primary reservoir of the virus was unfinished bananas that the bats left behind after eating and which the monkeys, in turn, consumed. The fruit bats also fertilize the banana flowers. Dr. Thimm warned Ugandans to avoid touching bananas that have been opened by fruit bats. He advises them to use gloves before peeling them and to bury the opened fruits to prevent contamination of other animals or humans. “This is because the fruit bats might just lick or urinate on the plant and not eat them. So caution should be taken when handling bananas,” he says. If people must eat the bananas, he continued, they should boil them thoroughly since the virus is killed by heat. Uganda has the highest per capita consumption of bananas in the world: 1.5 pounds per day. The decline of traditional farming and the introduction of monocropping and commodity crops set the stage for this cycle of radical dietary change, as well as the emergence of novel viruses and diseases.
To treat Marburg, Dr. Thimm recommends using the serum of the surviving patients after pasteurization to treat those who suffer from the disease.[25]
It appears no medical advisories have been issued by WHO, CDC, or Central African governments to take precautions regarding banana harvesting or use. A search on Medline (the global database of millions of scientific and medical studies) for "Ebola" and “banana” yields zero entries. Planetary Health strongly encourages these bodies to immediately publicize the risk between bananas and these deadly diseases. Indeed, no mention of either "diet" or "nutrition" appears at all in connection with Ebola.
However, in a possibly significant dietary connection, medical researchers report that both Marburg and Ebola require the presence of a cholesterol transporter protein known as NPCI (Niemann-Pick CI). Laboratory studies found that when cells from patients lacking NPCI were exposed to Marburg or Ebola virus, the cells survived and appeared to be immune to the virus.[26] This link suggests that impaired cholesterol metabolism, including the role of a high-dietary cholesterol, high-saturated fat diet in raising serum cholesterol, may play a critical role in increasing susceptibility to filoviruses.
Recommended Reading
AIDS, Macrobiotics, and Natural Immunity by Michio Kushi with Martha Cottrell, M.D., (Japan Publications, 1990). Out of print but available used from Amazon.com.
Aveline Kushi’s Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking by Aveline Kushi with Alex Jack (Warner Books, 1985). The principal macrobiotic cookbook.
The Book of Macrobiotics by Michio Kushi with Alex Jack (Square One Publications, 2013). Newly revised edition of the classic book on macrobiotic principles, including dietary guidelines for 10 regions of the world including Africa, summary of scientific-medical research on macrobiotics, and nutrient tables.
The Cancer Prevention Diet by Michio Kushi with Alex Jack (St Martin’s Press, 2010.) The macrobiotic approach to 25 major types of cancer, including menus, recipes, and home cares.
Diet for a Strong Heart by Michio Kushi with Alex Jack (St. Martin’s Press, 1985). The macrobiotic approach to high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions, including menus, recipes, and home cares.
Holistic Health Through Macrobiotics by Michio Kushi with Edward Esko (Japan Publications, 1993). A comprehensive introduction to mind/body healing.
Macrobiotic Home Remedies by Michio Kushi with Marc Van Cauwenberghe, M.D. (Square One Publications, 2014). Newly revised edition of macrobiotic home cares, including special dishes, foods, and compresses that may be helpful for infectious conditions such as Ebola.
The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health by Michio Kushi with Alex Jack (Ballantine, 2003). A comprehensive guide to preventing and relieving more than 200 chronic and infectious conditions, including menus, recipes, and home cares.
Resources
Planetary Health – www.ebolaanddiet.com. Planetary is a nonprofit educational organization and sponsor of the Ebola & Diet Project and of Amberwaves, a grassroots network seeking to protect rice, wheat, and other whole grains, as well as other foods, from genetic engineering, chemical pollution, global warming, and other climate change, as well as help keep America and the planet beautiful. Planetary Health’s quarterly newsletter Amberwaves offers essential information on diet, healing, and energy (including the Ebola crisis).Planetary Health, Inc., PO Box 487, Becket MA 01223. www.amberwaves.org. Email: info@amberwaves.org
Kushi Institute – www.kushiinstiute.org. The K.I. is the world center for macrobiotic learning and offers year-round residential programs to the general public on macrobiotic principles and practices, including cooking classes; teacher, counselor, and chef training; and the Way to Health Program, a 7-day residential program for preventing and relieving cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases. Personal macrobiotic dietary and way of life counseling, shiatsu massage, and other individual services are also available. Located on 600 acres in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, K.I. is convenient to many artistic and cultural attractions. For more information, please contact: Kushi Institute, 198 Leland Road, Becket MA 01223. Tel 413-623-5741 or 800-975-8744. Fax 413-623-8827. Email: programs@kushiinstitute.org. Web site: www.kushiinstitute.org.
Guidelines for Ebola prepared by Michio Kushi, leader of the international macrobiotic community, are found on the K.I. website: www.kushiinstitute.org/ebola
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/
The CDC is the U.S. government agency coordinating the response to Ebola and other public health issues and emergencies. It presents daily updates and the latest medical advice on the Ebola outbreak in Africa, America, and around the world.
Notes
[1]See Lost Crops of Africa, Vol. 1: Grains, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1996
[5]Muyembe-Tamfum, J.J., et al., 2012, “Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa: Past and present,” Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 79(2), Art. #451,8 pages. http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/ojvr.v79i2.451
[12] Dietary Goals for the United States, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, 1977
[15]Muyembe-Tamfum, J.J., Mulangu, S., Masumu, J., Kayembe, J.M., Kemp, A. & Paweska, J.T., 2012, “Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa: Past and present,” Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 79(2), Art. #451,8 pages. http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/ojvr.v79i2.451
[16] CDC “Treatment: Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever,” Oct. 3, 2014, www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/treatment/ index.html.
[17] Patients with Kaposi Sarcoma Who Opt for No Treatment” (letter), The Lancet, 2:223, July 27, 1985. Elinor M. Levy, Letter to the American Cancer Society, March 3, 1988. Tom Monte, The Way of Hope (New York, Warner Books, 1990). George Ohsawa, The Way of Healing (French original, 1962; English translation, GOMF, 1985); Ronald Kotzsche, Ph.D., Macrobiotics: Yesterday and Today (Japan Publications, 1985). Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D., Nagasaki 1945, London, Quartet Books, 1981. Hiroko Furo, PhD, “Dietary Practices of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Atomic Bomb survivors,” Illinois Wesleyan University, 2006 and Healing with Miso: Dietary Practice of Atomic Bomb Survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Planetary Health 2008). S. C. Skoryna et al., “Studies on Inhibition of Intestinal Absorption of Radioactive Strontium,” Canadian Medical Association Journal 91:285-88. Alex Jack, “Soviets Embrace Macrobiotics,” One Peaceful World Journal 6:1 Autumn/Winter, 1990.
[19]Muyembe-Tamfum, J.J, et al., 2012, “Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa: Past and present,” Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 79(2).
[21] “Diet likely changed game for some hominids 3.5 million years ago, says CU-Boulder study,” Press Release, Colorado University-Boulder, June 3, 2013, http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/ 2013/06/03/diet-likely-changed-game-some-hominids-3.5-million-years-ago-says-cu-boulder#sthash.xqyWQ3mf.dpuf
[23] “Reston Virus,” Wikipedia, accessed October 23, 2014. Mary Elizabeth et al., “Reston Ebolavirus in Humans and Animals in the Philippines: A Review,” Journal of Infectious Diseases 204(supple 3):5757-5760.
[26]Carette JE, et al. (September 2011). "Ebola virus entry requires the cholesterol transporter Niemann-Pick C1". Nature 477 (7364): 340–3. Côté M, et al. (September 2011). "Small molecule inhibitors reveal Niemann-Pick C1 is essential for Ebola virus infection". Nature 477 (7364): 344–8.
Copyright 2020 by Planetary Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Planetary Health, Inc.
PO Box 487
Becket, MA 01223
info