Planetary Health, Inc.
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Becket, MA 01223
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November 7, 2014
Balanced, Organic Foods, Macrobiotic Diet May Help Prevent and Relieve Ebola
A balanced largely organic foods diet, based on sustainable natural and organic farming methods and macrobiotic principles, could be a vital part of the international response to Ebola, says Alex Jack, president of Planetary Health, Inc., an international health and environmental organization. In a press release, Jack announced today the launch of a new web site www.EbolaandDiet.com offering agricultural, dietary, and nutritional information and guidance on the Ebola crisis.
Jack, who is also executive director of Kushi Institute, the world’s leading center for macrobiotic learning and healing, has written or edited over 25 books on diet and health, collaborating with Michio Kushi, leader of the international macrobiotic movement, who came to the United States from his native Japan 65 years ago and lives in the Boston area. Kushi and Jack are the authors of many books, including The Cancer Prevention Diet (St. Martin’s Press, 2010), The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health (Ballantine, 2003), and AIDs and Diet (One Peaceful World Press, 1994). Over the years, the Kushi Institute and the macrobiotic movement have cooperated with WHO (World Health Organization), NIH (National Institutes of Health), CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), NCI (National Cancer Institute), and other public health agencies in a dietary approach to heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.[1]
“A macrobiotic diet centered on whole grains, beans, fresh vegetables, sea vegetables, and other predominantly plant-quality foods can boost natural immunity to disease and may help prevent the onset of Ebola and assist those with the disease recover,” Jack stated. “While we have no direct experience with treating Ebola yet, a macrobiotic approach has been effective in helping to treat HIV/AIDS, and other serious, potentially fatal viral and bacterial conditions.[2]
At the International AIDS conference in Paris in 1986, researchers from Boston University reported that HIV/AIDS patients with moderately intact immune functions stabilized on the macrobiotic diet, increased their T4—positive cell and lymphocyte counts, and that the average survival time had already surpassed any AIDS group under study until that time.[3] In 1987, Michio Kushi, his wife Aveline, and a team of macrobiotic medical associates were invited by the government of the Republic of the Congo to visit Central Africa and give a symposium on the macrobiotic approach to AIDS in Brazzaville. The conference was held at WHO headquarters and attended by 200 medical doctors, including many traditional healers.
Jeffrey Reel, associate director of the Ebola & Diet Project, stated that the macrobiotic approach to Ebola was similar to that of AIDS and other potentially lethal viral diseases. He noted that medical researchers in Japan found that umeboshi plums, a traditional salted, aged, pickled plum and a staple in the macrobiotic way of eating, contain a substance that can suppress the growth of the H1N1 virus that led to the recent Swine Flu epidemic. When applied to affected cells, researchers reported, the growth of the virus was suppressed by nearly 90% after seven hours.[4]
Reel also quoted Dr. Benjamin Spock, who practiced macrobiotics during the last decade of his life. Dr. Spock wrote in the last edition of his bestselling book Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care that within two weeks of starting macrobiotics he cleared up a longstanding infectious condition with diet, “My chronic bronchitis went away after years of unsuccessful antibiotic treatments.”[5]
“We strongly support the international medical relief effort for Ebola and encourage natural and organic farming practices and dietary prevention and nutritional relief by individuals, communities, physicians, and humanitarian relief organizations as a key element in halting the epidemic,” Reel concluded.
For Planetary Health dietary guidelines for the U.S., Africa, and elsewhere and for physicians and emergency relief workers visit: http://www.ebolaanddiet.com. For further information on macrobiotics and educational and healing programs at Kushi Institute, visit: http://www.kushiinstitute.org/ebola-macrobiotic-approach-relief-prevention/. Insights and recommendations for Ebola by Michio Kushi are further discussed on this site.
[1] “Minutes of the Fifth Meeting, Cancer Advisory Panel for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAPCAM), Bethesda, MD., Feb. 25, 2002; Macrobiotic Research Project, Jane Teas, Ph.D. et al., CDC, University of South Carolina, Prevention Research Center, School of Public Health.
[2] “Patients with Kaposi Sarcoma Who Opt for No Treatment,” 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).
[2] George Ohsawa, The Way of Healing (French original, 1962; English translation, GOMF, 1985). Ronald Kotzsche, Ph.D., Macrobiotics: Yesterday and Today (Japan Publications, 1985). “Umeboshi Have H1N1 Suppressant,” Japan Times, June 3, 2010.
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Planetary Health, Inc.
PO Box 487
Becket, MA 01223
info