Foods that are avoided in a macrobiotic diet include:

Macrobiotics: one woman's story
In April 1995, Janet Vitt was given only a short time to live. As a registered nurse, she knew her chances of survival were slim when doctors diagnosed her with stage IV small cell adenocarcinoma of the lung; the cancer had spread to her liver, pancreas, abdomen and lymph system.

Janet, weak from rounds of chemotherapy, was forced to use a wheelchair and oxygen mask. Since she couldn't care for herself, hospice workers, family and friends came to her aid. They began cooking for her, and her sister cleared out the kitchen and filled it with whole grains, beans, vegetables, bancha twig tea, umeboshi plums and cookbooks featuring macrobiotic fare. Ten months after beginning the macrobiotic diet, Janet was tumor free.

"I think where cancer is concerned, we treat the symptoms, not the cause. [I think that] once you get to the cause, the cancer doesn't come back," says Vitt. "There isn't one food that's a miracle food. But eliminating wrong foods is as important as eating the right ones. We have to get rid of the bad stuff and eat healthy."

Janet spends her time now cooking for people with cancer, most of whom are in stage IV, and teaching classes on macrobiotic cooking. She received training at the Kushi Institute.

"In macrobiotics we stay very balanced," says Vitt. "It's not just the way we eat but also our lifestyle--we need work time, play time, prayer time. We need balance in the way we approach life."

Macrobiotics and children
Will children get all the nutrients they need on a macrobiotic diet? Briscoe and his wife have six children, all of whom follow a macrobiotic diet. He says studies in Europe have shown vitamin D deficiencies in some children who follow this type of diet, but he hasn't experienced that with his own family. He says supplements might be necessary if children were to eat a limited macrobiotic diet.

"It's easy with any kind of defined diet to become rigid. It needs to be done in a wise and intelligent and educated way," says Briscoe. "People need to select their foods from a wide variety of categories. Sometimes a person chooses from them very narrowly. Macrobiotics recommends whole grains, mineral- and vitamin- rich foods and good quality plant-based proteins. People who do this in a wise way realize they don't need supplements."

Unfortunately, very little research has been done on the nutrient quality of a macrobiotic diet. One study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (May 2000) looked at adults who consumed three different types of vegetarian diet-lacto-ovo (includes dairy and eggs), lacto (includes dairy, but no eggs), and macrobiotic (no dairy or eggs). The people who followed the macrobiotic diet had the lowest intakes of calcium, vitamins C and B-12, and iron-lower than is considered optimal for these nutrients.

So, perhaps picking and choosing foods carefully might not be enough to guarantee proper nutrition--especially in children--without some form of supplementation, such as nutrient-fortified fruit juices. If you and your family consume a macrobiotic diet, you might want to enlist the help of a pediatrician, family practice doctor, or registered dietitian to work with you to ensure that your child is getting all the nutrients he or she needs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement in November 1999 stating that "children are not getting enough calcium." The Academy goes on to recommend that "pediatricians should recommend a daily diet that includes milk, yogurt, cheese and other calcium-rich foods." According to the policy, children should consume about 800 milligrams of calcium each day, and preteens and adolescents should consume 1200 to 1500 milligrams per day. The median amount of calcium consumed in the above-mentioned study was between 500 and 750 milligrams per day.

Getting started
Interested in macrobiotics? A good way to get started is to attend a class, such as at a health food store or community college in your local area. Classes are offered at the Kushi Institute, which is billed as the "leading macrobiotic educational center in the world."

You can also take online classes, such as those offered by David Briscoe and his wife at Macrobiotics America.

There are also macrobiotic bed and breakfasts where you can experience macrobiotic cuisine and lifestyle. Warren and Marquita Wepman run the DoJo Bed and Breakfast in Barnardsville, NC, and teach macrobiotic cooking at locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

"Twenty-three years ago, just after I quit smoking, Marquita saw a flyer for a cooking class offering a whole foods diet," says Wepman. "She signed up for the course and I joined her at the first session of a series of classes. It was right for me and instead of gaining 50 pounds as I quit the use of tobacco, I lost 37 pounds, gained my full health and strength, and have never looked back."

Another way to get started is to check out the table of contents in a macrobiotic cookbook and try some of the recipes, or look for macrobiotic recipes online.

A macrobiotic recipe
The Wepmans recommend the following sugar-free, dairy-free recipe as an introduction to macrobiotics.

Couscous Cake

Directions
Place the liquid and raisins in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the couscous, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt. Stir once, cover, lower the flame and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a spatula. Cover the pan with a serving plate and remove by turning upside down. The cake should slide out.

Spread apple butter or any fruit jam over the top and sides, slice and serve.

This article originally appeared on Healthgate.com.