ABSTRACT

A motley assortment of students, writers, musicians, artists, and philosophers were advocating the benefits of MB or 'macrobiotic' food, by the mid-1960s. The MB regimen was allegedly based on Zen principles, a balance of the opposing but complementary forces of yin and yang. Illnesses supposedly arose from living in extremes and following a diet either too rich in yin foods or yang foods; because grains fit within the extremes, they became the staple of the diet. The Institute, presided over by Michio Kusli, who claimed to have been introduced to MB by Oriental philosopher Georges Oshawa, pioneered the diet. The diet also had its detractors. Dr. Frederick Stone of the School of Public Health argued, Macrobiotic effects have nothing to do with the magical properties of brown rice. They are simply symptoms of mild starvation accentuated by psychological suggestion.