----- Original Message -----

From: Phiya Kushi

To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 3:27 PM

Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Hi Leslie and Simon,

Okay, let this be the last post on the subject and if people want to know more about Fermena and Diamond Tree they can email me or Ken directly.

To answer your question, Leslie, it really depends on that persons condition and what they normally eat.  It may be true for some but may not be for others.  I would expect that someone who eats continues to eat high animal foods, refined foods, and not enough fresh vegetables would not only eventually need to change their diet but would benefit from Fermena ongoingly.

Fermena was specifically designed for persons that consume heavy amounts of animal foods and for those who refuse to change their diets.  But it is fine for everyone to eat, regardless of any criteria.  That is to say that macro folk can't also enjoy Fermena either, because as Ken pointed out, it is more like food than it is a supplement.

I hope that answers your question, oh and, by the way, it's great to hear from you too! 


Simon, I think it's fine for us to agree to disagree (though I don't think we do).  I think the problem between us is that, for me, it is blatantly obvious that Fermena is not a replacement for changing one's diet.

Michio did specifically design it for, as I mentioned just now (and as you suggested), persons whom who eat heavy amounts of animal foods and for those who refuse to change their diets.  But Michio also described it, as recent as last night, that it is like if you carefully and slowly chewed the standard macro diet in your mouth 1,000 times or more, thoroughly mixing it with the enzymes in your saliva, the result would be Fermena.  The added tropical plants in Fermena are included to balance the past or present heavy meat eating.  Black sugar is added to help accelerate the fermentation process.

One last thing - Michio's focus has always been and continues to be on how to encourage the masses to change their diets to eat more whole grains and veggies.  His focus has never really been on the already converted like and you me and to that extent he is less concerned about our opinions than he is on the results and effectiveness of his approach and methods.  He has been very successful in what he does and he does it in his own unique way.  Like everyone, he is not perfect and as many have observed, does not thoroughly address issues like emotions, relationships and similar issues.  But clearly, he does have a knack for food and diagnosis and Fermena is uniquely his own creation and is one that anyone can enjoy, non-macro or macro.  It does not replace changing one's diet but it is quite effective in improving the intestinal health of many.

Michio is really just being Michio and there are times when he can shock and surprise people, especially those who claim to know him well (including myself), and there are times when he seems to be consistent to what we expect of him.  I personally find the reactions that people have to him, including my own, to be all rather comical and humorous and revealing of the larger delusional limitations and high expectations that we can place on not only those we tend to look up to but on everyone that we meet.  One thing is certain though and it is that he is having fun on this planet in his own unique way. It is something that I strive to do as well and I hope everyone else does too.

Cheers,
Phiya

---

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.6/69 - Release Date: 11-8-2005

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.6/69 - Release Date: 11-8-2005

 

Hello Phiya,

Great to see you involved with Simon's group.  I'm enjoying the
discussions.

One question: Once someone whose digestion has been impaired STOPS
taking Fermena and continues with their regular diet, do you think
they will stay well or will they revert back to similar health issues?
In other words, while it seems to help in the short term, do you
really think it's effective over the long term or does that person
have to continually consume it?

Aloha, Leslie (in Hawaii)

--- In moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com <mailto:moderndaymacrobiotics%40yahoogroups.com> , "Phiya Kushi"
<phiyak@...> wrote:
>
> Peter found my lengthy post!!!  Thanks Peter!  Here it is:
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
----
> Greetings Posters,
>
> I am happy to resolve questions as best as I can concerning Fermena
> and the development of products and other efforts of my father over
> the many years of macrobiotic history.
>
> I wish to clarify that Michio (with Aveline) has been involved in
many
> businesses over the years in order to promote macrobiotics ideas.
> These have ranged from creating some of the first macrobiotic
> restaurants in New York and Boston to starting, Erewhon, the first
> Natural Foods business in North America, to the East West Journal
and,
> of course, to the Kushi Institute and it's predecessor, the East
West
> Foundation.
>
> Michio has also been involved in hand-picking many of the
traditional
> Japanese foods items that is sold through Mitoku, including most of
> the fermented foods.  He was involved in setting-up American Miso
> Company as well helping many of his students start their own
businesses.
>
> Over the years there have been many opportunities for Michio and
> Aveline to expand and popularize their efforts but turned them down
as
> they did not want to compromise on the quality and message of their
> efforts.  This concern in quality has not always served Michio's
> financial interests and, from a business perspective, has hampered
growth.
>
> Fermena is a specific product that Michio personally designed
himself.
>  The basic idea is that the 50+ ingredients more or less represents
> the standard macrobiotic diet combined to together and fermented for
> six months in Brazil where the temperature remains steady and is
ideal
> for the fermentation process.  Fermena is pre-biotic and is designed
> to nourish the beneficial bacteria of our intestinal flora.  There
is
> confusion about the ingredients because Fermena contains tropical
> plants and unrefined sugar cane.  The unrefined sugar cane is added
to
> accelerate the fermentation process and any "negative" effects of
any
> tropical plants naturally disappear as a result of the fermentation
> process.  While proportionately the majority of the ingredients (as
in
> the standard macrobiotic diet) are grains, beans and vegetables, the
> more exotic plants and herbs add additional variety that enhances
its
> pre-biotic function.
>
> People may also be concerned that Fermena seems to be contrary to
the
> idea to promote local agriculture. The way that I look at this issue
> is as follows.  Foods are fine to eat if you can travel with them by
> foot and without refrigeration and still be edible.  In this way dry
> goods such as grains and beans and so on can be eaten anywhere in
the
> world where as fresh produce will only stay edible within a limited
> range from where they were grown.  One can extend this distance by
> drying or fermenting foods and, with fermenting, the foods actually
> become better over time.  Fresh meat and dairy products, on the
other
> hand, must be eaten relatively quickly before they spoil, or they
must
> be treated somehow with salt or other natural pickling method.  In
> either case foods that are naturally fermented can be eaten over
long
> distances and over many years and often become better as they age.
>
> Fermena is the only food supplement that Michio has invented and
will
> probably be the only one that he ever will.  In this day and age,
with
> the pervasiveness of anti-biotics, refrigeration, high-speed
> transport, and lack of quality fermented products Michio felt that
> this product could be beneficial to everyone including those who not
> change their diet at all.  Also, for persons whom relied heavily on
> diary (mostly fermented foods) and then suddenly cut-them out and
not
> replace them with any quality fermented foods, they often have
> difficulty in maintaining a dairy-free regime.  Fermena is an ideal
> transitional supplement while persons add home made pickles, misos,
> and other fermented products to their diet.  (Fermena actually is
more like
> food than it is a supplement)
>
> The Fermena product is being sold in North America by a network
> marketing company called Diamond Tree.  (It is sold in Japan by the
> company that makes it called "Anew" also in a network marketing
> format).  Diamond Tree recently opened and is founded by Kendall Cho
> and his wife Bo.  Kendall Cho was the former CEO of Nikken and
during
> his time with them he turned it into the billion dollar company that
> it is today.  Many macrobiotic promoters became Nikken distributors
> including William Tara whom often promoted it a macrobiotic
functions.
>
> Several years ago Michio and I met with Nikken as part of an effort
to
> help develop products for them.  We became very good friends with
> Kendall and he and his wife came and studied at the Kushi Institute.
> It changed his life and he has since become and avid fan and
promoter
> of macrobiotics and seeks to combine his expertise in network
> marketing business to introduce macrobiotics to the masses.
>
> Two years ago Kendall left Nikken and created his own company,
Diamond
> Tree which had it's grand opening this past weekend.  Before opening
> his new company Kendall asked Michio for product ideas and Michio
told
> him about Fermena, which had been previously developed and sold with
> great success in Japan.  The effects of Fermena has been nothing
less
> than astonishing for many suffering from a variety of chronic
> ailments. What is even more amazing is that most of the people did
not
> change their diets.
>
> Diamond Tree has been operating for a about year now and Fermena is
> their main product.  Again, the results have been astounding with
many
> regaining their intestinal health in a matter of days after many
years
> of suffering.
>
> I volunteer my time for Diamond Tree and have given several talks by
> conference call and in person, introducing many to the full scope of
> macrobiotics.  I was invited by Kendall to give a talk on "Your Face
> Never Lies"  to the over 400 participants at the Grand Opening event
> for Diamond Tree. Most were mainstream professionals seeking to
> supplement their income and were not specifically thinking about
> changing their diets.  After being exposed to macrobiotics through
> Fermena and hearing me speak they are all now interested in learning
> more about macrobiotics, changing their diets and incorporating the
> full principles into their life.
>
> Kendall is a man of financial integrity and is committed to
spreading
> macrobiotics in the way that he best knows how.  Network marketing
is
> as much about helping people gain financial freedom and independent
> wealth as it is about the products.  While products sold in a direct
> sales format may initially seem expensive, it is priced in that way
to
> distribute the wealth to as many people as possible.  If you seek
> financial independence and wealth and like to bring macrobiotics to
> the mainstream then, with Diamond Tree, Kendall Cho has created one
> the best ways to do this.
>
> If you are interested in learning more about Diamond Tree or Fermena
> please feel free to contact me. Kendall has created a tremendous
> opportunity for many and has the support and endorsement of many
> besides my father, Michio Kushi.  (www.diamondtreeglobal.com)
>
> Many Thanks,
> Phiya Kushi
>

 
    

 

Hi Leslie and Simon,

Okay, let this be the last post on the subject and if people want to know more about Fermena and Diamond Tree they can email me or Ken directly.

To answer your question, Leslie, it really depends on that persons condition and what they normally eat.  It may be true for some but may not be for others.  I would expect that someone who eats continues to eat high animal foods, refined foods, and not enough fresh vegetables would not only eventually need to change their diet but would benefit from Fermena ongoingly.

Fermena was specifically designed for persons that consume heavy amounts of animal foods and for those who refuse to change their diets.  But it is fine for everyone to eat, regardless of any criteria.  That is to say that macro folk can't also enjoy Fermena either, because as Ken pointed out, it is more like food than it is a supplement.

I hope that answers your question, oh and, by the way, it's great to hear from you too!  


Simon, I think it's fine for us to agree to disagree (though I don't think we do).  I think the problem between us is that, for me, it is blatantly obvious that Fermena is not a replacement for changing one's diet.

Michio did specifically design it for, as I mentioned just now (and as you suggested), persons whom who eat heavy amounts of animal foods and for those who refuse to change their diets.  But Michio also described it, as recent as last night, that it is like if you carefully and slowly chewed the standard macro diet in your mouth 1,000 times or more, thoroughly mixing it with the enzymes in your saliva, the result would be Fermena.  The added tropical plants in Fermena are included to balance the past or present heavy meat eating.  Black sugar is added to help accelerate the fermentation process.

One last thing - Michio's focus has always been and continues to be on how to encourage the masses to change their diets to eat more whole grains and veggies.  His focus has never really been on the already converted like and you me and to that extent he is less concerned about our opinions than he is on the results and effectiveness of his approach and methods.  He has been very successful in what he does and he does it in his own unique way.  Like everyone, he is not perfect and as many have observed, does not thoroughly address issues like emotions, relationships and similar issues.  But clearly, he does have a knack for food and diagnosis and Fermena is uniquely his own creation and is one that anyone can enjoy, non-macro or macro.  It does not replace changing one's diet but it is quite effective in improving the intestinal health of many.

Michio is really just being Michio and there are times when he can shock and surprise people, especially those who claim to know him well (including myself), and there are times when he seems to be consistent to what we expect of him.  I personally find the reactions that people have to him, including my own, to be all rather comical and humorous and revealing of the larger delusional limitations and high expectations that we can place on not only those we tend to look up to but on everyone that we meet.  One thing is certain though and it is that he is having fun on this planet in his own unique way. It is something that I strive to do as well and I hope everyone else does too.

Cheers,
Phiya




 
    

 



Here is my latest newsletter - enjoy!

May News from Celebrate Health with Melanie

Happy May Everyone!
May 1st is considered the first day of summer and marks the end of the chilly winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Throughout history, May 1st has traditionally been a day of festivities often associated with celebrating springtime fertility. Feasting, dancing and community gatherings were a big part of it all.

Join Melanie at the following events
One World Festival in Galloway,Scotland from May 23rd – May 31st
http://www.macrobios.com/scotland/sc_event.htm

French Meadows Summer Camp from July 11th- July 20th.
http://www.gomf.macrobiotic.net/gomfcamp/fmsc/index_ns6.html

Kushi Institute Summer Conference from July 28th-August 3rd
http://www.kushiinstitute.org/html/summer_conference.html


STARTLING FACTS LINKED TO CHEMICALS IN OUR FOOD SUPPLY

   1. We now use about 10 lbs. of pesticides per year for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

   2. Humankind is in danger of not being able to reproduce within 50 years; thereby creating the decline in population in unindustrialized nations, which would bring on an economic collapse.

   3. Some foods, such as regular peanut butter, average over 10 different pesticides in one sample.

   4. 110 out of 144 communities in Ohio have 4 or more herbicides and insecticides in every glass of water. These chemicals are not removed by water treatment such as chlorination.

   5. Endocrine interrupting pesticides can alter the sex of a child during the first 6 weeks of pregnancy. In some cases, causing a person to have traits of the opposite sex.

   6. Chemical exposure often causes more problems in children than in the parents who were exposed.

   7. A person living in Omaha and drinking city water consumes the maximum amount of atrazine (a spray used on corn fields) in only 2.6 years.

   8. Chemicals used to control mosquitoes in the 60's saved 6 million lives from malaria. However, the residue in soil and crops may last for 100 years, and the benefits may not offset the losses in the next decade.

   9. Household cleaning solvents and lawncare products are now creating health problems.

  10. Four solvents used in plastic food containers volatilize and now appear as residues in over 20% of our food.

11. If a person eats a normal amount of fresh non organic fruit from a supermarket on a daily basis, in one year they will have also consumed about one gallon of pesticides.

Source: FDA Total Diet Study, "Toxics A to Z" by Harte, et al, and www. foodnews.org

To help lessen the effects of pesticides choose organic ingredients, wash all produce, eat a varied diet, use natural cleaning products and make sure your yard is pesticide free.


‘We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.’ --Abraham Lincoln


Here are some easy ways to use leftover brown rice.

• Steaming rice in a steamer.
• Steaming rice in a steamer with diced carrots, corn and peas. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts for garnish. Other veggies and nuts can be used.
• Steaming rice in a steamer and then layering it with pieces of fried white fish.
• Steaming rice in a steamer with slices of organic shrimp.
• Sushi – using different fillings such as peanut butter and sauerkraut, tahini with umeboshi and cucumber, cucumber with avocado and shiso
• Rice balls with nori and umeboshi
• Rice balls with nori and umeboshi and then pan fried in sesame oil.
• Deep fried mini rice balls and served with grated daikon and shoyu.
• Rice balls with a dab of tahini and wrapped with a strip of shiso leaf.
• Rice balls rolled in toasted, chopped nuts or seeds
• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, shoyu and ginger
• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, vegetables, shoyu and ginger
• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, shrimp, vegetables, shoyu and ginger
• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, deep fried tofu, vegetables, shoyu and ginger
• Portuguese style rice with olive oil, garlic, chickpeas and vegetables. and seasoned with sea salt.
• Pan fried rice with olive oil, garlic, broccoli rabe and sea salt
• Miso soup with rice and vegetables
• Soft rice porridge
• Soft rice, leftover beans and vegetable porridge
• Freshly steamed rice pressed into a bread tin until cool and firm. The rice loaf can then be sliced and spread with various toppings like hummus, miso/tahini spread, peanut butter and dill pickles etc.
• Brown rice pudding with tahini, rice syrup, apple juice, chopped almonds and raisins.
  

Melanie is available for macrobiotic cooking classes, macrobiotic coaching in person, by phone or email, healing massage and feng shui consultations.
Next cooking class, Let's Get Started, is on Tuesday May 6th from 6-9pm.

Order Melanie’s latest book, ‘Eat Me Now!’ and her other books at http://www.celebrate4health.com

Testimonial for Coaching and Private Cooking

Dear Melanie,
Inviting you here was the best step we have taken by far, after starting the journey in the first place. What a breath of fresh air, and at a crucial time. Your cooking is at such a high level, and you offered much more than even that. It was important to me to meet a normal, real-world person who is Macro - a free-range one, no less! - and you have made a great difference.

Jamie Painter

_______________________________________________________
.
Telephone: 484 343 0951 – Exton, PA 19341  
Email – Melanie@...
Website - www.celebrate4health.com
_______________________________________________________
If you do not want to receive mailings from this sender or you feel you have received this message in error, please reply to this email and put, cancel subscription, in the subject line.
_________________________________________________________________
Please forward this Newsletter TO A FRIEND who might be interested in celebrating health.

Melanie Brown Waxman
www.celebrate4health.com
www.bebabywise.com
info@...
Author: The Cooklets, Bless the Baby, Yummy Yummy in my Tummy
 
    

May News from Celebrate Health with Melanie

Happy May Everyone!
May 1st is considered the first day of summer and marks the end of the chilly winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Throughout history, May 1st has traditionally been a day of festivities often associated with celebrating springtime fertility. Feasting, dancing and community gatherings were a big part of it all.

Join Melanie at the following events
One World Festival in Galloway,Scotland from May 23rd – May 31st
http://www.macrobios.com/scotland/sc_event.htm

French Meadows Summer Camp from July 11th- July 20th.
http://www.gomf.macrobiotic.net/gomfcamp/fmsc/index_ns6.html

Kushi Institute Summer Conference from July 28th-August 3rd
http://www.kushiinstitute.org/html/summer_conference.html


STARTLING FACTS LINKED TO CHEMICALS IN OUR FOOD SUPPLY

   1. We now use about 10 lbs. of pesticides per year for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

   2. Humankind is in danger of not being able to reproduce within 50 years; thereby creating the decline in population in unindustrialized nations, which would bring on an economic collapse.

   3. Some foods, such as regular peanut butter, average over 10 different pesticides in one sample.

   4. 110 out of 144 communities in Ohio have 4 or more herbicides and insecticides in every glass of water. These chemicals are not removed by water treatment such as chlorination.

   5. Endocrine interrupting pesticides can alter the sex of a child during the first 6 weeks of pregnancy. In some cases, causing a person to have traits of the opposite sex.

   6. Chemical exposure often causes more problems in children than in the parents who were exposed.

   7. A person living in Omaha and drinking city water consumes the maximum amount of atrazine (a spray used on corn fields) in only 2.6 years.

   8. Chemicals used to control mosquitoes in the 60's saved 6 million lives from malaria. However, the residue in soil and crops may last for 100 years, and the benefits may not offset the losses in the next decade.

   9. Household cleaning solvents and lawncare products are now creating health problems.

  10. Four solvents used in plastic food containers volatilize and now appear as residues in over 20% of our food.

11. If a person eats a normal amount of fresh non organic fruit from a supermarket on a daily basis, in one year they will have also consumed about one gallon of pesticides.

Source: FDA Total Diet Study, "Toxics A to Z" by Harte, et al, and www. foodnews.org

To help lessen the effects of pesticides choose organic ingredients, wash all produce, eat a varied diet, use natural cleaning products and make sure your yard is pesticide free.


‘We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.’ --Abraham Lincoln


Here are some easy ways to use leftover brown rice.

• Steaming rice in a steamer.

• Steaming rice in a steamer with diced carrots, corn and peas. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts for garnish. Other veggies and nuts can be used.

• Steaming rice in a steamer and then layering it with pieces of fried white fish.
• Steaming rice in a steamer with slices of organic shrimp.
  

• Sushi – using different fillings such as peanut butter and sauerkraut, tahini with umeboshi and cucumber, cucumber with avocado and shiso

• Rice balls with nori and umeboshi

• Rice balls with nori and umeboshi and then pan fried in sesame oil.
  

• Deep fried mini rice balls and served with grated daikon and shoyu.
  

• Rice balls with a dab of tahini and wrapped with a strip of shiso leaf.
  

• Rice balls rolled in toasted, chopped nuts or seeds

• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, shoyu and ginger

• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, vegetables, shoyu and ginger

• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, shrimp, vegetables, shoyu and ginger

• Pan fried rice with sesame oil, deep fried tofu, vegetables, shoyu and ginger

• Portuguese style rice with olive oil, garlic, chickpeas and vegetables. and seasoned with sea salt.

• Pan fried rice with olive oil, garlic, broccoli rabe and sea salt

• Miso soup with rice and vegetables

• Soft rice porridge

• Soft rice, leftover beans and vegetable porridge

• Freshly steamed rice pressed into a bread tin until cool and firm. The rice loaf can then be sliced and spread with various toppings like hummus, miso/tahini spread, peanut butter and dill pickles etc.

• Brown rice pudding with tahini, rice syrup, apple juice, chopped almonds and raisins.
  

Melanie is available for macrobiotic cooking classes, macrobiotic coaching in person, by phone or email, healing massage and feng shui consultations.
Next cooking class, Let's Get Started, is on Tuesday May 6th from 6-9pm.

Order Melanie’s latest book, ‘Eat Me Now!’ and her other books at http://www.celebrate4health.com

Testimonial for Coaching and Private Cooking

Dear Melanie,
Inviting you here was the best step we have taken by far, after starting the journey in the first place. What a breath of fresh air, and at a crucial time. Your cooking is at such a high level, and you offered much more than even that. It was important to me to meet a normal, real-world person who is Macro - a free-range one, no less! - and you have made a great difference.

Jamie Painter

_______________________________________________________
.
Telephone: 484 343 0951 – Exton, PA 19341  
Email – Melanie@...
Website - www.celebrate4health.com
_______________________________________________________
If you do not want to receive mailings from this sender or you feel you have received this message in error, please reply to this email and put, cancel subscription, in the subject line.
_________________________________________________________________
Please forward this Newsletter TO A FRIEND who might be interested in celebrating health.

Melanie Brown Waxman
www.celebrate4health.com
www.bebabywise.com
info@...
Author: The Cooklets, Bless the Baby, Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

 

Hi Simon,

Well...I suppose I am like a mushroom...you know...I am a funghi!  :D

I have a theory that it is relationships that define who we are - (it comes from being a relationship database designer).


This statement:
"we are working on a pre-biotic that we want to try selling through network marketing, mainly to people outside the macrobiotic community as we think this is a helpful addition to people's diet who do not eat sufficient fermented foods or raw vegetables"
was appropriate several years ago when Michio was actually working on it.  But it is now done and has been on the market for several years now and so is no longer appropriate.


It would be fine for me to follow your advice and not use this statement:
"Think of it as the entire macro-diet already pre-digested for you in fermented liquid format."
except for the fact that the statement is literally true!!  Fermena actually comprises of 50~60% whole cereal grains, 25~30% vegetables, etc - in other words Michio's standard macro-diet proportions.  It is also fermented for six months and is available in liquid.  Clearly, I am not saying that it replaces solid foods but the statement accurately describes the actual product and concept behind what Michio was trying to achieve.

I am sorry, but I can't wrap my head around past-based hypothetical questions and can only answer you with a "maybe" or "maybe not."  Times and attitudes do change.  I may not be any wiser or smarter but I have a lot more experience now than before.

If you think about wanting to create a really friendly and healthy environment for bacteria to flourish as quickly as possible what would you use?  Sugar, of course.  Since the introduction of white sugar and white flour in Africa infectious diseases have run rampant.  Meanwhile, developed countries have become so sterile and toxic and void of healthy bacteria.  What do they need?

I suppose I am suggesting that, excuse me for this over used cliche,  we start thinking outside the box...and really put our knowledge of yin/yang to full use.

Anyway...to be continued...

Phiya

Phiya








On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 11:39 AM, Simon G. Brown <simon@...> wrote:

 

Hi Phiya,

It is fun to be debating this with you as it leads onto other interesting issues.

I totally agree with your paragraph about turning macrobiotics into a religion and your sentiments expressed there are very dear to me. If only we had all realised that twenty or thirty years ago.................................I suppose everything has its time and place!

When I started writing and researching my book on Wabi Sabi I experienced an interesting change where the quality of my relationships with people became different. The idea of spending time with people for some kind of outcome dissolved and I found myself putting far greater emphasis on the quality of interaction. Since then I have made more time to simply be with other people including those who I normally might have working relationships with. This has been incredibly rewarding for me. It is interesting as Dragana often points out that gravestones generally talk in terms of relationships – loving father, mother, wife, husband........... So for me putting an emphasis on the outcomes and having an agenda in terms of selling, enrolling, persuading with people takes away from the quality of the experience whether it is magnets, Fermena, cooking classes or consultations.

I think some of the negative reaction to Fermena is that the claims are over stated. This is a common difficulty we all have. But if you, Michio and Ken simply said "we are working on a pre-biotic that we want to try selling through network marketing, mainly to people outside the macrobiotic community as we think this is a helpful addition to people's diet who do not eat sufficient fermented foods or raw vegetables" I cannot imagine you would get the same negative reaction. For me the problem comes with phrases like "Think of it as the entire macro-diet already pre-digested for you in fermented liquid format." This is likely to upset people and turn some of the macrobiotic community against Fermena. If you were being totally honest wouldn't you and Michio have been upset if during the 1980s or 1990s someone else was marketing a sugar based pre-biotic in the name of macrobiotics? I can remember Michio explaining to me how around 1990 he wanted to use the Kushi name with macrobiotics as he was worried that macrobiotics was being watered down and thought Kushi would give it greater distinction and protection.

Again I would like to stress that I genuinely wish you well with Fermena and I might recommend it myself to someone after a period of taking antibiotics. I think most macrobiotic teachers have other forms of income. I do shiatsu, feng shui and write books etc. I think this is healthy for all of us. At the same time just because I like to help people with feng shui it does not mean I have to bring feng shui in to my definition of macrobiotics. Similarly it would be clearer if you explained that Fermena is not 'liquid macrobiotics' but another business you do in addition to your macrobiotic work. Otherwise I think the definition of macrobiotics will become blurred and in many people's minds macrobiotics will then include all kinds of supplements even though I understand your technical distinction.

Love to hear your thoughts as always,

Simon




On 01/05/2008 03:18, "Phiya Kushi" <phiyak@...> wrote:

 

HI Simon,

Thank you for your comments,  You bring up some interesting  and important comments.  Some of it I addressed in my response to Melanie which I was writing while you were writing yours. But there are some things in your post that I would definitely like to comment on as it brings up several other things that are important to address.

First of all, while I appreciate your comments I am concerned that you would think that Fermena is a change in the future direction of macrobiotics.  I can safely say that Michio's dream (he has many), as you mentioned, has not changed.  I also can safely say that both he and I do not see a contradiction to this dream with regards to Fermena.  I also do not view Fermena as a false hope but actually supplying a specific need.  Is it a critical need? It might not be but it does make things convenient for many.  

While it may be true that people will look at Fermena as an excuse not to cook or to continue eating junk food I would say that is what people do with anything and it really has nothing to do with Fermena. People will (and have) even use brown rice as an excuse so that they can eat junk food.  That is what people do and Fermena or no Fermena is not going to change that.  I personally think the real issue stems from a mistaken belief that our aim is to eat natural whole foods to save the environment and be socially, politically and ethically correct in every which way we can possibly imagine ourselves to be.  But the problem with this is that it then becomes our own prison that we never intended.  Our true aim is not to create a perfect world where everyone eats whole natural foods but instead one of freedom and responsibility through experiencing life fully and eventually mastering one's own destiny.

I want offer some words of caution here.  It has become clear to me that many macrobiotic promoters have unintentionally turned macrobiotics into a religion.  It is subtle but it is done the moment when someone suggests that certain behaviors dictate or define whether or not someone "is" macrobiotic or not.  This includes if a person chooses to eat meat, dairy or junk food. Religion, as Karen Armstrong so brilliantly pointed is not about belief systems but is about behaviors. When macrobiotic teachers start dictating that certain behaviors determine whether someone is macrobiotic they are passing judgment on people and preaching a new religion.  I was guilty of this as well.  But macrobiotics is not a religion.  People are free to to do and behave as they please including what food choices they make.  Macrobiotics is, instead, a field of study, of exploration and self-discovery.  Macrobiotic is experiential and is about learning and growing. The true aim of macrobiotics is to set people free, not to limit and enslave them into a rigid structure and set of rules of conduct and behavior.  I make food suggestions to people only because they ask me, not because I believe that they should behave in a certain way. People are free to do as they please as long they are not harming themselves or others.  I hope that macrobiotic promoters can take a hard look at themselves and see if they are inadvertently promoting a religion or not.

I understand your concerns about network marketing.  Network marketing is not for everyone.  It is only for people who are self-motivated and are actually willing to do the work necessary to make their business successful.  Clearly the examples you provided are of people for whom network marketing was not appropriate for and I am including the callous ones that took advantage of the naive and gullible because they too were not willing to d the work necessary to make their businesses successful.  I am sure they had as much difficulty with their business as those they recruited that were stuck with large amounts of merchandise.  But for many, network marketing can provide the financial freedom they seek provided they take the time to be responsible for all their actions.

It must also be remembered that network marketing is a business that, like any business, is about making money so, of course, people in network marketing will focus their efforts on persons whom will work with them and help them become profitable.  I have been solicited many times into various opportunities by many different people. That I may never hear from them except when they are trying to sign me up is fine with me and is expected.  I have no problem with their enthusiasm and I would think less of them if they did otherwise.  That is the nature of network marketing and has no bearing on my personal friendship toward those people.  It is like any business.  If I opened a restaurant then the majority of my time would be spent on dealing with suppliers, cooks, wait staff and customers.  Whatever time I had leftover would be for family and friends.

You should know that I am not asking you (nor anyone else in this forum) to join Diamond Tree. I know it is not the kind of business that you, Simon, want to be in and I wouldn't recommend it for you.  The only reason why I was talking about this was because there was a question about Fermena and Michio that I was clarifying earlier. I could have easily been talking about any number of other ongoing projects.

But I will say this: I do know Kendall Cho and he is good to his word.  Also, Fermena is is a great and clever product that Michio developed and is already proven to be effective and beneficial. A future result of Kendall Cho's collaboration with Michio, (and myself in continuing to give lectures) is that many more people will benefit and discover macrobiotics.  I personally enjoy spending time with people in network marketing because they tend to be a very self-motivated and enthusiastic group of people that are very open to learning and experiencing many new things and have or are willing to take charge of their own destiny in every sense of the word.

Phiya







On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Simon G. Brown <simon@...> wrote:

 

Hi Phiya,

I have to say I am not comfortable with the way Fermena is being linked to macrobiotics. As people have said it is probably applicable to people who do not eat macrobiotically but at the same time is not a substitute for macrobiotic eating. Getting the correct bacteria in our intestines is only one part of good health. Fibre for example may be just as important for some people. So far in the short history of man made wonder foods none has lived up to their claims and all have later shown to have risks associated with them. Personally I do not think that Fermena or anything similar can replace the kind of natural diets we have evolved with. The problem is that if we hold out a false hope in the form of Fermena it may actually become an excuse for someone not eating macrobiotically. Unless I am missing something I cannot see how our aim has changed from eating natural whole foods to eating junk but supplementing it with Fermena. Surely this does nothing to help the environment, release land to grow food for those starving or move to a more efficient system of getting the nutrition we need. What happened to Michio's dream that we would find it easier to live in peace if we all ate similar natural foods?

I am also uncomfortable with the idea of selling through network marketing. When Bill Tara and others got involved in Nikken I looked into it carefully. The cliché that was used was that if you read a book and liked you would probably tell ten friends. They might go out and buy the book and go on to recommend it to ten of their friends. So all I would be doing is the same with magnets but get a commission on each sale, not only of the magnets I sold but also those that those my downline (people who I would have signed up to also sell the products) sold. This sounds fine so far until you read that in order to make commissions out of your downline you have to personally buy a minimum stock every month. For this reason I have know several people who enthusiastically got involved with Nikken only to find they were hundreds of pounds in debt with cupboards of magnets they could not sell. Hardly financial freedom. My observation is that if you are happy to sell to all your friends, family and contacts and if you are callous enough to let them commit to buying large quantities of product they may never sell then you can make money out of it. It is set up for the strong, assertive and powerful to make money out of the weak, naive and gullible.

I was also interested to note that people who I had been friendly with who joined the Nikken system suddenly became my best friend whilst there was the possibility I might sign up. Once I said no I never heard from them again. There is a passage in one of the network marketing books I read that basically says if you encounter someone who is negative about the product don't waste time on him or her as there will be plenty of better prospects to spend time on. For a while I played with the idea of promoting macrobiotics through network marketing but all the schemes I looked at were loaded in a way that the system was robbed of any good will and risked people in the downline over committing themselves trying to meet minimum targets.

I wish you, Ken and Michio well with Fermena. I am sure it is a lot better than many products and you have obviously thought it through carefully. I would be the first to congratulate you if it makes a lot of money and brings you the success you all deserve. At the same time I would urge you not to sell it in the name of macrobiotics. There is already a strong resistance to it among macrobiotic teachers and the wider community. It risks being divisive to the community at a time when we are becoming much closer whilst confusing our message to the world at large.

Love,

Simon





On 30/04/2008 20:06, "Phiya Kushi" <phiyak@...> wrote:

 

Peter found my lengthy post!!!  Thanks Peter!  Here it is:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings Posters,

I am happy to resolve questions as best as I can concerning Fermena
and the development of products and other efforts of my father over
the many years of macrobiotic history.

I wish to clarify that Michio (with Aveline) has been involved in many
businesses over the years in order to promote macrobiotics ideas.
These have ranged from creating some of the first macrobiotic
restaurants in New York and Boston to starting, Erewhon, the first
Natural Foods business in North America, to the East West Journal and,
of course, to the Kushi Institute and it's predecessor, the East West
Foundation.

Michio has also been involved in hand-picking many of the traditional
Japanese foods items that is sold through Mitoku, including most of
the fermented foods.  He was involved in setting-up American Miso
Company as well helping many of his students start their own businesses.

Over the years there have been many opportunities for Michio and
Aveline to expand and popularize their efforts but turned them down as
they did not want to compromise on the quality and message of their
efforts.  This concern in quality has not always served Michio's
financial interests and, from a business perspective, has hampered growth.

Fermena is a specific product that Michio personally designed himself.
  The basic idea is that the 50+ ingredients more or less represents
the standard macrobiotic diet combined to together and fermented for
six months in Brazil where the temperature remains steady and is ideal
for the fermentation process.  Fermena is pre-biotic and is designed
to nourish the beneficial bacteria of our intestinal flora.  There is
confusion about the ingredients because Fermena contains tropical
plants and unrefined sugar cane.  The unrefined sugar cane is added to
accelerate the fermentation process and any "negative" effects of any
tropical plants naturally disappear as a result of the fermentation
process.  While proportionately the majority of the ingredients (as in
the standard macrobiotic diet) are grains, beans and vegetables, the
more exotic plants and herbs add additional variety that enhances its
pre-biotic function.

People may also be concerned that Fermena seems to be contrary to the
idea to promote local agriculture. The way that I look at this issue
is as follows.  Foods are fine to eat if you can travel with them by
foot and without refrigeration and still be edible.  In this way dry
goods such as grains and beans and so on can be eaten anywhere in the
world where as fresh produce will only stay edible within a limited
range from where they were grown.  One can extend this distance by
drying or fermenting foods and, with fermenting, the foods actually
become better over time.  Fresh meat and dairy products, on the other
hand, must be eaten relatively quickly before they spoil, or they must
be treated somehow with salt or other natural pickling method.  In
either case foods that are naturally fermented can be eaten over long
distances and over many years and often become better as they age.

Fermena is the only food supplement that Michio has invented and will
probably be the only one that he ever will.  In this day and age, with
the pervasiveness of anti-biotics, refrigeration, high-speed
transport, and lack of quality fermented products Michio felt that
this product could be beneficial to everyone including those who not
change their diet at all.  Also, for persons whom relied heavily on
diary (mostly fermented foods) and then suddenly cut-them out and not
replace them with any quality fermented foods, they often have
difficulty in maintaining a dairy-free regime.  Fermena is an ideal
transitional supplement while persons add home made pickles, misos,
and other fermented products to their diet.  (Fermena actually is more like food than it is a supplement)

The Fermena product is being sold in North America by a network
marketing company called Diamond Tree.  (It is sold in Japan by the
company that makes it called "Anew" also in a network marketing
format).  Diamond Tree recently opened and is founded by Kendall Cho
and his wife Bo.  Kendall Cho was the former CEO of Nikken and during
his time with them he turned it into the billion dollar company that
it is today.  Many macrobiotic promoters became Nikken distributors
including William Tara whom often promoted it a macrobiotic functions.

Several years ago Michio and I met with Nikken as part of an effort to
help develop products for them.  We became very good friends with
Kendall and he and his wife came and studied at the Kushi Institute.
It changed his life and he has since become and avid fan and promoter
of macrobiotics and seeks to combine his expertise in network
marketing business to introduce macrobiotics to the masses.

Two years ago Kendall left Nikken and created his own company, Diamond
Tree which had it's grand opening this past weekend.  Before opening
his new company Kendall asked Michio for product ideas and Michio told
him about Fermena, which had been previously developed and sold with
great success in Japan.  The effects of Fermena has been nothing less
than astonishing for many suffering from a variety of chronic
ailments. What is even more amazing is that most of the people did not
change their diets.

Diamond Tree has been operating for a about year now and Fermena is
their main product.  Again, the results have been astounding with many
regaining their intestinal health in a matter of days after many years
of suffering.

I volunteer my time for Diamond Tree and have given several talks by
conference call and in person, introducing many to the full scope of
macrobiotics.  I was invited by Kendall to give a talk on "Your Face
Never Lies"  to the over 400 participants at the Grand Opening event
for Diamond Tree. Most were mainstream professionals seeking to
supplement their income and were not specifically thinking about
changing their diets.  After being exposed to macrobiotics through
Fermena and hearing me speak they are all now interested in learning
more about macrobiotics, changing their diets and incorporating the
full principles into their life.

Kendall is a man of financial integrity and is committed to spreading
macrobiotics in the way that he best knows how.  Network marketing is
as much about helping people gain financial freedom and independent
wealth as it is about the products.  While products sold in a direct
sales format may initially seem expensive, it is priced in that way to
distribute the wealth to as many people as possible.  If you seek
financial independence and wealth and like to bring macrobiotics to
the mainstream then, with Diamond Tree, Kendall Cho has created one
the best ways to do this.

If you are interested in learning more about Diamond Tree or Fermena
please feel free to contact me. Kendall has created a tremendous
opportunity for many and has the support and endorsement of many
besides my father, Michio Kushi.  (www.diamondtreeglobal.com <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com>  <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com>  <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com/> )

Many Thanks,
Phiya Kushi





 
    
 
    

 
    
 

   

 
    

Hello Phiya,

Great to see you involved with Simon's group.  I'm enjoying the
discussions.

One question: Once someone whose digestion has been impaired STOPS
taking Fermena and continues with their regular diet, do you think
they will stay well or will they revert back to similar health issues?
In other words, while it seems to help in the short term, do you
really think it's effective over the long term or does that person
have to continually consume it?

Aloha, Leslie (in Hawaii)

--- In moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com, "Phiya Kushi"
<phiyak@...> wrote:
>
> Peter found my lengthy post!!!  Thanks Peter!  Here it is:
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
----
> Greetings Posters,
>
> I am happy to resolve questions as best as I can concerning Fermena
> and the development of products and other efforts of my father over
> the many years of macrobiotic history.
>
> I wish to clarify that Michio (with Aveline) has been involved in
many
> businesses over the years in order to promote macrobiotics ideas.
> These have ranged from creating some of the first macrobiotic
> restaurants in New York and Boston to starting, Erewhon, the first
> Natural Foods business in North America, to the East West Journal
and,
> of course, to the Kushi Institute and it's predecessor, the East
West
> Foundation.
>
> Michio has also been involved in hand-picking many of the
traditional
> Japanese foods items that is sold through Mitoku, including most of
> the fermented foods.  He was involved in setting-up American Miso
> Company as well helping many of his students start their own
businesses.
>
> Over the years there have been many opportunities for Michio and
> Aveline to expand and popularize their efforts but turned them down
as
> they did not want to compromise on the quality and message of their
> efforts.  This concern in quality has not always served Michio's
> financial interests and, from a business perspective, has hampered
growth.
>
> Fermena is a specific product that Michio personally designed
himself.
>  The basic idea is that the 50+ ingredients more or less represents
> the standard macrobiotic diet combined to together and fermented for
> six months in Brazil where the temperature remains steady and is
ideal
> for the fermentation process.  Fermena is pre-biotic and is designed
> to nourish the beneficial bacteria of our intestinal flora.  There
is
> confusion about the ingredients because Fermena contains tropical
> plants and unrefined sugar cane.  The unrefined sugar cane is added
to
> accelerate the fermentation process and any "negative" effects of
any
> tropical plants naturally disappear as a result of the fermentation
> process.  While proportionately the majority of the ingredients (as
in
> the standard macrobiotic diet) are grains, beans and vegetables, the
> more exotic plants and herbs add additional variety that enhances
its
> pre-biotic function.
>
> People may also be concerned that Fermena seems to be contrary to
the
> idea to promote local agriculture. The way that I look at this issue
> is as follows.  Foods are fine to eat if you can travel with them by
> foot and without refrigeration and still be edible.  In this way dry
> goods such as grains and beans and so on can be eaten anywhere in
the
> world where as fresh produce will only stay edible within a limited
> range from where they were grown.  One can extend this distance by
> drying or fermenting foods and, with fermenting, the foods actually
> become better over time.  Fresh meat and dairy products, on the
other
> hand, must be eaten relatively quickly before they spoil, or they
must
> be treated somehow with salt or other natural pickling method.  In
> either case foods that are naturally fermented can be eaten over
long
> distances and over many years and often become better as they age.
>
> Fermena is the only food supplement that Michio has invented and
will
> probably be the only one that he ever will.  In this day and age,
with
> the pervasiveness of anti-biotics, refrigeration, high-speed
> transport, and lack of quality fermented products Michio felt that
> this product could be beneficial to everyone including those who not
> change their diet at all.  Also, for persons whom relied heavily on
> diary (mostly fermented foods) and then suddenly cut-them out and
not
> replace them with any quality fermented foods, they often have
> difficulty in maintaining a dairy-free regime.  Fermena is an ideal
> transitional supplement while persons add home made pickles, misos,
> and other fermented products to their diet.  (Fermena actually is
more like
> food than it is a supplement)
>
> The Fermena product is being sold in North America by a network
> marketing company called Diamond Tree.  (It is sold in Japan by the
> company that makes it called "Anew" also in a network marketing
> format).  Diamond Tree recently opened and is founded by Kendall Cho
> and his wife Bo.  Kendall Cho was the former CEO of Nikken and
during
> his time with them he turned it into the billion dollar company that
> it is today.  Many macrobiotic promoters became Nikken distributors
> including William Tara whom often promoted it a macrobiotic
functions.
>
> Several years ago Michio and I met with Nikken as part of an effort
to
> help develop products for them.  We became very good friends with
> Kendall and he and his wife came and studied at the Kushi Institute.
> It changed his life and he has since become and avid fan and
promoter
> of macrobiotics and seeks to combine his expertise in network
> marketing business to introduce macrobiotics to the masses.
>
> Two years ago Kendall left Nikken and created his own company,
Diamond
> Tree which had it's grand opening this past weekend.  Before opening
> his new company Kendall asked Michio for product ideas and Michio
told
> him about Fermena, which had been previously developed and sold with
> great success in Japan.  The effects of Fermena has been nothing
less
> than astonishing for many suffering from a variety of chronic
> ailments. What is even more amazing is that most of the people did
not
> change their diets.
>
> Diamond Tree has been operating for a about year now and Fermena is
> their main product.  Again, the results have been astounding with
many
> regaining their intestinal health in a matter of days after many
years
> of suffering.
>
> I volunteer my time for Diamond Tree and have given several talks by
> conference call and in person, introducing many to the full scope of
> macrobiotics.  I was invited by Kendall to give a talk on "Your Face
> Never Lies"  to the over 400 participants at the Grand Opening event
> for Diamond Tree. Most were mainstream professionals seeking to
> supplement their income and were not specifically thinking about
> changing their diets.  After being exposed to macrobiotics through
> Fermena and hearing me speak they are all now interested in learning
> more about macrobiotics, changing their diets and incorporating the
> full principles into their life.
>
> Kendall is a man of financial integrity and is committed to
spreading
> macrobiotics in the way that he best knows how.  Network marketing
is
> as much about helping people gain financial freedom and independent
> wealth as it is about the products.  While products sold in a direct
> sales format may initially seem expensive, it is priced in that way
to
> distribute the wealth to as many people as possible.  If you seek
> financial independence and wealth and like to bring macrobiotics to
> the mainstream then, with Diamond Tree, Kendall Cho has created one
> the best ways to do this.
>
> If you are interested in learning more about Diamond Tree or Fermena
> please feel free to contact me. Kendall has created a tremendous
> opportunity for many and has the support and endorsement of many
> besides my father, Michio Kushi.  (www.diamondtreeglobal.com)
>
> Many Thanks,
> Phiya Kushi
>

-----Original Message-----
From: Phiya Kushi
Sent: May 1, 2008 4:09 PM
To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Hi Simon,

Well...I suppose I am like a mushroom...you know...I am a funghi!  :D

I have a theory that it is relationships that define who we are - (it comes from being a relationship database designer).


This statement:
"we are working on a pre-biotic that we want to try selling through network marketing, mainly to people outside the macrobiotic community as we think this is a helpful addition to people's diet who do not eat sufficient fermented foods or raw vegetables"
was appropriate several years ago when Michio was actually working on it.  But it is now done and has been on the market for several years now and so is no longer appropriate.


It would be fine for me to follow your advice and not use this statement:
"Think of it as the entire macro-diet already pre-digested for you in fermented liquid format."
except for the fact that the statement is literally true!!  Fermena actually comprises of 50~60% whole cereal grains, 25~30% vegetables, etc - in other words Michio's standard macro-diet proportions.  It is also fermented for six months and is available in liquid.  Clearly, I am not saying that it replaces solid foods but the statement accurately describes the actual product and concept behind what Michio was trying to achieve.

I am sorry, but I can't wrap my head around past-based hypothetical questions and can only answer you with a "maybe" or "maybe not."  Times and attitudes do change.  I may not be any wiser or smarter but I have a lot more experience now than before.

If you think about wanting to create a really friendly and healthy environment for bacteria to flourish as quickly as possible what would you use?  Sugar, of course.  Since the introduction of white sugar and white flour in Africa infectious diseases have run rampant.  Meanwhile, developed countries have become so sterile and toxic and void of healthy bacteria.  What do they need?

I suppose I am suggesting that, excuse me for this over used cliche,  we start thinking outside the box...and really put our knowledge of yin/yang to full use.

Anyway...to be continued...

Phiya

Phiya

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 11:39 AM, Simon G. Brown <simon@chienergy.co.uk> wrote:

Hi Phiya,

It is fun to be debating this with you as it leads onto other interesting issues.

I totally agree with your paragraph about turning macrobiotics into a religion and your sentiments expressed there are very dear to me. If only we had all realised that twenty or thirty years ago.................................I suppose everything has its time and place!

When I started writing and researching my book on Wabi Sabi I experienced an interesting change where the quality of my relationships with people became different. The idea of spending time with people for some kind of outcome dissolved and I found myself putting far greater emphasis on the quality of interaction. Since then I have made more time to simply be with other people including those who I normally might have working relationships with. This has been incredibly rewarding for me. It is interesting as Dragana often points out that gravestones generally talk in terms of relationships – loving father, mother, wife, husband........... So for me putting an emphasis on the outcomes and having an agenda in terms of selling, enrolling, persuading with people takes away from the quality of the experience whether it is magnets, Fermena, cooking classes or consultations.

I think some of the negative reaction to Fermena is that the claims are over stated. This is a common difficulty we all have. But if you, Michio and Ken simply said "we are working on a pre-biotic that we want to try selling through network marketing, mainly to people outside the macrobiotic community as we think this is a helpful addition to people's diet who do not eat sufficient fermented foods or raw vegetables" I cannot imagine you would get the same negative reaction. For me the problem comes with phrases like "Think of it as the entire macro-diet already pre-digested for you in fermented liquid format." This is likely to upset people and turn some of the macrobiotic community against Fermena. If you were being totally honest wouldn't you and Michio have been upset if during the 1980s or 1990s someone else was marketing a sugar based pre-biotic in the name of macrobiotics? I can remember Michio explaining to me how around 1990 he wanted to use the Kushi name with macrobiotics as he was worried that macrobiotics was being watered down and thought Kushi would give it greater distinction and protection.

Again I would like to stress that I genuinely wish you well with Fermena and I might recommend it myself to someone after a period of taking antibiotics. I think most macrobiotic teachers have other forms of income. I do shiatsu, feng shui and write books etc. I think this is healthy for all of us. At the same time just because I like to help people with feng shui it does not mean I have to bring feng shui in to my definition of macrobiotics. Similarly it would be clearer if you explained that Fermena is not 'liquid macrobiotics' but another business you do in addition to your macrobiotic work. Otherwise I think the definition of macrobiotics will become blurred and in many people's minds macrobiotics will then include all kinds of supplements even though I understand your technical distinction.

Love to hear your thoughts as always,

Simon

On 01/05/2008 03:18, "Phiya Kushi" <phiyak@gmail.com> wrote:

 

HI Simon,

Thank you for your comments,  You bring up some interesting  and important comments.  Some of it I addressed in my response to Melanie which I was writing while you were writing yours. But there are some things in your post that I would definitely like to comment on as it brings up several other things that are important to address.

First of all, while I appreciate your comments I am concerned that you would think that Fermena is a change in the future direction of macrobiotics.  I can safely say that Michio's dream (he has many), as you mentioned, has not changed.  I also can safely say that both he and I do not see a contradiction to this dream with regards to Fermena.  I also do not view Fermena as a false hope but actually supplying a specific need.  Is it a critical need? It might not be but it does make things convenient for many.  

While it may be true that people will look at Fermena as an excuse not to cook or to continue eating junk food I would say that is what people do with anything and it really has nothing to do with Fermena. People will (and have) even use brown rice as an excuse so that they can eat junk food.  That is what people do and Fermena or no Fermena is not going to change that.  I personally think the real issue stems from a mistaken belief that our aim is to eat natural whole foods to save the environment and be socially, politically and ethically correct in every which way we can possibly imagine ourselves to be.  But the problem with this is that it then becomes our own prison that we never intended.  Our true aim is not to create a perfect world where everyone eats whole natural foods but instead one of freedom and responsibility through experiencing life fully and eventually mastering one's own destiny.

I want offer some words of caution here.  It has become clear to me that many macrobiotic promoters have unintentionally turned macrobiotics into a religion.  It is subtle but it is done the moment when someone suggests that certain behaviors dictate or define whether or not someone "is" macrobiotic or not.  This includes if a person chooses to eat meat, dairy or junk food. Religion, as Karen Armstrong so brilliantly pointed is not about belief systems but is about behaviors. When macrobiotic teachers start dictating that certain behaviors determine whether someone is macrobiotic they are passing judgment on people and preaching a new religion.  I was guilty of this as well.  But macrobiotics is not a religion.  People are free to to do and behave as they please including what food choices they make.  Macrobiotics is, instead, a field of study, of exploration and self-discovery.  Macrobiotic is experiential and is about learning and growing. The true aim of macrobiotics is to set people free, not to limit and enslave them into a rigid structure and set of rules of conduct and behavior.  I make food suggestions to people only because they ask me, not because I believe that they should behave in a certain way. People are free to do as they please as long they are not harming themselves or others.  I hope that macrobiotic promoters can take a hard look at themselves and see if they are inadvertently promoting a religion or not.

I understand your concerns about network marketing.  Network marketing is not for everyone.  It is only for people who are self-motivated and are actually willing to do the work necessary to make their business successful.  Clearly the examples you provided are of people for whom network marketing was not appropriate for and I am including the callous ones that took advantage of the naive and gullible because they too were not willing to d the work necessary to make their businesses successful.  I am sure they had as much difficulty with their business as those they recruited that were stuck with large amounts of merchandise.  But for many, network marketing can provide the financial freedom they seek provided they take the time to be responsible for all their actions.

It must also be remembered that network marketing is a business that, like any business, is about making money so, of course, people in network marketing will focus their efforts on persons whom will work with them and help them become profitable.  I have been solicited many times into various opportunities by many different people. That I may never hear from them except when they are trying to sign me up is fine with me and is expected.  I have no problem with their enthusiasm and I would think less of them if they did otherwise.  That is the nature of network marketing and has no bearing on my personal friendship toward those people.  It is like any business.  If I opened a restaurant then the majority of my time would be spent on dealing with suppliers, cooks, wait staff and customers.  Whatever time I had leftover would be for family and friends.

You should know that I am not asking you (nor anyone else in this forum) to join Diamond Tree. I know it is not the kind of business that you, Simon, want to be in and I wouldn't recommend it for you.  The only reason why I was talking about this was because there was a question about Fermena and Michio that I was clarifying earlier. I could have easily been talking about any number of other ongoing projects.

But I will say this: I do know Kendall Cho and he is good to his word.  Also, Fermena is is a great and clever product that Michio developed and is already proven to be effective and beneficial. A future result of Kendall Cho's collaboration with Michio, (and myself in continuing to give lectures) is that many more people will benefit and discover macrobiotics.  I personally enjoy spending time with people in network marketing because they tend to be a very self-motivated and enthusiastic group of people that are very open to learning and experiencing many new things and have or are willing to take charge of their own destiny in every sense of the word.

Phiya







On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Simon G. Brown <simon@chienergy.co.uk> wrote:

 

Hi Phiya,

I have to say I am not comfortable with the way Fermena is being linked to macrobiotics. As people have said it is probably applicable to people who do not eat macrobiotically but at the same time is not a substitute for macrobiotic eating. Getting the correct bacteria in our intestines is only one part of good health. Fibre for example may be just as important for some people. So far in the short history of man made wonder foods none has lived up to their claims and all have later shown to have risks associated with them. Personally I do not think that Fermena or anything similar can replace the kind of natural diets we have evolved with. The problem is that if we hold out a false hope in the form of Fermena it may actually become an excuse for someone not eating macrobiotically. Unless I am missing something I cannot see how our aim has changed from eating natural whole foods to eating junk but supplementing it with Fermena. Surely this does nothing to help the environment, release land to grow food for those starving or move to a more efficient system of getting the nutrition we need. What happened to Michio's dream that we would find it easier to live in peace if we all ate similar natural foods?

I am also uncomfortable with the idea of selling through network marketing. When Bill Tara and others got involved in Nikken I looked into it carefully. The cliché that was used was that if you read a book and liked you would probably tell ten friends. They might go out and buy the book and go on to recommend it to ten of their friends. So all I would be doing is the same with magnets but get a commission on each sale, not only of the magnets I sold but also those that those my downline (people who I would have signed up to also sell the products) sold. This sounds fine so far until you read that in order to make commissions out of your downline you have to personally buy a minimum stock every month. For this reason I have know several people who enthusiastically got involved with Nikken only to find they were hundreds of pounds in debt with cupboards of magnets they could not sell. Hardly financial freedom. My observation is that if you are happy to sell to all your friends, family and contacts and if you are callous enough to let them commit to buying large quantities of product they may never sell then you can make money out of it. It is set up for the strong, assertive and powerful to make money out of the weak, naive and gullible.

I was also interested to note that people who I had been friendly with who joined the Nikken system suddenly became my best friend whilst there was the possibility I might sign up. Once I said no I never heard from them again. There is a passage in one of the network marketing books I read that basically says if you encounter someone who is negative about the product don't waste time on him or her as there will be plenty of better prospects to spend time on. For a while I played with the idea of promoting macrobiotics through network marketing but all the schemes I looked at were loaded in a way that the system was robbed of any good will and risked people in the downline over committing themselves trying to meet minimum targets.

I wish you, Ken and Michio well with Fermena. I am sure it is a lot better than many products and you have obviously thought it through carefully. I would be the first to congratulate you if it makes a lot of money and brings you the success you all deserve. At the same time I would urge you not to sell it in the name of macrobiotics. There is already a strong resistance to it among macrobiotic teachers and the wider community. It risks being divisive to the community at a time when we are becoming much closer whilst confusing our message to the world at large.

Love,

Simon





On 30/04/2008 20:06, "Phiya Kushi" <phiyak@gmail.com> wrote:

 

Peter found my lengthy post!!!  Thanks Peter!  Here it is:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings Posters,

I am happy to resolve questions as best as I can concerning Fermena
and the development of products and other efforts of my father over
the many years of macrobiotic history.

I wish to clarify that Michio (with Aveline) has been involved in many
businesses over the years in order to promote macrobiotics ideas.
These have ranged from creating some of the first macrobiotic
restaurants in New York and Boston to starting, Erewhon, the first
Natural Foods business in North America, to the East West Journal and,
of course, to the Kushi Institute and it's predecessor, the East West
Foundation.

Michio has also been involved in hand-picking many of the traditional
Japanese foods items that is sold through Mitoku, including most of
the fermented foods.  He was involved in setting-up American Miso
Company as well helping many of his students start their own businesses.

Over the years there have been many opportunities for Michio and
Aveline to expand and popularize their efforts but turned them down as
they did not want to compromise on the quality and message of their
efforts.  This concern in quality has not always served Michio's
financial interests and, from a business perspective, has hampered growth.

Fermena is a specific product that Michio personally designed himself.
  The basic idea is that the 50+ ingredients more or less represents
the standard macrobiotic diet combined to together and fermented for
six months in Brazil where the temperature remains steady and is ideal
for the fermentation process.  Fermena is pre-biotic and is designed
to nourish the beneficial bacteria of our intestinal flora.  There is
confusion about the ingredients because Fermena contains tropical
plants and unrefined sugar cane.  The unrefined sugar cane is added to
accelerate the fermentation process and any "negative" effects of any
tropical plants naturally disappear as a result of the fermentation
process.  While proportionately the majority of the ingredients (as in
the standard macrobiotic diet) are grains, beans and vegetables, the
more exotic plants and herbs add additional variety that enhances its
pre-biotic function.

People may also be concerned that Fermena seems to be contrary to the
idea to promote local agriculture. The way that I look at this issue
is as follows.  Foods are fine to eat if you can travel with them by
foot and without refrigeration and still be edible.  In this way dry
goods such as grains and beans and so on can be eaten anywhere in the
world where as fresh produce will only stay edible within a limited
range from where they were grown.  One can extend this distance by
drying or fermenting foods and, with fermenting, the foods actually
become better over time.  Fresh meat and dairy products, on the other
hand, must be eaten relatively quickly before they spoil, or they must
be treated somehow with salt or other natural pickling method.  In
either case foods that are naturally fermented can be eaten over long
distances and over many years and often become better as they age.

Fermena is the only food supplement that Michio has invented and will
probably be the only one that he ever will.  In this day and age, with
the pervasiveness of anti-biotics, refrigeration, high-speed
transport, and lack of quality fermented products Michio felt that
this product could be beneficial to everyone including those who not
change their diet at all.  Also, for persons whom relied heavily on
diary (mostly fermented foods) and then suddenly cut-them out and not
replace them with any quality fermented foods, they often have
difficulty in maintaining a dairy-free regime.  Fermena is an ideal
transitional supplement while persons add home made pickles, misos,
and other fermented products to their diet.  (Fermena actually is more like food than it is a supplement)

The Fermena product is being sold in North America by a network
marketing company called Diamond Tree.  (It is sold in Japan by the
company that makes it called "Anew" also in a network marketing
format).  Diamond Tree recently opened and is founded by Kendall Cho
and his wife Bo.  Kendall Cho was the former CEO of Nikken and during
his time with them he turned it into the billion dollar company that
it is today.  Many macrobiotic promoters became Nikken distributors
including William Tara whom often promoted it a macrobiotic functions.

Several years ago Michio and I met with Nikken as part of an effort to
help develop products for them.  We became very good friends with
Kendall and he and his wife came and studied at the Kushi Institute.
It changed his life and he has since become and avid fan and promoter
of macrobiotics and seeks to combine his expertise in network
marketing business to introduce macrobiotics to the masses.

Two years ago Kendall left Nikken and created his own company, Diamond
Tree which had it's grand opening this past weekend.  Before opening
his new company Kendall asked Michio for product ideas and Michio told
him about Fermena, which had been previously developed and sold with
great success in Japan.  The effects of Fermena has been nothing less
than astonishing for many suffering from a variety of chronic
ailments. What is even more amazing is that most of the people did not
change their diets.

Diamond Tree has been operating for a about year now and Fermena is
their main product.  Again, the results have been astounding with many
regaining their intestinal health in a matter of days after many years
of suffering.

I volunteer my time for Diamond Tree and have given several talks by
conference call and in person, introducing many to the full scope of
macrobiotics.  I was invited by Kendall to give a talk on "Your Face
Never Lies"  to the over 400 participants at the Grand Opening event
for Diamond Tree. Most were mainstream professionals seeking to
supplement their income and were not specifically thinking about
changing their diets.  After being exposed to macrobiotics through
Fermena and hearing me speak they are all now interested in learning
more about macrobiotics, changing their diets and incorporating the
full principles into their life.

Kendall is a man of financial integrity and is committed to spreading
macrobiotics in the way that he best knows how.  Network marketing is
as much about helping people gain financial freedom and independent
wealth as it is about the products.  While products sold in a direct
sales format may initially seem expensive, it is priced in that way to
distribute the wealth to as many people as possible.  If you seek
financial independence and wealth and like to bring macrobiotics to
the mainstream then, with Diamond Tree, Kendall Cho has created one
the best ways to do this.

If you are interested in learning more about Diamond Tree or Fermena
please feel free to contact me. Kendall has created a tremendous
opportunity for many and has the support and endorsement of many

besides my father, Michio Kushi.  (www.diamondtreeglobal.com <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com>  <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com/> )

Many Thanks,
Phiya Kushi





 
    
 
    

 

   

Melanie Brown Waxman
www.celebrate4health.com
www.bebabywise.com
info@...
Author: The Cooklets, Bless the Baby, Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

----- Original Message -----

From: Bruce Paine

To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 1:15 PM

Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Chad,

If you want to know about all of the practices that might have shortened George Ohsawa's life, then read Macrobiotics: Yesterday and Today: by Ronald E. Kotzsch, Ph.D.

The book has 125 pages devoted to Ohsawa's life and you will find that in his short time he lived a very full one.

Quality versus quantity!

Thank you, very much.

Be well, be your best, and be blessed!

Bruce Paine


Chad Henry wrote:

I wonder if these practices could have shortened Ohsawa's life?  He died at a fairly early age for such a health promoter.

 Chad

To: moderndaymacrobioti cs@yahoogroups. com
From: simon@chienergy. co.uk
Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 14:43:04 +0100
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiot ics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Yes me too Klara,

Simon


On 01/05/2008 09:11, "Klara LeVine" <klara_levine@ yahoo.com> wrote:

 

I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out - what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but picturing that scene did make me smile)
  
Klara
  


Phiya Kushi <phiyak@gmail. com> wrote:
  

  
Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

  
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now. <http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ evt=51733/ *http://mobile. yahoo.com/ ;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR 8HDtDypao8Wcj9tA cJ >
 
    

 

Hello Simon,

Let me make a short answer to your two points below.

First, no one is suggesting that we replace macrobiotic eating with
Fermena. You might want to take it occassionally, but unless you are
travelling, most in this group probably don't need it on a regular
basis. However, the majority of mankind desparately needs this
product because they aren't likely to make any major changes to their
diet - and Fermena will benefit them tremendously (along with the
many other equally effective natural health products that Diamond
Tree offers).

Second, there is no requirement to participate in the Diamond Tree
business in order to purchase the products. If one trys the products
and decides to order them on a regular basis, then becoming a
distributor just to purchase the products at the wholesale price is
perfectly acceptable. It will cost you a one time fee of $35. No
other participation in the company is required.

If however, you wish to share these products with people you know and
love, then you are free to do that and also earn some income for
doing so.

There are many horror stories of people involved in MLM's and losing
there shirt. Most of the stories are the result of people buying
products that they don't need and are then stuck with. This does not
happen at Diamond Tree. There are no quotas or high pressure tactics.
In fact, this company is one of the nicest, low-keyed operations I've
ever had the privilege to be associated with.

All Diamond Tree ordering is done online, so you just purchase what
you need or want. There really is no way to lose money in this
company - and there are many ways to earn money.

Lastly, why not look at Fermena as a way to introduce people to a
whole new way of thinking that will eventually lead them to
macrobiotics and healthy living?

Thanks for your input.

Ken
http://www.ocproactivehealth.com/fermena.htm

--- In moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com <mailto:moderndaymacrobiotics%40yahoogroups.com> , "Simon G. Brown"
<simon@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Phiya,
>
> I have to say I am not comfortable with the way Fermena is being
linked to
> macrobiotics. As people have said it is probably applicable to
people who do
> not eat macrobiotically but at the same time is not a substitute for
> macrobiotic eating. Getting the correct bacteria in our intestines
is only
> one part of good health. Fibre for example may be just as important
for some
> people. So far in the short history of man made wonder foods none
has lived
> up to their claims and all have later shown to have risks
associated with
> them. Personally I do not think that Fermena or anything similar
can replace
> the kind of natural diets we have evolved with. The problem is that
if we
> hold out a false hope in the form of Fermena it may actually become
an
> excuse for someone not eating macrobiotically. Unless I am missing
something
> I cannot see how our aim has changed from eating natural whole
foods to
> eating junk but supplementing it with Fermena. Surely this does
nothing to
> help the environment, release land to grow food for those starving
or move
> to a more efficient system of getting the nutrition we need. What
happened
> to Michio’s dream that we would find it easier to live in peace if
we all
> ate similar natural foods?
>
> I am also uncomfortable with the idea of selling through network
marketing.
> When Bill Tara and others got involved in Nikken I looked into it
carefully.
> The cliché that was used was that if you read a book and liked you
would
> probably tell ten friends. They might go out and buy the book and
go on to
> recommend it to ten of their friends. So all I would be doing is
the same
> with magnets but get a commission on each sale, not only of the
magnets I
> sold but also those that those my downline (people who I would have
signed
> up to also sell the products) sold. This sounds fine so far until
you read
> that in order to make commissions out of your downline you have to
> personally buy a minimum stock every month. For this reason I have
know
> several people who enthusiastically got involved with Nikken only
to find
> they were hundreds of pounds in debt with cupboards of magnets they
could
> not sell. Hardly financial freedom. My observation is that if you
are happy
> to sell to all your friends, family and contacts and if you are
callous
> enough to let them commit to buying large quantities of product
they may
> never sell then you can make money out of it. It is set up for the
strong,
> assertive and powerful to make money out of the weak, naive and
gullible.
>
> I was also interested to note that people who I had been friendly
with who
> joined the Nikken system suddenly became my best friend whilst
there was the
> possibility I might sign up. Once I said no I never heard from them
again.
> There is a passage in one of the network marketing books I read that
> basically says if you encounter someone who is negative about the
product
> don’t waste time on him or her as there will be plenty of better
prospects
> to spend time on. For a while I played with the idea of promoting
> macrobiotics through network marketing but all the schemes I looked
at were
> loaded in a way that the system was robbed of any good will and
risked
> people in the downline over committing themselves trying to meet
minimum
> targets.
>
> I wish you, Ken and Michio well with Fermena. I am sure it is a lot
better
> than many products and you have obviously thought it through
carefully. I
> would be the first to congratulate you if it makes a lot of money
and brings
> you the success you all deserve. At the same time I would urge you
not to
> sell it in the name of macrobiotics. There is already a strong
resistance to
> it among macrobiotic teachers and the wider community. It risks
being
> divisive to the community at a time when we are becoming much
closer whilst
> confusing our message to the world at large.
>
> Love,
>
> Simon
>
>
>
>
> On 30/04/2008 20:06, "Phiya Kushi" <phiyak@...> wrote:
>
> >  
> >  
> >
> > Peter found my lengthy post!!!  Thanks Peter!  Here it is:
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------
------
> > Greetings Posters,
> >
> > I am happy to resolve questions as best as I can concerning
Fermena
> > and the development of products and other efforts of my father
over
> > the many years of macrobiotic history.
> >
> > I wish to clarify that Michio (with Aveline) has been involved in
many
> > businesses over the years in order to promote macrobiotics ideas.
> > These have ranged from creating some of the first macrobiotic
> > restaurants in New York and Boston to starting, Erewhon, the first
> > Natural Foods business in North America, to the East West Journal
and,
> > of course, to the Kushi Institute and it's predecessor, the East
West
> > Foundation.
> >
> > Michio has also been involved in hand-picking many of the
traditional
> > Japanese foods items that is sold through Mitoku, including most
of
> > the fermented foods.  He was involved in setting-up American Miso
> > Company as well helping many of his students start their own
businesses.
> >
> > Over the years there have been many opportunities for Michio and
> > Aveline to expand and popularize their efforts but turned them
down as
> > they did not want to compromise on the quality and message of
their
> > efforts.  This concern in quality has not always served Michio's
> > financial interests and, from a business perspective, has
hampered growth.
> >
> > Fermena is a specific product that Michio personally designed
himself.
> >   The basic idea is that the 50+ ingredients more or less
represents
> > the standard macrobiotic diet combined to together and fermented
for
> > six months in Brazil where the temperature remains steady and is
ideal
> > for the fermentation process.  Fermena is pre-biotic and is
designed
> > to nourish the beneficial bacteria of our intestinal flora.  
There is
> > confusion about the ingredients because Fermena contains tropical
> > plants and unrefined sugar cane.  The unrefined sugar cane is
added to
> > accelerate the fermentation process and any "negative" effects of
any
> > tropical plants naturally disappear as a result of the
fermentation
> > process.  While proportionately the majority of the ingredients
(as in
> > the standard macrobiotic diet) are grains, beans and vegetables,
the
> > more exotic plants and herbs add additional variety that enhances
its
> > pre-biotic function.
> >
> > People may also be concerned that Fermena seems to be contrary to
the
> > idea to promote local agriculture. The way that I look at this
issue
> > is as follows.  Foods are fine to eat if you can travel with them
by
> > foot and without refrigeration and still be edible.  In this way
dry
> > goods such as grains and beans and so on can be eaten anywhere in
the
> > world where as fresh produce will only stay edible within a
limited
> > range from where they were grown.  One can extend this distance by
> > drying or fermenting foods and, with fermenting, the foods
actually
> > become better over time.  Fresh meat and dairy products, on the
other
> > hand, must be eaten relatively quickly before they spoil, or they
must
> > be treated somehow with salt or other natural pickling method.  In
> > either case foods that are naturally fermented can be eaten over
long
> > distances and over many years and often become better as they age.
> >
> > Fermena is the only food supplement that Michio has invented and
will
> > probably be the only one that he ever will.  In this day and age,
with
> > the pervasiveness of anti-biotics, refrigeration, high-speed
> > transport, and lack of quality fermented products Michio felt that
> > this product could be beneficial to everyone including those who
not
> > change their diet at all.  Also, for persons whom relied heavily
on
> > diary (mostly fermented foods) and then suddenly cut-them out and
not
> > replace them with any quality fermented foods, they often have
> > difficulty in maintaining a dairy-free regime.  Fermena is an
ideal
> > transitional supplement while persons add home made pickles,
misos,
> > and other fermented products to their diet.  (Fermena actually is
more like
> > food than it is a supplement)
> >
> > The Fermena product is being sold in North America by a network
> > marketing company called Diamond Tree.  (It is sold in Japan by
the
> > company that makes it called "Anew" also in a network marketing
> > format).  Diamond Tree recently opened and is founded by Kendall
Cho
> > and his wife Bo.  Kendall Cho was the former CEO of Nikken and
during
> > his time with them he turned it into the billion dollar company
that
> > it is today.  Many macrobiotic promoters became Nikken
distributors
> > including William Tara whom often promoted it a macrobiotic
functions.
> >
> > Several years ago Michio and I met with Nikken as part of an
effort to
> > help develop products for them.  We became very good friends with
> > Kendall and he and his wife came and studied at the Kushi
Institute.
> > It changed his life and he has since become and avid fan and
promoter
> > of macrobiotics and seeks to combine his expertise in network
> > marketing business to introduce macrobiotics to the masses.
> >
> > Two years ago Kendall left Nikken and created his own company,
Diamond
> > Tree which had it's grand opening this past weekend.  Before
opening
> > his new company Kendall asked Michio for product ideas and Michio
told
> > him about Fermena, which had been previously developed and sold
with
> > great success in Japan.  The effects of Fermena has been nothing
less
> > than astonishing for many suffering from a variety of chronic
> > ailments. What is even more amazing is that most of the people
did not
> > change their diets.
> >
> > Diamond Tree has been operating for a about year now and Fermena
is
> > their main product.  Again, the results have been astounding with
many
> > regaining their intestinal health in a matter of days after many
years
> > of suffering.
> >
> > I volunteer my time for Diamond Tree and have given several talks
by
> > conference call and in person, introducing many to the full scope
of
> > macrobiotics.  I was invited by Kendall to give a talk on "Your
Face
> > Never Lies"  to the over 400 participants at the Grand Opening
event
> > for Diamond Tree. Most were mainstream professionals seeking to
> > supplement their income and were not specifically thinking about
> > changing their diets.  After being exposed to macrobiotics through
> > Fermena and hearing me speak they are all now interested in
learning
> > more about macrobiotics, changing their diets and incorporating
the
> > full principles into their life.
> >
> > Kendall is a man of financial integrity and is committed to
spreading
> > macrobiotics in the way that he best knows how.  Network
marketing is
> > as much about helping people gain financial freedom and
independent
> > wealth as it is about the products.  While products sold in a
direct
> > sales format may initially seem expensive, it is priced in that
way to
> > distribute the wealth to as many people as possible.  If you seek
> > financial independence and wealth and like to bring macrobiotics
to
> > the mainstream then, with Diamond Tree, Kendall Cho has created
one
> > the best ways to do this.
> >
> > If you are interested in learning more about Diamond Tree or
Fermena
> > please feel free to contact me. Kendall has created a tremendous
> > opportunity for many and has the support and endorsement of many
> > besides my father, Michio Kushi.  (www.diamondtreeglobal.com
> > <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com/> )
> >
> > Many Thanks,
> > Phiya Kushi
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  
> >
>

 
    

 

Whatever you do, eat your grains, beans and greens!  With all this talk I was interested to know what foods have prebiotics in them naturally. At the link http://www.innvista.com/health/nutrition/biotics/prebiot.htm, I found this info:  

Prebiotic carbohydrates are found naturally in such fruit and vegetables as bananas, berries, asparagus, garlic, wheat, oatmeal, barley (and other whole grains), flaxseed, tomatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, onions and chicory, greens (especially dandelion greens but also spinach, collard greens, chard, kale, mustard greens, and others), andlegumes (lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, navy beans, white beans, black beans, )  

Linda
 

---

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I wonder if these practices could have shortened Ohsawa's life?  He died at a fairly early age for such a health promoter.

 Chad

---

To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com
From: simon@...
Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 14:43:04 +0100
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Yes me too Klara,

Simon


On 01/05/2008 09:11, "Klara LeVine" <klara_levine@...> wrote:

 

I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out - what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but picturing that scene did make me smile)
  
Klara
  


Phiya Kushi <phiyak@...> wrote:
  

  
Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on! the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

  

---

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I wonder if these practices could have shortened Ohsawa's life?  He died at a fairly early age for such a health promoter.

 Chad

To: moderndaymacrobioti cs@yahoogroups. com
From: simon@chienergy. co.uk
Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 14:43:04 +0100
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiot ics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Yes me too Klara,

Simon


On 01/05/2008 09:11, "Klara LeVine" <klara_levine@ yahoo.com> wrote:

 

I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out - what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but picturing that scene did make me smile)
  
Klara
  


Phiya Kushi <phiyak@gmail. com> wrote:
  

 
  
Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

  
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now. <http://us.rd. yahoo.com/ evt=51733/ *http://mobile. yahoo.com/ ;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR 8HDtDypao8Wcj9tA cJ >
 
    

---

To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com
From: simon@...
Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 14:43:04 +0100
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

Yes me too Klara,

Simon


On 01/05/2008 09:11, "Klara LeVine" <klara_levine@...> wrote:

 

I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out - what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but picturing that scene did make me smile)
  
Klara
  


Phiya Kushi <phiyak@...> wrote:
  

 
  
Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

  

---

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now. <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ >
 
    

 

HI Simon,

Thank you for your comments,  You bring up some interesting  and important comments.  Some of it I addressed in my response to Melanie which I was writing while you were writing yours. But there are some things in your post that I would definitely like to comment on as it brings up several other things that are important to address.

First of all, while I appreciate your comments I am concerned that you would think that Fermena is a change in the future direction of macrobiotics.  I can safely say that Michio's dream (he has many), as you mentioned, has not changed.  I also can safely say that both he and I do not see a contradiction to this dream with regards to Fermena.  I also do not view Fermena as a false hope but actually supplying a specific need.  Is it a critical need? It might not be but it does make things convenient for many.  

While it may be true that people will look at Fermena as an excuse not to cook or to continue eating junk food I would say that is what people do with anything and it really has nothing to do with Fermena. People will (and have) even use brown rice as an excuse so that they can eat junk food.  That is what people do and Fermena or no Fermena is not going to change that.  I personally think the real issue stems from a mistaken belief that our aim is to eat natural whole foods to save the environment and be socially, politically and ethically correct in every which way we can possibly imagine ourselves to be.  But the problem with this is that it then becomes our own prison that we never intended.  Our true aim is not to create a perfect world where everyone eats whole natural foods but instead one of freedom and responsibility through experiencing life fully and eventually mastering one's own destiny.

I want offer some words of caution here.  It has become clear to me that many macrobiotic promoters have unintentionally turned macrobiotics into a religion.  It is subtle but it is done the moment when someone suggests that certain behaviors dictate or define whether or not someone "is" macrobiotic or not.  This includes if a person chooses to eat meat, dairy or junk food. Religion, as Karen Armstrong so brilliantly pointed is not about belief systems but is about behaviors. When macrobiotic teachers start dictating that certain behaviors determine whether someone is macrobiotic they are passing judgment on people and preaching a new religion.  I was guilty of this as well.  But macrobiotics is not a religion.  People are free to to do and behave as they please including what food choices they make.  Macrobiotics is, instead, a field of study, of exploration and self-discovery.  Macrobiotic is experiential and is about learning and growing. The true aim of macrobiotics is to set people free, not to limit and enslave them into a rigid structure and set of rules of conduct and behavior.  I make food suggestions to people only because they ask me, not because I believe that they should behave in a certain way. People are free to do as they please as long they are not harming themselves or others.  I hope that macrobiotic promoters can take a hard look at themselves and see if they are inadvertently promoting a religion or not.

I understand your concerns about network marketing.  Network marketing is not for everyone.  It is only for people who are self-motivated and are actually willing to do the work necessary to make their business successful.  Clearly the examples you provided are of people for whom network marketing was not appropriate for and I am including the callous ones that took advantage of the naive and gullible because they too were not willing to d the work necessary to make their businesses successful.  I am sure they had as much difficulty with their business as those they recruited that were stuck with large amounts of merchandise.  But for many, network marketing can provide the financial freedom they seek provided they take the time to be responsible for all their actions.

It must also be remembered that network marketing is a business that, like any business, is about making money so, of course, people in network marketing will focus their efforts on persons whom will work with them and help them become profitable.  I have been solicited many times into various opportunities by many different people. That I may never hear from them except when they are trying to sign me up is fine with me and is expected.  I have no problem with their enthusiasm and I would think less of them if they did otherwise.  That is the nature of network marketing and has no bearing on my personal friendship toward those people.  It is like any business.  If I opened a restaurant then the majority of my time would be spent on dealing with suppliers, cooks, wait staff and customers.  Whatever time I had leftover would be for family and friends.

You should know that I am not asking you (nor anyone else in this forum) to join Diamond Tree. I know it is not the kind of business that you, Simon, want to be in and I wouldn't recommend it for you.  The only reason why I was talking about this was because there was a question about Fermena and Michio that I was clarifying earlier. I could have easily been talking about any number of other ongoing projects.

But I will say this: I do know Kendall Cho and he is good to his word.  Also, Fermena is is a great and clever product that Michio developed and is already proven to be effective and beneficial. A future result of Kendall Cho's collaboration with Michio, (and myself in continuing to give lectures) is that many more people will benefit and discover macrobiotics.  I personally enjoy spending time with people in network marketing because they tend to be a very self-motivated and enthusiastic group of people that are very open to learning and experiencing many new things and have or are willing to take charge of their own destiny in every sense of the word.

Phiya







On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Simon G. Brown <simon@...> wrote:

 

Hi Phiya,

I have to say I am not comfortable with the way Fermena is being linked to macrobiotics. As people have said it is probably applicable to people who do not eat macrobiotically but at the same time is not a substitute for macrobiotic eating. Getting the correct bacteria in our intestines is only one part of good health. Fibre for example may be just as important for some people. So far in the short history of man made wonder foods none has lived up to their claims and all have later shown to have risks associated with them. Personally I do not think that Fermena or anything similar can replace the kind of natural diets we have evolved with. The problem is that if we hold out a false hope in the form of Fermena it may actually become an excuse for someone not eating macrobiotically. Unless I am missing something I cannot see how our aim has changed from eating natural whole foods to eating junk but supplementing it with Fermena. Surely this does nothing to help the environment, release land to grow food for those starving or move to a more efficient system of getting the nutrition we need. What happened to Michio's dream that we would find it easier to live in peace if we all ate similar natural foods?

I am also uncomfortable with the idea of selling through network marketing. When Bill Tara and others got involved in Nikken I looked into it carefully. The cliché that was used was that if you read a book and liked you would probably tell ten friends. They might go out and buy the book and go on to recommend it to ten of their friends. So all I would be doing is the same with magnets but get a commission on each sale, not only of the magnets I sold but also those that those my downline (people who I would have signed up to also sell the products) sold. This sounds fine so far until you read that in order to make commissions out of your downline you have to personally buy a minimum stock every month. For this reason I have know several people who enthusiastically got involved with Nikken only to find they were hundreds of pounds in debt with cupboards of magnets they could not sell. Hardly financial freedom. My observation is that if you are happy to sell to all your friends, family and contacts and if you are callous enough to let them commit to buying large quantities of product they may never sell then you can make money out of it. It is set up for the strong, assertive and powerful to make money out of the weak, naive and gullible.

I was also interested to note that people who I had been friendly with who joined the Nikken system suddenly became my best friend whilst there was the possibility I might sign up. Once I said no I never heard from them again. There is a passage in one of the network marketing books I read that basically says if you encounter someone who is negative about the product don't waste time on him or her as there will be plenty of better prospects to spend time on. For a while I played with the idea of promoting macrobiotics through network marketing but all the schemes I looked at were loaded in a way that the system was robbed of any good will and risked people in the downline over committing themselves trying to meet minimum targets.

I wish you, Ken and Michio well with Fermena. I am sure it is a lot better than many products and you have obviously thought it through carefully. I would be the first to congratulate you if it makes a lot of money and brings you the success you all deserve. At the same time I would urge you not to sell it in the name of macrobiotics. There is already a strong resistance to it among macrobiotic teachers and the wider community. It risks being divisive to the community at a time when we are becoming much closer whilst confusing our message to the world at large.

Love,

Simon





On 30/04/2008 20:06, "Phiya Kushi" <phiyak@...> wrote:

 

Peter found my lengthy post!!!  Thanks Peter!  Here it is:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings Posters,

I am happy to resolve questions as best as I can concerning Fermena
and the development of products and other efforts of my father over
the many years of macrobiotic history.

I wish to clarify that Michio (with Aveline) has been involved in many
businesses over the years in order to promote macrobiotics ideas.
These have ranged from creating some of the first macrobiotic
restaurants in New York and Boston to starting, Erewhon, the first
Natural Foods business in North America, to the East West Journal and,
of course, to the Kushi Institute and it's predecessor, the East West
Foundation.

Michio has also been involved in hand-picking many of the traditional
Japanese foods items that is sold through Mitoku, including most of
the fermented foods.  He was involved in setting-up American Miso
Company as well helping many of his students start their own businesses.

Over the years there have been many opportunities for Michio and
Aveline to expand and popularize their efforts but turned them down as
they did not want to compromise on the quality and message of their
efforts.  This concern in quality has not always served Michio's
financial interests and, from a business perspective, has hampered growth.

Fermena is a specific product that Michio personally designed himself.
  The basic idea is that the 50+ ingredients more or less represents
the standard macrobiotic diet combined to together and fermented for
six months in Brazil where the temperature remains steady and is ideal
for the fermentation process.  Fermena is pre-biotic and is designed
to nourish the beneficial bacteria of our intestinal flora.  There is
confusion about the ingredients because Fermena contains tropical
plants and unrefined sugar cane.  The unrefined sugar cane is added to
accelerate the fermentation process and any "negative" effects of any
tropical plants naturally disappear as a result of the fermentation
process.  While proportionately the majority of the ingredients (as in
the standard macrobiotic diet) are grains, beans and vegetables, the
more exotic plants and herbs add additional variety that enhances its
pre-biotic function.

People may also be concerned that Fermena seems to be contrary to the
idea to promote local agriculture. The way that I look at this issue
is as follows.  Foods are fine to eat if you can travel with them by
foot and without refrigeration and still be edible.  In this way dry
goods such as grains and beans and so on can be eaten anywhere in the
world where as fresh produce will only stay edible within a limited
range from where they were grown.  One can extend this distance by
drying or fermenting foods and, with fermenting, the foods actually
become better over time.  Fresh meat and dairy products, on the other
hand, must be eaten relatively quickly before they spoil, or they must
be treated somehow with salt or other natural pickling method.  In
either case foods that are naturally fermented can be eaten over long
distances and over many years and often become better as they age.

Fermena is the only food supplement that Michio has invented and will
probably be the only one that he ever will.  In this day and age, with
the pervasiveness of anti-biotics, refrigeration, high-speed
transport, and lack of quality fermented products Michio felt that
this product could be beneficial to everyone including those who not
change their diet at all.  Also, for persons whom relied heavily on
diary (mostly fermented foods) and then suddenly cut-them out and not
replace them with any quality fermented foods, they often have
difficulty in maintaining a dairy-free regime.  Fermena is an ideal
transitional supplement while persons add home made pickles, misos,
and other fermented products to their diet.  (Fermena actually is more like food than it is a supplement)

The Fermena product is being sold in North America by a network
marketing company called Diamond Tree.  (It is sold in Japan by the
company that makes it called "Anew" also in a network marketing
format).  Diamond Tree recently opened and is founded by Kendall Cho
and his wife Bo.  Kendall Cho was the former CEO of Nikken and during
his time with them he turned it into the billion dollar company that
it is today.  Many macrobiotic promoters became Nikken distributors
including William Tara whom often promoted it a macrobiotic functions.

Several years ago Michio and I met with Nikken as part of an effort to
help develop products for them.  We became very good friends with
Kendall and he and his wife came and studied at the Kushi Institute.
It changed his life and he has since become and avid fan and promoter
of macrobiotics and seeks to combine his expertise in network
marketing business to introduce macrobiotics to the masses.

Two years ago Kendall left Nikken and created his own company, Diamond
Tree which had it's grand opening this past weekend.  Before opening
his new company Kendall asked Michio for product ideas and Michio told
him about Fermena, which had been previously developed and sold with
great success in Japan.  The effects of Fermena has been nothing less
than astonishing for many suffering from a variety of chronic
ailments. What is even more amazing is that most of the people did not
change their diets.

Diamond Tree has been operating for a about year now and Fermena is
their main product.  Again, the results have been astounding with many
regaining their intestinal health in a matter of days after many years
of suffering.

I volunteer my time for Diamond Tree and have given several talks by
conference call and in person, introducing many to the full scope of
macrobiotics.  I was invited by Kendall to give a talk on "Your Face
Never Lies"  to the over 400 participants at the Grand Opening event
for Diamond Tree. Most were mainstream professionals seeking to
supplement their income and were not specifically thinking about
changing their diets.  After being exposed to macrobiotics through
Fermena and hearing me speak they are all now interested in learning
more about macrobiotics, changing their diets and incorporating the
full principles into their life.

Kendall is a man of financial integrity and is committed to spreading
macrobiotics in the way that he best knows how.  Network marketing is
as much about helping people gain financial freedom and independent
wealth as it is about the products.  While products sold in a direct
sales format may initially seem expensive, it is priced in that way to
distribute the wealth to as many people as possible.  If you seek
financial independence and wealth and like to bring macrobiotics to
the mainstream then, with Diamond Tree, Kendall Cho has created one
the best ways to do this.

If you are interested in learning more about Diamond Tree or Fermena
please feel free to contact me. Kendall has created a tremendous
opportunity for many and has the support and endorsement of many
besides my father, Michio Kushi.  (www.diamondtreeglobal.com <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com>  <http://www.diamondtreeglobal.com/> )

Many Thanks,
Phiya Kushi





 
    
 
    

 

   

 




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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto























    

 

I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out - what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but picturing that scene did make me smile)
  
Klara
  


Phiya Kushi <phiyak@...> wrote:
  

 
  
Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

  

---

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now. <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ >
 
    

 

I believe it's this story you're referring to

http://www.nvvm.org/sound/schweitzer.mp3  (sound tape)

 
Peter

 

----- Original Message -----
 
From:  Klara  LeVine <mailto:klara_levine@...>  
 
To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com  
 
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 10:11  AM
 
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics]  Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi
 

 
 

 
I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show  that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out -  what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist  might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but  picturing that scene did make me smile)
 
Klara
 


Phiya Kushi <phiyak@...>  wrote:

 
Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial  organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the  intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The  intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our  gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as  flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or  bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex  multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course).  George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the  modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause  of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer  during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on  the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the  cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he  contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the  disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out  of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS  patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV  was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle  was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test  results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase  their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

 

 

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Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
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-----Original Message-----
From: carol taras
Sent: May 1, 2008 5:24 AM
To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Tarascarol@...
Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Pregnancy suggestions

--- On Sun, 11/18/07, Klara LeVine <klara_levine@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Klara LeVine <klara_levine@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Pregnancy suggestions To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com, veganmacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, November 18, 2007, 12:49 PM Melanie, As always, great info and very uplifting tho I did notice you didn't breath a word about what to expect during the last trimester - you ended it with the wonderful vision of the second trimester which really is the best part of it all. Oh, to do it all over again - to all of you in that stage of life, really really do enjoy it, even the upchucking (funny, huh, that even that brings back fond memories - how once I'd dropped my husband off and had to jump out of the car as started heaving, and had locked myself out of the car - fortunately, he'd heard me calling him (way before cell phones, and sadly, I wasn't mb then either). And the absolute miracle when the baby comes out and all of it was so worth it!!!! and now, when I look at these grown human beings, couldn't imagine my life without them. Klara Melanie <mel528@earthlink. net> wrote: Hi Gang Here is an article I have written for the Macro UK site but am posting it here for those who asked about healthy pregnancy and eating. Enjoy Melanie Healthy Pregnancy Part 1 by Melanie Waxman Having a baby is a very exciting time, however it can also be an un-nerving experience and many woman worry during their nine months about the health of their baby. To alleviate the stress that builds up during the pregnancy, plan instead to have a healthy pregnancy and guide your thoughts to the positive aspects of this wonderful experience. You can then rest assured that you have done your very best to have a healthy baby. It is important not to feel guilty about what you might have eaten or done during the first few weeks of pregnancy. It is natural to worry and you cannot change the past but you can start to make healthy choices for yourself and your baby now. If you are not already on a macrobiotic diet, make simple and slow changes to your diet. Begin by adding organic whole grains, vegetable protein, and fresh vegetables into your present diet rather than cutting out the old foods. General Eating Habits Pregnancy is a healthy time. It is very important to eat a wide variety of foods. Your baby needs a broad selection of ingredients and nutrients to choose from. Pregnancy is not the time to be working on your condition and eating a restricted diet. Aim to eat in a balanced manner and this will improve your health and the health of your baby. Use organic, living foods every day. This includes whole grains, beans, sea vegetables, vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruit. If you are changing over to a macrobiotic diet at beginning of pregnancy go very slowly – introduce new foods and better quality ingredients over a number of weeks – add foods in rather than cut things out. Eat a broad diet including; cracked grains, sourdough bread, noodles, pasta, olive and sesame oil, root vegetables, round vegetables, leafy vegetables, all kinds of beans, tofu, tempeh, seitan, natto, fish (if craved), all kinds of sea vegetables including toasted nori (almost daily, fruit, various seasonings. Use a variety of cooking styles; soups, steaming, blanching, pressed salad, raw salad, stews, long sauté, stir-fry, tempura and deep frying (once a week or so), pressure-cooking, and baking. Make home made sugar free desserts; kanten, mousse, sweet kuzu, rice pudding, steamed fruit, cookies and pies (less often but still make them) Remember to include natural sweet taste: pureed sweet soups, sweet vegetable puree, sweet vegetable tea, carrot juice, hot apple juice, amasake, and steamed fruit. Remember to use some gentle grounding dishes: steamed whole vegetables, stews, long sauté, and baked beans. Remember to keep it light: blanched, pressed, and raw salads. Make dressings with brown rice vinegar, lemon, or umeboshi. Use light pickles such as sauerkraut and dill. Keep it rich and nourishing: Use oil on a daily basis, use tahini or nut butters in dressings or cooking, have steamed sourdough bread, add sautéed vegetables to grain dishes or a little oil to soup, use nuts and seeds to garnish dishes. Use vegetable protein: Beans in stews, soups or salads, tofu or tempeh in soup, vegetables dishes or on bread, natto on rice or with broth and seitan in stews. Soups can be varied; thick, brothy, pureed, or with noodles, grains, and beans. Have miso a few times a week. It isn’t necessary to have miso on a daily basis. Enjoy daily soups seasoned with salt or shoyu as well. When eating out ENJOY IT! Relish every moment and every dish. Please do not feel guilty. Choose sensibly such as Japanese, Italian, Greek or Seafood. If you crave an extreme food like ice cream, try to satisfy it first with a healthy alternative. If you cannot satisfy it there, have a small amount and really enjoy it. Don’t replace snacks for a meal. If you have filled up on snack food, have a small plate of a balanced meal. This will help to bring you back to balance, and keep you balanced in general. Morning sickness – these are some of the causes: change in hormones, low blood sugar, stress, fatigue, or change in digestion. There is a direct relationship between the liver and placenta. If the liver is stagnated there is more chance of morning sickness. Suggestions for Morning Sickness • Chew slowly, have smaller and more meals, increase vegetables and vegetable quality protein, avoid extremes especially sugar, spices, oily/greasy foods, baked flour, animal food or salt. • Foods that help – sauerkraut, lightly steamed greens with lemon, tea with lemon, ginger tea, ginger in soup and other dishes, umeboshi, rice cakes. • Make sure to rest and exercise outdoors. • Get gentle massage especially shiatsu. • Aromatherapy – essential oils such as lavender, lemon and peppermint. Suggestions for Constipation • Increase intake of vegetables. Make 50% of your diet vegetables. • Increase green leafy vegetables. • Cut back on salt, baked foods, refined flour, animal foods or too much grain. • Drink warm kukicha tea. If you tend not to drink much, increase your liquid intake. • Take kanten tea or aduki bean tea. • Make aduki beans with sweet vegetables. • Exercise outdoors • Daily body rub. • Get a massage. Suggestions for Increasing Iron • Eat a variety of organic living foods • Don’t eat more that 50% grain. 40% is fine. Don’t forget that bread, cookies, pies, rice cakes, rice pudding etc are grains and increase your daily intake. • Eat at least 50% vegetables. • Have sukiyaki on a weekly basis. • Eat a bunch of blanched watercress daily. • Use dulse in vegetable dishes and soups a few times a week. • Have tempeh cooked with greens, sauerkraut and dulse. • Make carrot and burdock kinpira at least once a week. • Make fish soup or stew with root and round vegetables. Can sauté the vegetables first. Add greens and ginger at the end. Season with miso. • Use mochi in miso soup. • Have sweet rice and aduki beans and add sautéed onion at the end on a weekly basis. • Keep all seasonings mild. • Walk out in nature every day. • Do breathing exercises daily. • Do the body rub daily. Extras • Make time for yourself. You become a mother as soon as you become pregnant and your baby needs you already. This is a very important time for you to get to know your baby. This is a time to understand and observe the changes that are going on in your body. Look for ways to slow down and focus on you and the baby. If you haven’t practiced meditation before, early pregnancy is a great time to start. Meditation doesn’t have to be a huge procedure. It can be as simple as sitting in a rocking chair and observing your breath or quietly knitting. Walking in nature and being conscious of the contact with the earth in each step is another example of simple meditation. • There are masses of books and guides on meditation that offer a variety of different styles. You can also take a workshop if you enjoy the company of others. Chanting is also a wonderful to move and cleanse your energy. • Make time for exercise. If you have already being following an exercise program, you may wish to continue that in a modified form. The safest kind of exercise during pregnancy is walking in nature, tai chi and yoga. It is not a good idea to start any strenuous or dangerous exercise at this stage. Walking is one of the most balanced forms of exercise. Remember that even blocks of 15 minutes are as beneficial as exercising for an hour at a time. As your pregnancy progresses you may find it easier to exercise for shorter periods rather than one long stint. Try to walk as much as possible in your daily life, to work, use stairs, park your car further away from the store or walk during your lunch hour or after dinner. • Fatigue. During the first few months it is normal to feel tired. Listen to your body. You are going through huge hormonal changes during this period and you need extra rest. Take the time to nap even if it is for only 15 minutes or relax with your feet up. You may have to go to bed earlier too. Most women do get their energy back again in the second trimester. Melanie Brown Waxman www.celebrate4healt h.com www.bebabywise. com info@celebrate4heal th.com Author: The Cooklets, Bless the Baby, Yummy Yummy in my Tummy Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. Make Yahoo! your homepage.

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Author: The Cooklets, Bless the Baby, Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

----- Original Message -----

From: Klara LeVine

To: moderndaymacrobiotics@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 10:11 AM

Subject: Re: [moderndaymacrobiotics] Clarification on Fermena, Diamond Tree and Michio Kushi

I've heard the story often of Ohsawa creating his disease so he can show that he can cure it - I'd never heard that Schweitzer then kicked him out - what a HUGE disappointment to hear how closed minded such a great sceintist might have been. Oh well, we're all human, so who am I so judge??? (but picturing that scene did make me smile)

Klara

Phiya Kushi <phiyak@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

---

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Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.6/69 - Release Date: 11-8-2005

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.6/69 - Release Date: 11-8-2005

Hello Chad,

Simply put probiotics are the beneficial bacterial organisms (the "bugs" as a doctor friend of mine calls them) found in the intestines and pre-biotics are the food that feeds them.  The intestines contain many organisms that help to break down food in our gut.  You can also thank them for creating the common problem known as flatulence.

Two thirds of all life forms on earth are "bugs" or bacteria and viruses.  The remaining one-third are complex multi-cellular organisms such as plants and animals (and us of course). George Ohsawa's ideas on bacteria and viruses often conflicted with the modern notion that views many viruses and bacteria as hostile and the cause of many diseases. He hotly challenged the renowned Dr. Albert Schweitzer during his visit to his camp in Lambarene, Gabon.  Ohsawa insisted on the notion that all life forms including those that were thought to be the cause of infectious diseases were actually beneficial and to prove it he contracted, I believe, Malaria and then went on to cure himself of the disease by changing his diet.   Schweitzer promptly threw him out of his camp.  Michio continued this trend by actively helping AIDS patients in New York City in the early 1980s and attempted to show that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, but instead the result of poor diet and lifestyle was.  His efforts were monitored by Boston University and their test results showed that people eating macrobiotically were able to increase their T-Cell counts by diet alone.

Phiya

Highly Recommended Viewing

The World According to Monsanto

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television. It is a documentary most Americans will never see, explaining how the gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

For millennia, farmers have saved seeds from season to season. But when Monsanto developed GM seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, Monsanto patented the seeds. For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for seed patents in a five-to-four decision, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world's food supply.

Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company. Farmers who buy Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year.

Monsanto puts pressure on farmers, farmers' co-ops, seed dealers, and anyone else it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. To do this, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents. They secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops. They infiltrate community meetings. They gather information from informants about farming activities.

Some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the "seed police" and use words such as "Gestapo" and "Mafia" to describe their tactics.

The World According to Monsanto

Watch the documentary 

http://www.archive.org/details/tawtmonsanto

Download the Video

http://100777.com/node/1805

The DVD Torrent file

World According to Monsanto - DVDRip English

http://www.mininova.org/tor/1270297

Le Monde Selon Monsanto, the French DVD

http://www.amazon.fr/monde-selon-Monsanto-Marie-Monique-Robin/dp/B001684BP0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1209614392&sr=1-1

Monsanto Wikipedia 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto