Let thy food be thy medicine.... (Part 2)

Continued from Let thy food be thy medicine Part 1

At first, the idea that I could turn my health around, was just that. An idea. A hope. I didn't really have a plan.

My mother did something quite revolutionary. I was diagnosed with rheumatic fever at age 9, three doctors all said I'd be on penicillin (antibiotics) and 6 adult strength aspirin daily: until age 18, or age 33, or indefinitely, depending on the doctor. After 3 years of this medical regimen at age 12, one day my mother announced: "I don't think this is good for your health. We are stopping the drugs. We're going to start eating health food."

Most people unwaveringly trust their doctor's advice, and would never question or go against their recommendations. To go ahead without consulting our doctor was a radical idea.

But we did.

Mom had been devouring books on nutrition that were popular in 1971. Dr Adele Davis's: Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit, and Let's Get Well. Consulting these books on a daily basis, she would spontaneously share facts as she discovered them, "It says here that if you eat __ vitamin it will improve your __" or "if you don't have enough of __ nutrient it can cause __"

It was not macrobiotic, or even whole foods.  But a vast improvement over white bread and white sugar, which we replaced with whole wheat bread, brown sugar, molasses or honey. Mom made porridge from scratch for breakfast, and eliminated sugary cereals and pop tarts. We stopped junk food, TV dinners, spam, and A&W (McDonald's and Harvey's didn't arrive in our neighborhood until I was in high school in the mid-70's), and consumed a line up of vitamins. Though we still consumed meat, eggs and dairy, we focused on eating healthy, relatively speaking. 

I started to feel stronger, more alert, vibrant, resilient.

Three years later, at age 15, we went back to the doc. I had all the blood and heart tests, and the results were: "you no longer have rheumatic fever." We then confessed what we had done, and he replied "That has nothing to do with it. It's spontaneous remission."

Through my late teens and early twenties I went off track with my health. Eating burgers and fries with my high school friends became a common occurrence. We frequented bars and dance clubs on weekends. In my early 20's after a series of emotionally challenging incidents, things escalated. I'll spare the sad and scandalous details, but to get the gist, social recreation drugs turned into daily hash and cocaine.  At the point of rock bottom, I was drinking hard alcohol in large quantities daily. Some days almost a bottle before noon. I was hardly eating, and living on about a dozen daily coffees with cream and sugar. I chain-smoked two and a half packs a day of the longer cigarettes, Benson & Hedges 100's, and literally lit one from the other. 

The alcohol was burning through my organs. To the extent that I started peeing large chunks of black blood. No urine was coming out. I went to the doctor, who prescribed 10 days of antibiotics, which took it away the next day. The day after the 10-day prescription, the chunks of black blood instead of urine returned. I realized that to continue on this path would be ruinous. 

Remembering back to when my mom took my health, and our family's health into our own hands. Also remembering how healthy and happy I felt back then, in drastically stark contrast to how I felt at the time, I pulled out my mom's books. No plan was unfolding into action.

For about a year, I tried to follow the advice in the books, but found it confusing. Some recommended meat for the iron and protein, some not. Some said yes to dairy for the calcium and protein, some said not. Other books touted supplements, some not.

With the conflicting advice in the books, I had decided to stop eating red meat, but still ate chicken and eggs, and dairy. I was taking lots of supplements. I still drank alcohol and did recreational drugs a few nights a week, but far less than previously. I'd also quit smoking, going from 70 cigarettes a day to zero, cold turkey. The first few days, to keep my hand busy I drew a portrait of my ex. Coffee always went with cigarettes, so I quit coffee at the same time.

My mom had recently discovered a health food store near our family's business. She started going because, as she said wholeheartedly, "I really like their bread." One day I accompanied her on our way home from work, and discovered a very different kind of "health food store."

Instead of aisles of supplements, walking into Teva, was like stepping into the 1800's. Rough wooden wide-plank floors, rows of large bins filled with whole grains and beans. The fridge in back was abundant with organic vegetables and sprouts. The owner wore a long flowing flower-print dress, and had a bandana pulling her hair back. She wore no makeup, and walked like a swan on water.

Sue Anne greeted us at the front counter and asked if we needed help. At the time, I had really bad facial acne. I asked her if she could recommend a supplement or something to get rid of the acne. As the words left my mouth, and I looked around and it dawned on me there were no supplements to be seen. She responded: Do you eat dairy? I was following the books, so I proudly said, "Oh yes, for the calcium." She said: Try going off dairy and see if this helps. It could be the lactose.

I was desperate, so I followed her suggestion immediately and implicitly. Zero dairy. After a few days I noticed my skin was clearing up, and within 10 days the acne was gone.

The next visit, I started asking questions. "If you don't eat meat or dairy, what do you eat?" She replied simply: "Grains, beans and vegetables." After a few visits and many more questions, Sue Ann said one day, "We are offering a cooking class next Friday, if you'd like to learn more."

That class was Friday December 23rd, 1984. That class changed my life.

What was so earth-chattering about this class?

Laurence held up a vibrant organic carrot with the greens attached, and explained the downward contracting Yang properties of the roots were centering and grounding, like an anchor into the earth. The upward expansive Yin tendencies of the flexible wispy greens that grow towards the sky, sway in the breeze and absorb energy from the sun.

"Whole organic foods, grown in healthy soil contain more nutrients. Once food is processed it declines in vitality, and looses vitamins."

Nuggets of wisdom kept coming. "All life on earth is subject to and benefits from the electromagnetic energy field between earth and sky. Whole food contains this energy. Mechanically altered and processed food does not."

The universal wisdom Laurence explained was a light bulb moment!

At the time, the extent of my knowledge of grains and beans was limited to Uncle Bens White Rice, Quaker Oats, barley inside Campbell's Beef & Barley canned soup, canned beans that were in mom's "beans on toast" or homemade Chili Con Carne.

The day after the cooking class we stopped at Teva on our way home from work and stocked up with grains, beans, veggies, nuts, seeds, sea vegetables, and new foods I had never heard of: tamari, arame, nori, miso and tempeh. We also bought several macrobiotic cookbooks and books on the philosophy and theory behind it. When we got home, I completely cleaned out the fridge and cupboards. And dove into figuring out how to cook and follow a strict 100% vegan macrobiotic. We started drinking bancha twig tea that contains no caffein.

There were lots of "No's." No animal products, sugar, caffeine and alcohol. This meant no more enjoying chocolate, ice cream or sweets of any kind. No bread, muffins, flour or processed food. No juices, and especially not tropical fruits.

I followed these strict guideline to the letter. Yes it was extreme. I was so eager to not feel how I was feeling any longer. I couldn't wait to get to the other side. I'd swung the pendulum so far in the unhealthy direction. I needed to swing it equally as far in the other direction to completely undo all the damage. As fast as possible.

If I had consulted a macrobiotic counselor, they would have transitioned me gradually, and advised me to be less strict. But I didn't know what I didn't know.

It triggered an overwhelming withdrawal three weeks in. I had read enough theory in the macrobiotic books to understand what was happening, and trusted the process.

Detoxing deeply and rapidly is exhausting on the system. For the first year and a half I slept a lot, more hours than I was awake. Napping often between reading, learning, cooking and slowing improving. I started feeling healthier, happier, with more mental clarity, and greater stamina.

September was always a significant month. As the weather turned cooler and the setting sun came earlier, I felt this very acutely. I'd get very depressed and suicidal the thoughts returned. Even thought my health was improving, each year when September rolled around, that familiar dark, heavy, futile feeling overtook me. It would last for a few hours, and for many days.

Later I learned the significance of September/seasons/food and their effect on our moods. More about this in part 3!

After 5 years of following this regime, one day I was sitting at the kitchen table and started to feel down. Realizing it was September, I lamented, "Oh great, its that time again." To my surprise, as I sat there a few more minutes, the thoughts and feelings did not become crushingly dark and heavy. They passed! It struck me to such an extent that I felt myself smile and my posture perk up. Oh my god, I was really healing!

At the cellular level, every organ of my body was transforming to a healthier version than it had ever been.

At the Kushi Institute we learned of about Dr Hugh Faulkner, a physician from the UK who had consulted Michio to cure his pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer was and still is considered an automatic death sentence. But Dr Faulkner wanted to prove this wrong, and followed Michio's recommendations. He published two books documenting his miraculous healing journey: Against All Odds: A Doctor's Recovery from Terminal Cancer Through Healthy Eating, and Physician Heal Thyself.

Michio told us that "Dr Falkner had a "medical mind" and considered the food as a prescription he could go off of once the cancer was gone. He returned to eating bacon and meat and sugar thinking that because he was cured he didn't need the "medicine" anymore." The cancer returned, and he passed away from the disease.

Michio often said: "All diseases are curable, only people are incurable."

I took these words to heart.

When I returned home from the Kushi Institute, my cooking became less extreme, but I never strayed far. The pendulum had swung far enough for long enough to feel brave enough to expand my repertoire and find a happy medium. Maybe a tomato or potato here or there. Perhaps orange juice occasionally. Don't mind if I treat myself to some homemade maple-syrup sweetened cakes or pies, as long as its within healthy parameters.

Instead of cheating and reverting back to animal products, dairy and sugar, when I missed the delicious dishes from the past - like moms incredible baking and gourmet meals - I'd get creative and concoct recipes that tasted like our familiar favorite foods using wholesome vegan ingredients.

Those recipes were compiled into my first cookbook, self-published in 1996: Fast & Fun Food, For People on the Go (by Karen Claffey). It's now sold out and out of print. I'm considering putting it out again to celebrate the 30th Anniversary. TBD.

Macrobiotic is the opposite of the microscopic view, looking at the individual parts of foods: protein, vitamins, carbohydrates, calories, etc. Macro = large, and biotic = life. It's a large view of life that considers our geographical environment, the seasons, and our lifestyle. A person in the Yukon would make different dietary choices compared to a person living in the Caribbean. A construction worker might need a different diet than a classical musician.

Macrobiotic eating is essentially eating the way our ancestors eat, before modern food processing, and before innovations in transportation allowed us to ship food from all over the world. If you lived on a farm and grew your own food, that's macrobiotic.

Macrobiotic teaches us how to adjust our diet and lifestyle, whether our goal is healing, fitness or to improve our mental health and wellness.

If you're still with me, congratulations! I am honored and happy you're interested. If you want to keep going...

Macrobiotic Theory, Yin & Yang and The 5 Elements coming in Part 3 soon!

Join us and learn to cook delicious dishes that are immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory, naturally detoxifying and cleansing, while providing an abundance of energy and clarity.

Macrobiotic Cooking for a Healthy Heart, Mind & Body

Saturday February 28th at 2:00 pm.

Registration Deadline: Mon Feb 23rd. 

Learn to make a complete balanced meal to boost your immunity, detox your blood and organs, and nourish your heart and soul! 

Gingered Vegetable Miso Soup with Wakame & Tofu, Brown Rice, Adzuki Beans & Buttercup Squash, Arame Sea Vegetables with Carrots & Onions, Oriental Cabbage Quick Pickles, Steamed Broccoli with Tahini Lemon Miso Dressing.

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Coming soon link to Let thy food be thy medicine Part 3