Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

I'm thrilled that you've decided to join me today because the more I learn about the latest

in nutrition research, the more convinced I am that this information can make a real difference

in all our lives. And I like nothing better than sharing it with you.

Today we evaluate the microbiotic diet, the original counter-culture diet from the 1960s.

So we said healthy, what about today's microbiotic diet? Let's start with the pros and cons

of a microbiotic diet.

Macrobiotic diets have been described by the American Medical Association as one of the most

dangerous dietary regimens posing not only serious hazards to the health of the individual,

but even to life itself. After all, macrobotic diets are predominantly vegetarian with a great emphasis

placed on whole grains. What's wrong with that? Well, they also used to tell people that not drink

water, which isn't good, and to avoid fruit. So much so, it's resulted in modern-day cases of

scurvy. Now, thankfully, the macrobotic diet has evolved over the past 30 years in emphasis on

whole grains, vegetables, and beans while minimizing most meat-exandering. I don't like them

restricting fruits, don't like all the added salt, but compared to the standard American diet,

it's got a lot of things going for it. Only a quarter of the saturated fat intake, less than half

of the sugar intake, a very respectable fiber intake, two and a half times the national average,

but actually taking in more sodium. So while the macrobotic diet is an anti-inflammatory diet,

has a negative dietary inflammatory index score as opposed to the pro-inflammatory American diet,

some of the most anti-inflammatory foods are herbs and spices. So instead of adding all that

sea salt and soy sauce, the macrobotic diet could be improved by using natural seasonings instead.

Okay, but has the macrobotic diet ever been put to the test? Yes, for diabetes. The restriction

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