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I read a number of years ago that Academy Award Winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow followed a macrobiotic diet.
At the time, this news snippet aroused my curiosity as my own family followed a macrobiotic diet for a brief period of time when I was in middle school and it was the worst way of eating I have ever experienced.
I absolutely despised the macrobiotic diet because I never felt satisfied after eating this type of meal. I am very glad my parents quickly decided that it wasn’t so fantastic after all and stopped making meals this way!
Now, Ms. Paltrow has disclosed that she is suffering from osteopenia, a thinning of the bones. This is one of the most dangerous symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.
This condition was brought about by vitamin D blood levels so low, that Ms. Paltrow’s doctors said the level was “… the lowest thing they had ever seen ….”
Ms. Paltrow was prescribed high dose vitamin D drops and told to spend more time in the sun (without sunscreen, of course) to reverse the condition.
This is clearly excellent advice! Frequent, brief, nonburning doses of midday sun on the skin is a very healthy thing to do. Smart sunning does not cause skin cancer and is a great way to quickly raise vitamin D blood levels!
Let’s examine for a moment how Ms. Paltrow got such alarmingly low vitamin D blood levels in the first place.
Macrobiotic Foods
A macrobiotic diet is based on grains, primarily brown rice. Here is the breakdown:
- Whole cereal grains, especially brown rice: 40—60%
- Vegetables: 25—30%
- Beans and legumes: 5—10%
- Miso soup: 5%
- Sea vegetables: 5%
- Traditionally or naturally processed foods: 5—10%
In addition to these basic recommendations, food, especially grains, must be very thoroughly chewed by macrobiotic diet followers.
Seafood, fruit, natural sweeteners, and seeds/nuts may be enjoyed 2-3 times per week if desired (but not required).
Dangerous Deficiencies
At first glance, a macrobiotic diet may seem an excellent way to eat as it is whole, unprocessed, and eschews junk food, sodas, and other industrialized foods that are responsible for so many modern ills, particularly in children.
However, following a macrobiotic diet can only bring ill health over the long term as it is focused primarily on grains and contains little animal fats which are the only foods that contain any vitamin D and other fat-soluble vitamins that are absolutely essential to health.
And no, kelp and mushrooms grown in the sun don’t contain the type of Vitamin D our bodies can use either, so don’t fall for that dietary myth.
Depression and Cancer?
Having experienced the lack of well-being, lethargy, dark moods, and hypoglycemia produced by a macrobiotic diet firsthand as a child, I knew that Ms. Paltrow was going to suffer serious health challenges as a result of this dangerous food philosophy. Her first clue should have been the birth weight of her first child (a girl) who was born at a whopping 9 lbs 11 oz.
It is known that girls born this large are at higher risk for breast cancer before age 50. It also is an indication that the mother herself is at elevated breast cancer risk. (1)
A diet heavy in grains, even if whole and unprocessed, will frequently result in huge babies predisposed to childhood obesity and other associated problems.
Her second clue should have been the postpartum depression she experienced after the birth of her second child, Moses, in 2006. (2)
Postpartum depression and low vitamin D levels have been strongly linked. (3)
With this more recent news of severe vitamin D deficiency and osteopenia at such a young age, hopefully, Ms. Paltrow will abandon the disastrous macrobiotic diet and reclaim her health by consuming animal foods high in Vitamin D on a more frequent basis and reduce her grain consumption to a moderate level as practiced by healthy, traditional societies.
Any diet that produces such a severe nutritional deficiency such as what Ms. Paltrow has experienced is clearly the wrong way to go and an unwise approach to eating.
More Information
Don’t Waste Your Time with the Candida Diet
Why White Rice is Better Than Brown
Most Vegetarians Return to Eating Meat
The Vitamin Deficiency that is Written All Over Your Face
Excellent advice, Marina. Everyone comes along in their own time in their own way and forcing the issue does not seem to make things go any faster within a family.
Linda, take it slowly, and your family will eventually embrace this way of eating. It was the same for me, I started eating this way about 6 years ago, and at first my husband was very critical/picky, along with his mother, but now we are on the same page, he even talks about proper nutrition to our kids! :)And asks me to make liver patte every week! As long as you keep cooking and offering and putting healthy meals on the table, the kids and spouse will come around eventually! They will love feeling healthy and full of energy!
As for vitamin D, And I have been giving my kids vitamin D3 drops (my little sunshine brand) every morning, and it is almost December but they did not have any sniffles yet, even if they spend a whole day in school! They also take cod liver oil. There is no much sun in the winter here in Ontario, very depressing sometimes, but vitamin D keeps it under control!
Your posts are so interesting and I am learning a lot. I just wish I could get my family to embrace this way of eating.
I like the analysis. Can you do this for my life/diet and fix my problems? LOL.
Hi Carla, but notice how a macrobiotic diet is so deceptive as it is very much whole foods based but still leads to ill health because it does not include any of the sacred foods that traditional societies used to maintain vibrant health and to supercharge mineral absorption by the body.
Wow, this is so interesting. I love how things always go back to real food. I know I am low in things but without a doctor to check, I feel like I'm at loose ends and hoping eating right will eventually get me to where I need to be.
I shared this with my 70 y/o father who has diabetes. He read a book that said you can lower blood sugar w/o meds if you eat only oatmeal and beans. So now that is all he eats. He is very stubborn and rarely changes his mind, but I hope he will eat more nutritiously after reading this…
i grew up vegan-macrobiotic for the first 5 years of my life. i had 25 cavities by age 2! i have suffered poor dental health since then and am very sad that my parents didnt know how bad a low fat vegan diet can be for our bones and teeth, which of course are bones! whole grains as youve mentioned, are filled with anti-nutrients which prevent us from absorbing the minerals in them. my husband grew up on fatty meats, whole milk and white bread, amongst other standard american fare, and he is 42 and has never had a cavity.
Thats so funny, because i grew up a meat eater, whole milk and white bread eater too and as a 37 year old i have had cavities in every one of my baby and adult teeth (which non of my siblings did, same diet) & my children who have grow up vegetarians have perfect teeth! mmmmm, maybe everyone is different!!!
I don’t belong to the Diet Police – we are not all the same genetically, so eat what you wish. However, I grew up on a farm and consumed plenty of home grown meat, home made cottage cheese and butter, sour cream, fish from our nearby river, home made white bread, and so on and so forth. All my “baby” teeth became holey and/or absessed and I had to have full anesthesia and have them all pulled. I still remember the entire experience; worse than a nightmare. By age 24 (I think) I continued to consume a heavy animal diet and needed a bunch of fillings. All my grandparents and my parents ate the same way and had all their teeth pulled prior to getting old, or at least all rotten but didn’t go to a dentist.
Will others have different experiences? Definitely.
Hi Lovelyn, the fact that you eat the way you do now is highly protective against cancer which is autoimmune in nature. I believe that the choices we make as adults are most affecting of our health than some of the things that occur to us of which we have no control. Birth weight does have a link for future breast cancer in girls, but this is only a warning – it is not set in stone if lifestyle changes are made.
I didn't know that large babies are more likely to develop breast cancer. I was a 10 pound baby. Now I'm worried.
I tried to eat a macrobiotic diet when I was a teenager and hated it. Now I love butter way too much to ever try anything like that again.