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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
Hi Kate, glad you like the header. I love it too!! So nice to have a pretty one finally.
Maria, I read about washing off Vitamin D that has just formed in the oils of the skin from sun exposure on Dr. Mercola’s website. If I remember right,, you can’t wash it off with just water, but soap will do a pretty good job of washing it away for the first few hours after exposure.
Actually, according to Dr. Holick who is a world renowned expert on vitamin D you cannot wash Vitamin D off your skin because it is made in the living cells of the skin.
To answer all your Vitamin D questions (how much Vit D to take, in what form, when, can you get enough Vit D from food, should you go tanning and much much more) read his new book “The Vitamin D Solution”
This book is revolutionary, it was eyeopening for me, and so full of useful information that can help us all improve our health. Through his ground-breaking research on vitamin D Dr. Holick concludes that vitamin D deficiency is the most common medical condition in the world and we all should be getting more vitamin D through sun or supplements. I especially loved the fact that he has a Q&A section at the end of the book that answers all these questions I talked about above.
HI Lanise, it could be that you are showering too soon after getting your sun exposure. You need to wait as long as possible to give the skin time to absorb into the blood the vitamin D that forms in the oils of your skin. Gut imbalance will affect B12. Are you doing any probiotics, fermented foods etc?
I am low in Vit D also and I have been prescribed to take 50,000 IU’s 2x a week. I also am taking Cod Liver Oil daily, 2 tablets a day. Now I’m wondering if I should up that.
Does anyone know what inhibits Vit D absorption? I am also deficient in B12 and both of these deficiencies surprise me. Living in Arizona it is not hard to get enough sun during the day. We have very few cloudy days and I rarely wear sunscreen, only if I’m going to be out for a couple of hours. So, I’m thinking there most be something else going on that is inhibiting my D and B12 absorption. Thanks.
Thanks for discussing the diet at length ….I always foolishly thought that the macrobiotics diet and dependence on grains was a very good idea.I almost forgot about the consideration of vitamins D.
It’s so frustrating to me that people aren’t encouraged to take more vitamin D! A pregnant friend of mine told me that she knew that she had been tested as vitamin D deficient before she got pregnant, but when I suggested taking a supplement said that she would have to ask her doctor first! This woman is already on blood pressure medication during her pregnancy, why would she be afraid of Vitamin D supplement? And why wasn’t she prescribed one already!?
I am slowly turning my husband around to a traditional diet. I think it will be a while before he is totally on board, though. Thanks for another great post.
Hi Musings .. you should take 1.3 tsp of the fermented cod liver oil a day (this is 6-8 capsules I think) as this is about 4000 IU vitamin D and plenty of omega 3’s. You don’t need plain fish oil on top of this. 60 is a GREAT level. Congratulations as you are one of the few I know in the ideal range. My kids take the cinnamon fermented cod liver oil right off the spoon and take 1 tsp per day which is 3000 IU and a maintenance dose for a school age child. It’s up to you if you want to add D3 drops in the wintertime. I don’t down here but I’m in FL which has UVB rays year round. Philly is a different story so you will have to gauge this and decide yourself on that one.
Sarah, I’ve been reading Nora’s Primal book and reading her recommendations for cod liver oil, fish oil, vit D3 and K and A and how they work synergistically. I’m a bit confused.
I take fermented cod liver oil, 2 capsules a day. Last winter I was also taking 5000 of D3 and my levels tested at 60 which is good. Now I’m wondering if I need to add vit K. As I understand it, the cod liver oil has both A and D, so I don’t need more A??
Also, she says that fish oil is different – it is for omega 3 and cod liver oil is for D and A mostly. Do I need fish oil if we eat a lot of pastured meats and eggs? I’m thinking no.
I picked up fish oil “gummies” for the kids and they’ve been taking them (was confused at the time – thinking I was getting them cod liver oil or a comparable). Should I switch them to cod liver oil instead? And add D3 now that it’s wintertime?
*confused*
THANKS!
I’ve also heard she works out with a trainer who says “women should never lift weights of more than 3lbs” which is not only total B.S. but also not enough weight bearing exercise to encourage strong bones. Possibly a contributing factor to her osteopenia. I suppose this is all good evidence that “skinny” is not always healthy.
3 lbs, seriously?!! Wow that is the biggest load of bs I’ve ever heard. You will never build muscle or strength lifting only 3 lbs. And I’m guessing her trainer, whom I’ve heard of as a popular celebrity trainer for women, costs an absurd amount to go to.
I would also add that 20,000 IU may seem like a lot at first, but if you remember this is the vitamin D dose that you get in a bathing suit during just a brief (10-20) minute midday sun exposure then it doesn't seem like much at all and a daily dose of 3000-5000 IU via cod liver oil seems very normal for a maintenance dose.