Macrobiotics & the Great Smoking Myth

[Guest guest]

Macrobiotics & the Great Smoking Myth JoAnn Guest

Oct 22, 2005 18:59 PDT

 

 

Macrobiotics & the Great Smoking Myth

Originally published Oct. 2001 by Roy Collins

Collin-

 

http://www.cybermacro.com/Macrobiotic_Articles/CyberMacro/Macrobiotic

s_and_the_Great_Smoking_Myth_by_Roy_Collins/

 

 

Tobacco is a dirty weed. I like it.

 

It satisfies no normal need. I like it.

 

It makes you thin, it makes you lean,

 

It takes the hair right off your bean.

 

It's the worst darn stuff I've ever seen.

I like it.

 

-- G.L. Hemminger

Penn State Froth (1915)

 

I wonder if modern macrobiotic sage George Ohsawa was fully aware of

the health and environmental dangers caused by tobacco each time he

lit up a Kool cigarette to contemplate the order of the universe.

 

It also concerns me when I see other macrobiotic practitioners

smoking cigarettes while they are lecturing to various groups and

promoting the yin/yang approach to achieve balance of

body/mind/spirit in the natural world.

 

I wonder, and worry, about the children, who enter their lives under

the guidance and care of macrobiotic parents who smoke cigarettes

and exhale second-hand smoke in the same environment that they are

being reared in.

 

 

Maybe I have become a skeptic after 35 years of macrobiotic

practice, and maybe by the power of suggestion I will come to

believe that my

bladder cancer, which has been linked to long term cigarette

smoking, is just an illusion. Unfortunately I was born a realist.

 

Hopefully my personal story and research on the dangers of tobacco

smoke

will help encourage some macrobiotic readers to take a slightly

broader

view on the detrimental effects of tobacco smoking.

 

Maybe this will help to discourage the smoking habit, or at least

raise

ones awareness of how it affects and impacts other lives and the

environment itself.

 

The Sacred ( & Deadly) Nightshade

 

Nicotiana tabacum, better known to the layperson as tobacco, is a

plant

indigenous to the Americas. It is a member of the deadly nightshade

family of plants (Solanaceae) that produce the common potato,

eggplant,

potato, and such poisonous drugs as belladonna, datura, scopolamine,

and

hyoscyamine.

 

In simple macrobiotic terms, tobacco is an extremely yin botanical.

In

macrobiotic literature we are told to avoid using nightshade plants

because of this extreme of yin dominance.

 

It is believed that tobacco growing in the Americas began about

6,000

B.C. and by 1 B.C., American Indians began using tobacco in

religious

and medicinal practices. For Native Americans tobacco use was not a

personal habit or form of recreation but a ceremony reserved for

special

occasions. Indigenous tribes have various stories about the origin

of

tobacco and how it was given to the people as a gift from the spirit

world and encouraged using the plant in moderation to prevent its

abuse

and misuse.

 

Today, commercial development and misuse of the sacred tobacco plant

has

made it the leading preventable cause of death among Native peoples

in

the United States. According to the American Lung Association Fact

Sheet

on American Indians and Alaskan Natives and Tobacco (Sept, 2000),

among

racial and ethnic groups, the prevalence of current smoking is

highest

among American Indians/Alaskan Natives (34.1 percent), followed by

African Americans (26.7 percent), whites (25.3 percent), Hispanics

(20.4

percent) and Asians/Pacific Islanders (16.9 percent).

 

In 1826, the pure form of nicotine was first discovered and soon

thereafter, scientists concluded that nicotine was a dangerous

poison

that could kill a man -- a fact that already been established in the

late 1500's, after tobacco promoter Thomas Harriet died of nose

cancer

in Virginia.

Less than 100 years after Harriet's death, Italian biologist,

Francesco

Redi published a scientific study on oil of tobacco that detailed

the

lethal effects it had on the body. Redi's research was corroborated

nearly 300 years later, when Dr. Ernst L. Wynders found that putting

cigarette tar on the backs of mice caused tumors.

 

In 1849, Dr. Joel Shaw published " Tobacco: Its History, Nature, and

Effects on the Body and Mind " , and identified eighty-seven

conditions as

being tobacco-linked. Ten years later, cancer of the lip was found

to be

100% tobacco-correlated in a study by French Dr. Bouisson. From the

years 1879 through 1889 three cases were tried in two American

states

that argued the position that tobacco delivered a dangerous,

addictive

drug, nicotine (Carver v State, 69 Ind 61; 35 Am Rep 205, Nov 1879,

Mueller v State, 76 Ind 310; 40 Am Rep 245, May 1881, and State v

Ohmer,

34 Mo App 115, 5 Feb 1889).

 

In 1928, Drs. Herbert L. Lombard and Carl B. Doering

published " Cancer

Studies . . . Habits, Characteristics and Environment of Individuals

With and Without Cancer, " in the New England Journal of Medicine

(April

26, 1928 pps. 481-487). In this report, data was presented showing

that

among smokers of tobacco the percentage rates of premature death was

higher than among nonsmokers:

 

CANCER

SMOKERS' EXCESS

DEATH RATE

Bladder

60%

 

Cheek

100%

 

Esophagus

77%

 

Intestines

100%

 

Jaw

100%

 

Leg

50%

 

Lip

92%

 

Lung

100%

 

Miscellaneous

60%

 

Neck

83%

 

Pancreas

33%

 

Prostrate

100%

 

Rectum

88%

 

Stomach

82%

 

Throat

54%

 

Tongue

100%

 

 

 

Nicotine is a colorless, oily, liquid alkaloid, C10,H14,N2, that

constitutes the principal active constituent of tobacco. On exposure

to

air nicotine turns brown and it boils at 477 degrees F (247 C) under

a

pressure of 745 mm. Partial decomposition occurs at this

temperature. It

is soluble in water and completely miscible is alcohol, chloroform,

ether, and petroleum ether.

 

Nicotine affects the level of dopamine present in the brain at any

moment. Dopamine is the hormone that controls pleasure levels.

Dopamine

levels increase when nicotine is present.

 

Addiction occurs when the craving for pleasure levels rise.

Dependency

on nicotine is both from a physical as well as psychological level.

 

In its dried form tobacco contains 1 percent to 3 percent of the

drug

nicotine. In small doses it is a nerve stimulant, especially upon

the

autonomic nervous system, and thus promotes the flow of adrenaline

and

other internal secretions.

 

In larger doses, nicotine paralyzes the autonomic nervous system by

blocking the transmission of nerve impulses across the spaces

between

adjoining nerve cells.

 

Larger doses can cause convulsions and death. The fresh leaves of

the

tobacco plant are known to cause poisoning when consumed and blood

sucking leeches that attach to the skin of smokers have been known

to

drop dead from nicotine poisoning within a span of five minutes.

 

A single drop of pure nicotine is enough to kill you if it is on

your

skin.

 

The health hazards of nicotine were further compounded in 1910, when

lead arsenate, a by-product of arsenic, was introduced as a broad

spectrum pesticide for agricultural use.

Mixed together with together with oil, lead arsenate gave good

suppression of most pests, including the dozen or so insects that

thrived on large-sale tobacco farms. However, insects soon developed

resistance to the pesticide, and by the 1930s and 1940s, growers

were

spraying frequently and still losing crops to insects.

 

Arsenic is an insoluble poison that permanently poisons the soil. In

doses significantly larger than 1 grain (70 mg) arsenic causes

poisoning

in humans. In her book, Silent Spring, author/scientist Rachel

Carson

reported that cigarettes made from tobacco grown on farms that have

long

discontinued spraying with lead arsenate continue to show an

increase of

arsenic content – as much as 600 per cent more, as time passes.

 

This reason is due to the tobacco plants ability to pick up arsenate

of

lead from the soil and convert it into a soluble form.

 

During the 1940's to the 1950's, more modern " organic-based " broad

spectrum pesticides and herbicides were introduced to replace lead

arsenate in the United States. By the early 1960's, however, it was

found that this class of chemicals were not only ineffective in

controlling insects and weeds, but their residues began to kill off

large numbers of plant and animal species and poisoned wells and

waterways.

 

One of the most deadly of these pesticides was DDT (short for

dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane), a chlorinated hydrocarbon. At

first

the pesticide was considered to be safer than lead arsenate and it

proved successful in control of crops at lower costs. But then

resistance and resurgence of pests soon became a problem. As

resistance

to DDT grew, new types of pesticides were developed, including

organophosphates and carbamates.

 

Pests eventually developed resistance to those as well but the

largest

drawback of those classes of chemicals was that they were found to

be

more toxic to humans than the pesticides and herbicides used in the

past.

 

Despite its ban in the US in 1972, the effects of DDT continue to be

evident in wildlife populations according to biologists. Rachel

Carson

called these farm pesticides " elixirs of death " which come into

contact

with every human being in the world:

 

" They have been recovered from most of the major systems and even

from

the streams of groundwater flowing unseen through the earth.

Residues of

these chemicals linger in soil to which they may have been applied a

dozen years before.

 

They have entered and lodged in the bodies of fish, birds, reptiles,

and domestic and wild animals so universally that scientists

carrying on

animal experiments find it almost impossible to locate subjects free

from such contaminations. " (Silent Spring, p. 16).

 

John Elliot, a bird researcher with the Canadian Wildlife Service in

British Columbia has found DDT in bird's eggs with levels that are

higher than first reported 20-25 years ago. Tobacco and cotton

farming

used more DDT than any other crop from the time of its introduction

until its ban.

 

In 1988 the EPA reported that the ground water in 32 states had been

contaminated with seventy-four different agricultural chemicals.

Since

1962 farm use of pesticides has doubled to 1.1 billon tons a year –

an

estimated increase of 400 percent. Most of these are narrow-spectrum

pesticides with even higher toxicity than those which preceded them

and

have not been adequately tested.

 

According to Gary Ostrander, Hopkins professor of biology and

comparative medicine, and John Harshberger, a professor at George

Washington University who directs the Registry of Tumors in Lower

Animals, there is conclusive evidence that cancer exists throughout

the

phylogenetic tree.

 

Once the food chain becomes poisoned the domino effect begins and

within

a short time the food chain becomes poisoned everywhere.

 

How did Ohsawa justify the use of tobacco in light of the mass

destruction of life forms resulting from the spraying of lethal

chemicals on tobacco crops? In the Book of Judgment under the

chapter

titled " Supreme Judging Ability " , Ohsawa wrote that we should have

respect for all life, not just human life:

 

" To understand respect for life, one must first know life's order

and

then be able to practice it in order to realize longevity and

rejuvenescence, universal love and infinite indulgence, without

violence

or cruelty. " ( Book of Judgment, p. 108 )

 

 

 

(Photo courtesy of University of Michigan and NOAA/ Great Lakes

Environmental Research Laboratory)

 

Photos depicting large tumors on tiny animals (zooplankton) at the

base

of the food chain, found in one of the Great Lakes.

 

In 1964, two years before Ohsawa's death approximately 7000 articles

relating to smoking and disease prompted the Advisory Committee to

the

U.S. Surgeon General to conclude that cigarette smoking was the

cause of

lung and laryngeal cancer in men and a probable cause of lung cancer

in

women, and the most probable cause of bronchitis in both sexes.

Ohsawa

apparently didn't do his homework.

 

After these risks were published, a subsequent decline in smoking,

along

with the incidence of smoking-related cancers also declined. In

addition, age-adjusted death rates per 100,000 persons for heart

disease

decreased from 307.4 in 1950 to 134.6 in 1996. It was the period

between

1964-1992 when it was found that nearly 1.6 million deaths caused by

smoking were prevented (Wingo PA, Ries LA, Giovino GA, et al. Annual

report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1973-1996, and J Natl

Cancer Inst 1999;91:675-90.)

 

According to the Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for

Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, lung cancer was

rare

during the first decades of the 20th century, but as cigarette

smoking

became increasingly popular, the incidence of lung cancer became

epidemic. In 1930, the lung cancer death rate for men was 4.9 per

100,000; in 1990, the rate had increased to 75.6 per 100,000.

 

A Little More than Yellow & Gray

 

George Ohsawa did not give lengthy discourses on the pros and cons

of

tobacco smoking but what he did do, by way of demonstration, was to

show

that the gray smoke emitted from the front end of the cigarette was

yin,

and the yellow smoke from the rear was yang.

 

He probably wasn't aware that more than 3,000 chemicals are present

in

tobacco smoke, including at least 60 known carcinogens such as

nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

 

That information was not well publicized during Ohsawa's life. If

so, I

wonder if he would have endorsed smoking as does his disciple,

Michio

Kushi, who smokes the Marlboro brand and is aware of tobacco

ingredients.

 

Do any macrobiotics today really think we are going to believe that

the

yang fire from a match will fully neutralize these powerful poisons

as

yellow smoke is inhaled and the gray smoke is left to linger in the

environment?

 

It is the burning tobacco coal that just so happens to make the

nicotine

delivery system (and other toxins) transferable.

 

Ohsawa was a smart guy, no doubt, and his lifetime experiences are

legendary.

 

But it takes a lot more than smarts and experience to know that some

of

the invisible compounds in cigarette smoke become carcinogenic only

after they are activated by specific enzymes found in many tissues

in

the body. It takes dedicated research and a precise means for

measuring

and analyzing how these activated compounds can become part of DNA

molecules which interfere with the normal growth of cells.

 

Other scientific findings indicate that when a cigarette is smoked,

about half of the smoke generated is sidestream smoke. This " gray "

colored smoke contains essentially the same compounds as those

identified in the mainstream " yellow " smoke inhaled by the smoker.

 

Combined together these two types of smoke produce ETS

(Environmental

Tobacco Smoke) whose chemicals include substances that irritate the

lining of the lung and other tissues, carcinogens, mutagens, and

developmental toxicants.

 

Tobacco smoke is known to contain at least 60 carcinogens, including

formaldehyde and benzo[a]pyrene, and six developmental toxicants,

including nicotine and carbon monoxide. Perhaps most damaging of

them

all is carbon monoxide.

 

Carbon monoxide (CO) attaches to the red blood cells that transport

oxygen to each living cell throughout the body. As levels of CO rise

in

the lungs from smoke inhalation, chemical strangulation occurs and

metabolism begins to shut down.

 

The benzene group of compounds is known to cause cancer. Benzene

poisoning can also produce Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

(AIDS)

and when it gets into bone marrow it can cause leukemia.benzene.

 

The aldehyde compounds are also unstable solvents in tobacco smoke

that

combine quickly with other chemicals. When formic acid and aldehyde

combine they become lethal free radicals and damage DNA wherever it

comes into contact.

 

Studies dating from the 1970s have consistently shown that children

and

infants exposed to ETS in the home have significantly elevated rates

of

respiratory symptoms and respiratory tract infections.

 

These findings prompted recommendations that ETS be eliminated from

the

environment of small children.

 

In adults, ETS can worsen existing pulmonary symptoms for people

with

asthma and chronic bronchitis, as well as for people with allergic

conditions. Eye irritation, sore throat, nausea, and hoarseness are

also

common complaints.

 

What we now know about ETS is that nonsmokers who are exposed to it

absorb nicotine and other compounds just as smokers do. As the

exposure

to ETS increases, the levels of these harmful substances in the body

increase as well.

 

In 1986, two reports were published that correlated ETS exposure and

the

adverse health effects in nonsmokers: one was by the U.S. Surgeon

General and the other by the Expert Committee on Passive Smoking,

National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NAS/NRC).

 

The findings in these reports concluded that: 1) ETS can cause lung

cancer in healthy adult nonsmokers 2) Children of parents who smoke

have

more respiratory symptoms and acute lower respiratory tract

infections,

as well as evidence of reduced lung function, than do children of

nonsmoking parents;

and 3) That separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air

space

may reduce but does not eliminate a nonsmoker's exposure to ETS.

 

 

 

Photo on left shows lung with Emphysema. The one on the right has

 

cancer. Both are directly tied to cigarette smoke.

 

The EPA later confirmed the above findings in its own study on the

respiratory health effects of ETS and decided to classify ETS as a

Group

A carcinogen—a category reserved only for the most dangerous

cancer-causing agents in humans.

 

More recent studies and the EPA's report point to a 20 percent

increased risk of lung cancer in nonsmokers due to ETS.

 

In response to evidence that ETS causes diseases beyond lung cancer

and

respiratory problems in children, the California Environmental

Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) conducted a comprehensive assessment of

the

range of health effects connected with ETS exposure. The results of

this

project were published in 1999 by the National Cancer Institute as

part

of its Smoking and Tobacco Control monograph series. These are the

results:

 

Low birth weight or small for gestational age.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Acute lower respiratory tract infections in children.

Asthma induction and exacerbation in children.

Chronic respiratory symptoms in children.

Eye and nasal irritation in adults.

Middle ear infections in children Lung Cancer.

Nasal Sinus Cancer Heart disease mortality.

Acute and chronic coronary heart disease morbidity.

ETS has also been linked with other cancers, including those in the

nasal sinus cavity, cervix, breast, and bladder. Other health

effects

that were found to be possibly associated with ETS included:

spontaneous

abortion; adverse impact on cognition and behavior during child

development; exacerbation of cystic fibrosis, and decreased lung

function.

 

Natural Tobacco – Close but no Cigar!

 

Recently I talked to two long-time macrobiotic adherents who just so

happened to also be long-time cigarette smokers. Both of these

middle-aged men smoked what they called " natural tobacco " , a product

that is supposedly free from chemical pesticides and which contain

no

additives. Not to my surprise, each man defended the use of

cigarettes

believing that it was not the tobacco that was harmful but rather

the

chemicals.

 

This is an interesting viewpoint, but nicotine alone had been

established an addictive chemical poison and carcinogen prior to the

use

of chemical pesticides.

There is no argument about commercial cigarettes containing numerous

additives -- around 600 in fact, with over 100 derived from

nutritious

fruits, herbs, and amino acids.

 

Since natural tobacco does not contain these ingredients, which

tends

to lower the accumulation of poisonous toxins, then higher

concentrations of tar and nicotine are found in these cigarettes, as

well as greater levels of toxic agents such as carbon monoxide,

hydrogen

cyanide, ammonia and carcinogenic hydrocarbons that occurs in ETS.

 

Cigars, likewise, contain fewer additives than cigarettes, and

because

of this they contain higher amounts of nicotine and carcinogens.

Cigarette smoke contains approximately 11 milligrams of nicotine

while a

cigar may contain as much as 444 milligrams.

 

Cigars give off five times as much tar and 25 times more carbon

monoxide

than a cigarette. One does not need to be rocket scientist to see

why

cigar smokers have higher rates of cancer than other smokers.

 

Last year, when I was first diagnosed with bladder cancer, I met a

retired war veteran who was afflicted with the exact same form of

cancer

as mine. He is 90 years old, blind, suffers from diabetes and eats

the

standard American diet (SAD). He was also a heavy cigar smoker. In

the

early 1960's he was diagnosed with bladder cancer by a Navy doctor

in

Bethesda, who advised him to quit smoking. After a few treatments

and

annual check ups this old fellow has remained cancer free for nearly

40

years.

 

My doctor asked me if I had been a smoker, and told me that nearly

all

bladder cancer in men is caused by cigarette smoking, usually in

combination with other environmental toxins. Its effects are

cumulative

and once we begin to age our immune systems naturally weaken and

white

blood cells cannot fully recognize and fight abnormal cells in

bladder

tissue.

 

It would thus appear, in theory anyway, that a strong immune system

plays a key role in cancer prevention, treatment, and recovery. Of

course avoiding the primary toxins that cause abnormal cell growth

would

also play a major role in prevention.

 

Some of the macrobiotic literature recommends the daily use of

strong

miso soup with seaweed to help clean out accumulated nicotine

residuals

in the bodies of individual's that smoke.

 

There is probably a kernel of truth in this observation in that miso

is

made from cultured soybeans which are high in phytochemicals that

contain powerful antioxidants.

In my particular case, however, miso proved ineffective due largely

to

the reason that miso is heavily salted, and aged. Because bladder

cancer

is usually formed by a combination of both strong yin and strong

yang

this would indicate a need to restrict excessive salt use. A cup of

fresh, organic cultured soymilk (unsalted) however, would offer the

greatest amount of bioavailability for the antioxidants that fight

against tumor formation.

 

A tumor can usually grow only to about 2 centimeters in the bladder

and

then begins to grow vessels into the bladder wall where it can

anchor,

feed and continue to grow.

This process is called angiogenesis. The soybean is one of the only

botanical forms known to have anti-angiogenetic properties.

 

Over the past few months I have experimented with culturing home

made

organic soymilk combined with amesake and small amounts of fresh

fruit,

local herbs and rice syrup.

Since using this product I have been able to regain most of the 30

lbs I

lost after two hospitalizations.

 

Tofu, on the other hand, is not cultured and is over refined and

should

not be used in excess by macrobiotics anywhere.

 

Marijuana also contains many of the same cancer-causing compounds as

tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations. Studies show that

someone

who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-

causing

chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.

Of course this drug, unlike nicotine, is illegal and therefore taboo

in

macrobiotic circles, right? I wonder what a macrobiotic would eat if

he/she were stricken with an attack of the " munchies " after smoking

a

couple of joints…

 

A brief review of the history of medicine shows us that medicine is

constantly changing to fit the needs of people as societies change.

In

remote regions and more ancient times when life and technology were

more

simplified, medicines were also simple and naturally derived.

Though time, as societies become more complex and technical,

medicine

also needs to be adjusted. Sometimes the human body is so divorced

from

the natural world around it that powerful drugs and surgeries are

required to bring under control specific diseases caused by improper

diet and harsh environmental conditions.

 

As macrobiotics living in a hostile and highly mechanized world,

filled

with carcinogens and industrial waste, we witness mass suicide

taking

place in a subliminal manner – especially through the commercial

food

and water supply, the lifeline creating/maintaining the human body.

 

Even the most health-conscious in our small group of macrobiotic

practitioners is not immune to the discharge of invisible toxins

carried

in the air from factories, airplanes, aerosol sprays, auto

emissions,

and other invisible environmental pollutants. If we happen to smoke

a

joint at a party or drink a few beers, or get stuck by a hypodermic

filled with heroin, our bodies naturally feel their results.

Macrobiotics has certain limitations than cannot be overlooked.

Allopathic medicine has its place as well and I am grateful for it.

I

remain alive today because of it. Until we are able to STOP

pollution of

our bodies and planet at the source then we are quite likely to see

the

need for drastic methods of treatment continue.

 

We are flesh and blood people -- not superhuman, and our body

tissues,

organs, body functions and systems are real and alive. If no one has

yet

figured it out, let me be the first to spill the beans –

macrobiotics do

get sick, get into accidents, get divorced, get cancer, get Anthrax,

slain by terrorists, go bald and die in wars and earthquakes.

DNA and inherited predisposition to specific diseases also plays a

huge

role in our destiny on earth. In my case the Number 7 (brown rice

diet)

did not work, neither did the highly restrictive diet generously

provided by the Kushi group.

 

In fact, after 3 months of a specific, focused and restrictive

macrobiotic regime my urologist discovered that my tumors had grown

at a

faster rate than previously, with the flexible macrobiotic diet I

had

been living with!

 

Traditional was virtually useless, but I have felt

results from the single herb called Astragulus. I boil 4 or 5 slices

in

with kukicha tea and drink this 5 times daily. It is said to be a

powerful immune system enhancer.

 

We can protect ourselves only to a certain degree from what

transpires

on our planet. We are all walking around with various levels of

lead,

mercury, radioactive strontium-90 fallout and DDT from a past age.

What we find offensives about our world we try to right by standing

together and speaking out against the threats. Hence, I do so

against

tobacco, chemical pesticides, GMO foods, pollution and waste, and

against discrimination in all forms. Smoking cigarettes is an

endorsement of " disrespect for life " !

 

Most macrobiotic smokers are deeply entrenched in the belief that

tobacco smoking is a harmless yang form of pleasure, but the facts I

have presented state otherwise. I am fully convinced that the

statistics

offered are also reliable and not part of a propaganda campaign as

one

of my colleagues has suggested.

 

It may be true that there is a very strong yang component in

cigarettes

but there is 500 times more extreme yin to offset the yang!

 

After two or three cigarettes the tar and residuals from tobacco

smoke

begin to make the blood acidic. This acid requires yang minerals to

buffer its effects.

 

These minerals are supplied primarily by the calcium in bones. The

correlation between osteoporosis and tobacco, as well as depletion

of

other vitamins (especially C) is also well documented. Smoking is no-

win

situation – a dead end street.

 

Hopefully this information will serve to broaden the views some

macrobiotics have on smoking and it will encourage them to

discourage

tobacco use. Maybe I will reach just one, and he/she, in turn, will

pass

the word and this word I pray will help to save another from

needless

suffering and premature death.

 

This article is dedicated to the memory of George Harrison, former

Beatle, vegetarian, and long-time smoker who died this week from

cancer

of the lung, throat, and brain. He was 58.

 

 

Author of Fire Over Heaven.

 

On the Origin, interpretations, and

Evolution of the Yin/Yang Dialectic and I Ching Details Here