Customer Reviews

You Are All Sanpaku

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This was an interesting read. This book was read by many of my friends back in the sixties who went on to adopt a macrobiotic diet and stuck with it all these years. After reading this book recently I was sufficiently inspired to try Ohsawa's ten day brown rice fast. My main motive was curiosity about Ohsawa's claims for a rapid increase in physical well-being, as well as for the promise of a remarkable sense of mental clarity by the end of ten days. I was also excited about the promise of rapid weight loss which is claimed by many who have done this fast. The first part of the book also includes an extended testimonial by the translator in support of Ohsawa's beliefs.

So, having just completed the ten day fast, which consists of consuming only brown rice and bancha tea, I will tell you first the good news. First I should mention that I am in my fifties, in good health, and would like to lose about twenty pounds. My normal diet is omnivorous although I try to avoid too many processed foods. I really didn't have any problem with the ten day fast since I happen to like brown rice although eating it exclusively gets to be old after a few days. I didn't experience any of the withdrawal symptoms described by some, including the translator, perhaps because I normally drink decaf coffee.

So, on the positive side, I was surprised that I didn't experience any of the cravings for sweets or salty, fatty foods that I've typically experienced on other diets. In my mind this seems to support Ohsawa's belief that brown rice is a balanced food that in itself contains the optimal proportions of most nutrients. (I should mention that I did continue to take a multivitamin daily). I think it was this absence of cravings that made the fast relatively easy for me.

Contrary to claims, however, I actually gained weight! Not much, just a pound or so, but I certainly didn't lose any. I think this is probably due to the fact that two cups of plain cooked brown rice has close to 500 calories. When you eat this three times a day you can do the math and see that for someone trying to lose weight this is probably too many calories. Unfortunately, when it comes to weight loss, it's still just calories in and calories out. No magic here. I will say, though, that my macrobiotic friends are, for the most part, skinny! I think this is because the regular macrobiotic diet (not the fast) is very low in fat (Ohsawa says no more than two tablespoons of oil per day), and includes lots of green vegetables which have a lot of bulk and practically no calories.

I also didn't experience any of the "highs" in my physical or mental state reported by others and claimed by Ohsawa. I just felt normal, nothing unusual. I didn't experience any extra energy, any unusual mental clarity, nor anything else out of the ordinary for me. I guess I was a little disappointed by that. I'll go out on a limb here and say that I've noticed that for my macrobiotic friends this diet has somewhat the character of a religion. Perhaps people predisposed to religious feeling are more likely to have such experiences as are claimed by adherents to this diet.

Finally, I'll mention that the people I know who've followed macrobiotic diets for twenty to thirty years have been plagued with the same amount of health problems (maybe a little more) as the average population - allergies, cancer, you name it. It doesn't seem to me that the health claims Ohsawa makes really stand up to scrutiny. On the other hand, maybe if they hadn't been eating macrobiotic diets they would be even sicker! Who knows? And one more problem (I guess this would be a matter of interpretation) is that people who eat this diet for a while seem (they claim) to feel sick if they eat something that is not macrobiotic (for example, a cookie or a piece of cheese). Maybe eating a very restricted diet for an extended period reduces the body's ability to adapt to a wide range of foods. Macrobiotic people would claim that they feel sick when eating a piece of cheese because cheese is bad for you. But I think a case could be made for other explanations.

Having said all this, I still think Ohsawa's book is an interesting read. It gives an introduction to the concept of yin and yang that made me want to learn more. I was also intrigued to learn more about the relationship between sodium and potassium that he mentions is somehow central to his ideas, yet he doesn't really explain it. Can anyone out there can explain this or point to further reading on this topic?

The long, fascinating introduction to this Macrobiotic classic was written by the translator, from French: William Dufty, in 1965. The book was originally published under George Ohsawa's Japanese name, by University Press, and has been reprinted by two publishers. It is by far the most readable introduction to Macrobiotics, and is far more accessible than Ohsawa's ZEN MACROBIOTICS, which appeared in its standard revised edition the same year. Dedicated and addressed to 35 named international celebrities, only a very few of whom are still alive in 1999, this was a prophetic book that remains more vital than ever, as the biological degeneration of humanity has accelerated in the last three and a half decades!

After working with all the later books on macrobiotic health practices, I was fortunate to find a copy of George (Nyoti) Ohsawa's book "You are all Sanpaku." He convinced me of the need for the 10-day brown rice regime, and I began the fast gladly. (I had been dragging my feet in this area while learning to cook all over again.)

Health versus disease suddenly becomes very clear while turning the pages. If the Standard American Diet - of denatured, processed carbs, meats, and dairy, and foods which have been irridiated, microwaved, and stripped of nutrients - has not ruined your health yet, just wait. Most of us are sanpaku from birth. Once you know what to look for, you will see it in people everywhere. The chapter on sexual health is mind-boggling for all of us who have settled for ill-health.

We must start with physical health. Mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being will follow. We can take the necessary steps if we have the understanding. This book creates the understanding. Find out why we are all sanpaku.

This is the 'bible' for symptoms of both good and bad health. I read this while working part-time in high school at a health food store, back when patrons were referred to as 'health-nuts'! I am longer in life now and returning to 'Oriental' medicine. This book will change your awareness of your health, if not your life.

I was into MB in the 60's but like many things it fell to the wayside when I got married and my wife had no interest. That made it too difficult at the time to continue my diet/lifestyle...but 25 years later...I developed issues with my health from anemia to high blood pressure and this went on for years with B-12 shots monthly to Atenenol for the high BP.
I decided it may be time to go back and try macrobiotics and the first book I bought was "You Are All Sanpaku" b/c thats the book I remembered.
The book wasn't just about diet per se...it was a really good read. Very interesting and inspirational even if you have no desire to get into MB at which point you may stop reading at the part where it becomes more technical by Mr. Oshawa.
I was ready to start with the 10 day rice "cleansing". Its NOT a fast and its not a diet. Its a "cleansing".
Its true that after the first few days you become very bored with nothing but brown rice but that in itself spoke to me. It had a message about eating and what thats all about. It was about chewing my foods not five bites and a swallow. It made me become more aware and not to take things for granted in my eating "habits".
In MB you are taught to pulverize your foods to liquid before you swallow. Why don't most people? Why do we keep shoveling foods in our mouth and swallow it before its completely chewed up? MAkes no sense b/c all we're going to do is shovel more in...so finish what you've got in your mouth first!
I felt no ephoria or had any epiphonies during my 10 days but what i did do was extended the 10 days into 14. It just felt right to me. At that point I started incorporating a new diet/lifestyle slowly. I emptied out two cabinets in my kitchen that were just for MY foods. My wofe still has no interest..oh well.
Its been about two years now. I did loose about 30# during the 10day cleansing but I was also exercising a bit more than usual as well.
Two years later the update is..my blood pressure is PERFECT and in spite of my MD telling me people don't usually stop being anemic....that too is gone and my levels are perfect..in fact my doctor wanted to know what I was doing that made such a drastic change in my health...I toild him I live a macrobiotic lifestyle now...he asked me if that meant all I do now is eat veggies...lol...dope...lol.

I'm making no claims about MB's...maybe my conditions cleared up on their own but I sorta doubt it.
It did take about 6-12 months for me to get out of all my old habits and into MB's but atthis point "normal" foods pretty much disgust me to even look at.
I eat zero processed foods, mostly organic foods and I balance my sodium/potassium intakes..I eat seasonal and local foods.I eat no red meat or poultry..no cheese..none of that stuff...I do however eat fish but thats it in the animal dept.
Grains, vegtables and some fish.
I love macrobiotics...but thats just me..to each their Ommmmm : )
Be well

Five Stars!! This book nearly jumped into my hands off the shelf of a second hand bookstore decades ago. The title "You Are All Sanpaku" seemed to indicate that it was a fictional novel, but it is a work of non-fiction that has come back to haunt my thoughts over and over. The notion that people with the whites of their eyes exposed on the sides and bottom above the lower lid are not only ill, but ill-fated? Preposterous!! And a diet can correct it? HogWash!! But....

But when Teddy Kennedy had his woes over and over, and when actress Natalie Wood died in a boating accident of strange circumstances at a young age, an alarm bell went off and I went into packed boxes of books in the closet and found the book. No storm, no sniper, right under the nose of her husband and Natalie was as Sanpaku as they come. This book is one of the few that has survived over the years and pulled me back to re-read those opening pages before it gets down to the diet. Can it be true? The names continue to reverberate on the list of the Sanpaku:

John F. Kennedy, RFK, Stan Getz, Dorothy Malone, Adam Clayton Powell, Jackie Gleason, J. Edgar Hoover, Roy Cohn, Bette Davis, Sid Caesar, Jackie Gleason, Edward G. Robinson, Soyora, Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Malone, Willy Brandt, Francoise Sagan, and so on and so on. Some of whom did indeed run up against tough times or even unusual or untimely deaths. I'm not Sanpaku so I haven't really tried the diet. I am surprised that I'm the first reviewer to comment on the physical aspects of being Sanpaku and the part about fate. I'm sure the diet is nice but this is way beyond a mere diet.

Read the book and decide for yourself. Just don't throw it away, you'll need it for reference and to update the Sanpaku list. Five SPOOKY Stars!