George Ohsawa

"You are what you eat." Nothing else. Never. If you are nourished with cow's milk and later with herbs, you'll become someone whose whole life is good only for being exploited by others.

George Ohsawa (October 18, 1893 – April 23, 1966), born Yukikazu Sakurazawa (桜沢 如一), was the founder of the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy. When living in Europe he went by the pen names of Musagendo Sakurazawa, Nyoiti Sakurazawa, and Yukikazu Sakurazawa. He also used the French first name Georges while living in France, and his name is sometimes also given this spelling.

Quotes

• "You are what you eat." Nothing else. Never. If you are nourished with cow's milk and later with herbs, you'll become someone whose whole life is good only for being exploited by others.
  • Atomic Age - And the Philosophy of the Far East (1977), p. 53

Essential Ohsawa - From Food to Health, Happiness to Freedom - Understanding the Basics of Macrobiotics (1994)

He who thinks that macrobiotic living is merely a cure for physical ailments, however, can never rea be helped. It is not a new medicine to stop pain or suffering, but rather a teaching that goes to the source of pain and eradicates it.

Chewing transforms even toxins into nutritive substances.

Essential Ohsawa is a compilation of several works of Ohsawa, edited by Carl Ferré and Herman Aihara.

• Sickness is the first warning that we have made a wrong judgement. A healthy person is never unhappy."
  • p. 77

• He who thinks that macrobiotic living is merely a cure for physical ailments, however, can never rea be helped. It is not a new medicine to stop pain or suffering, but rather a teaching that goes to the source of pain and eradicates it.
  • p. 81

• Some people think that macrobiotic philosophy is no more than the teaching of a diet - the eating of brown rice, carrots, and gomashio (sesame salt), others imagine that it is summed up in the statement, "Don't eat cake and sugar." How far from the truth!
  • p. 82

• Macrobiotic living is the process of changing ourselves so that we can eat anything we like without fear of becoming ill; it enables us to live a joyful life during which we can achieve anything we choose."
  • p. 82

• Chewing transforms even toxins into nutritive substances.
  • p. 97
  • Ohsawa used this as metaphor to describe how to read books.

Quotes about George Ohsawa

• Ohsawa liked to shock people in order to move them to action. Thus, his writing can be extreme at times.
  • Carl Ferré, in preface to "Essential Ohsawa - From Food to Health, Happiness to Freedom - Understanding the Basics of Macrobiotics", p. xiii

• His writing on diet was written with the French in mind. Ohsawa had observed that no matter how limited he made his dietary suggestions, the French always cheated and ate a broader range of foods. Thus, he made a dietary suggestion of brown rice, gomashio (sesame salt), and a little bancha tea only. This diet became known as diet number seven and was to be used for short times as with a fast. When this diet was brought to the United States, however, Americans were able to follow it without cheating and for long and, at times, dangerous periods of time.
  • Carl Ferré, in preface to "Essential Ohsawa - From Food to Health, Happiness to Freedom - Understanding the Basics of Macrobiotics", p. xiii