News from Marlene M. Marcello

Happy Spring!

Welcome to The Rays of Hope E-newsletter! We connect you with research, information, and practitioners in the nutrition and holistic health communities. We strive to be a powerful connection and resource for holistic practitioners, medical professionals, and everyone interested in holistic practices and plant-based nutrition.

Our goal is to "better your life" by connecting you to the world of integrative health.

In our February newsletter,we highlighted Dr Neal Barnard's book on diabetes, Dr Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes and the latest studies that show a link between animal food consumption and the onset of diabetes. Because of the "epidemic" status of diabetes in America, we will continue to offer information (see below) to our readers and anyone they decide to forward this month's newsletter to.

After meeting an extraordinary couple, Sanae Suzuki and Eric Lechasseur at the Health Classics Conference in Santa Barbara CA last Fall, I am devoting much of this newsletter to Sanae's remarkable life story (survivor of ovarian cancer and a near-fatal car accident); their culinary skills along with their wonderful restaurant venture, "Seed"in Venice Beach, CA.
We invite you to send us your stories about your illness and/or recovery, feedback on this newsletter or any general ideas you might have for us. We also invited holistic health professionals to express their views and promote their studies. RAYS OF HOPE is published monthly. Lastly, check out our blog for frequent updates, news and stories.

Peace, love, and good health.
Marlene
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Sanae Suzuki

AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR, CHEF, MACROBIOTIC COUNSELOR AND EDUCATOR, is a survivor of ovarian cancer and a near-fatal car accident. Sanae has studied with Michio Kushi, world leader of Macrobiotic education, and has completed all four levels at the Kushi Institute in Becket, MA. She holds a certificate of recognition from the Kushi Institute International for macrobiotic teaching. She is also co-author of Love, Eric & Sanae and co-owner of the organic, vegan macrobiotic café "Seed" in Venice, California.

Below are some excerpts and quotes from the interview with Sanae.

"I got sick in 1993. [At the time, Sanae was still recovering from a divorce and her father's death from liver cancer, and was eating badly without knowing it]
It was ovarian cancer, and that shocked me. The doctor said I had a very aggressive cancer and I must go back to Japan right away to have either surgery or treatment. I had no medical insurance at that time, and I didn't know what to do.
"My best friend, my boyfriend Eric Lechasseur, who is my husband now, he said maybe he can help me. 'I can cook for you, you know, because I know a little bit about macrobiotic''
"Yes, I was very weak. But with Eric's warm, kind support, I said, "Maybe I can do this". So I started taking cooking classes [with Cecile Levin]. I used to lay down while she was teaching class, because I was so weak. But I took notes . . . and showed Eric what to do."
"And slowly but gradually I started getting better . . . no treatment beside eating macrobiotic food." . . . about two more years it took and completely I was in remission, that I was recovered, I was healed. And I started teaching classes."
"Then 2001, I was just finishing my completion of Level 4 at the Kushi Institute, with Michio Kushi, [returning home] I had a severe car accident in Arizona. I was in a coma for three days and I had an out-of-body experience . . . I'm sure I was trying to go to Heaven, later on, I saw my deceased father from the past, from before he had cancer, and he welcomed me . . . I said to him, "I got to go back . . . I feel I need to go".
"The last part I want to share, this is a quote from Albert Einstein: "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle". . . This quote I saw just before I had the car accident . . . And then I wrote it down in the notebook, when I saw this, two hours before the car accident, and then when I came back, that note, that page was missing. So I must have left that page in heaven!"

For the complete interview with Sanae please go to my blog

HEALTHY EATING CONNECTION: Miso Soup

A DELICIOUS RECIPE FROM THIS MONTH'S FEATURED BOOK, LOVE, SANAE
Miso soup is the "staff of life". In Japan, miso soup is very traditional,
and yet it is still considered a nutritionally important,
modern staple food.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS
For the soup:
4 cups of kombu dashi (recipe on page 215)
1 cup onion, thinly sliced
½ cup carrots, sliced into rounds or julienned
1 collard or kale leaf, cut into ½-inch pieces, stems chopped separately
4 teaspoons barley miso
2 tablespoons scallion, parsley, chives or watercress, chopped or minced, for garnish

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, combine the kombu dashi and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and add the carrots.
Simmer until carrots and onions are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Add the green stems and simmer for 1 minute. Add green leaves and simmer for another minute. In a suribachi or bowl, combine the miso and 1/4 cup of soup broth from the pot. Combine until creamy. Gently stir mixture into the soup and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste soup and add more miso if needed, but not so much that the soup becomes too salty. Miso should mingle with the flavor of the soup and enhance but
not overpower it. Reduce flame to very low so it does not boil.
(Do not boil miso as the beneficial bacteria and enzymes will be destroyed by intense heat.) Transfer to serving bowls and sprinkle with garnish.

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READING CONNECTION:
Love, Sanae:
Healing Vegan Macrobiotic Cooking (paperback)

This is an excellent book for anyone beginning a macrobiotic diet and gaining a good foundation of understanding macrobiotic principles. Long time vegans and/or anyone already practising macrobiotics will also truly appreciate this book as there are so many delicious and beautiful dishes. This book is visually beautiful, the photography is truly artwork and the recipes are very clearly explained and easy to follow. There are many photographs so that you can see what a dish will look like. Dietary adjustments for the seasons are clearly marked and explained. The purpose of medicinal beverages, how to make them and their beneficial effects are clearly explained. Everyone should have this cookbook as a handy reference and for inspiration to follow a vegan lifestyle. Sanae explains her healing journey with truthfulness, kindness and wisdom. Her moving story contains useful information of what others may experience with a changeover to this macrobiotic lifestyle. Sanae's courage and heart come through - this is a most excellent book!

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MEDICAL CONNECTION: What's Contributing to Obesity?

Oils, Meat, Cheese, Ice Cream

An increase in childhood obesity reflects increased intake of oils, meat, cheese, and frozen desserts, according to a new PCRM study that will be published next month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Neal Barnard, M.D., looked at food availability data maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1909 to 2007. Oil intake increased from 35 pounds to more than 86 pounds per person per year. Meat intake rose from 123 pounds to more than 200 pounds per person per year (with a greater than six fold increase in chicken and turkey intake alone). In 2007, Americans also ate nine times more cheese and 16 times more frozen desserts than they did in 1909. Since 1970 (no prior data available), sweetener consumption doubled, mostly from carbonated beverages. Other long-term trends include decreased grain consumption, decreased fluid milk consumption, and increased fruit (mostly juices) and vegetable intake.
Barnard ND. Trends in food availability, 1909-2007. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91(suppl):1S-7S.