Macrobiotic diet: attention danger!
The macrobiotic diet would affect the intellectual development of children subjected to this type of diet. The vitamin B12 deficiency, because of the lack of meat in the diet is the main accused.
The macrobiotic diet is based on the oriental complementarily between yin and yang. This concept also applies to food. Cereals, for example, are in balanced and are the basis of the scheme. Fruits, dairy products, sugar is very yin and therefore harmful.
Cereal first!
The scheme macrobiotic meat is not totally banned but it is very often rejected. The extent of forbidden foods depends on the degree to which the follower. The strictest is also composed of 100% crop.
A Netherlands study on 72 adolescents of similar age and social backgrounds who have followed the same but different diets during their childhood has been conducted to assess the impact of this type of diet on cognitive abilities.
When cheese equal brainpower
The first group followed a macrobiotic diet until age 6 then a lacto-vegetarian (with dairy). The second group, following a macrobiotic diet, has adopted a classic omnivore diet. The third was a control group that has always consumed a varied diet. Blood tests on the vitamin B12 status have been achieved. Only the first group of this deficit, the other two have satisfactory results. This seems logical since vitamin B12 is present in foods of animal origin, particularly in meat.
Intelligence tests “fluid”
A year later, the same dose was repeated with the same results. It is associated with a series of tests to assess what the authors call intelligence “fluid” that is to say, learning ability, problem-solving and abstract reasoning. The first group of teenagers are always levels of vitamin B12 and low show “underachievers” tests. This would tend to show a correlation between levels of vitamin B12 and intelligence “fluid”. Secondly, and equally disturbing, the introduction of childhood dairy products, does not seem to change the status in vitamin B12. In contrast, the deficit is easily compensated with meat.
Risk of stunting
This study confirms that food exclusion diets are not benign in children, quite the contrary.They may be responsible, among other things, stunting. But it also seems they may have an impact on the intellect. If this is confirmed, parents should really think before they impose their philosophical beliefs, environmental … to their offspring.