macrobiotics (the macrobiotic way; formerly called "Zen Macrobiotics")

Quasireligious movement and health-centered lifestyle whose centerpiece is a mystical form of vegetarianism. The thrust of macrobiotic nutrition is regulation of the intake of two alleged elementary forms of energy: yin and yang. Categorizing a food as yin or yang depends largely on characteristics directly cognizable by the senses and is unrelated to nutrient content. Proponents ascribe the modern version of macrobiotics either to Ishizuka Sagen (1850-1910), a Japanese physician and author of A Chemical Nutritional Theory of Long Life, or to George Ohsawa (1893-1966), whose names included: Georges Ohsawa, Nyoichi (also spelled "Nyoiti") Sakurazawa, and Yukikazu Sakurazawa. The leading exponent of macrobiotics is Michio Kushi.