Kushi, L.H., Cunningham, J.E., Hebert, J.R., Lerman,

¶ … Kushi, L.H., Cunningham, J.E., Hebert, J.R., Lerman, R.H., Bander, E.V., and Teas, J. (2001, November 1). The macrobiotic diet in cancer. Journal of Nutrition, 131 (11), 3056S-3064S.

Author credentials. While we don't learn all the author credentials from the article details, the Principle Investigator, Lawrence Kushi, is affiliated with Columbia University.

The author affiliations, in order of authors as listed in the reference, are as follows:

Program in Nutrition, Department of Health & Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY;

Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY;

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC;

The Institute for Functional Medicine and Functional Medicine Research Center, Metagenics, Inc., Gig Harbor, WA;

Department of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; and Department of Health Promotion, Research and Education, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

The guest editors for the symposium publication -- which was an outcome of the conference at which the paper was presented (see below) -- were Ritva R. Butrum and Helen A. Norman, of the American Institute for Cancer Research, Washington, DC. The article was published by The American Society for Nutritional Sciences.

Scientific approach. The scientific rigor applied to the research is evident -- the methodology is a meta-review of relevant literature. Individual cases reported in the literature are included in the review, along with the published findings of larger scale research studies. The cases and studies reviewed for this article appear to be balanced in terms of representation and focus on types of cancers.

Recommendations. The findings are inconclusive, in part because of the broad scope of the article focus. Studies have indicated association of macrobiotic diets to low incidences of cancer, and the article duly notes this. Further, the authors suggest that randomized studies may not be the best way to study the phenomenon as individual levels of motivation and interest may not be accurately reflected -- though these variables can have a strong influence over the outcomes. As the authors note, studies are currently underway to address the role of self-selection of macrobiotic diets in disease prevention.

The research was supported in part by grants RR09472 and AT00090 from the National Institutes of Health and by cooperative agreement U48/CCU409664 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Importantly, the disclosures include this statement: "The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The disclosures for the article are specific and appear to be comprehensive. The article was presented at the 11th Annual Research Conference on Diet, Nutrition and Cancer held in Washington, DC, July 16 -- 17, 2001. The conference sponsors were the American Institute for Cancer Research. Further support for the conference was provided by the California Dried Plum Board, The Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, Lipton, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Roche Vitamins Inc. And Vitasoy USA.

Hypothesis. The premise of the literature review was that macrobiotic diets my aid in the prevention of certain types of cancers, and macrobiotic diets may help to positively change the course of the disease following diagnosis.