Although some say a lifestyle and diet known as macrobiotics is beneficial to one's health, many nutrition experts argue that it poses a health risk to its adherents.

A macrobiotic diet is a strict form of vegetarianism, which originated in Japan. The diet mostly consists of grains, vegetables, beans and fruit. Red meat, eggs, dairy products, foreign and refined foods are not eaten.

"Macrobiotics is a philosophy of life that includes the diet," said Leena Scholten, owner of The Granary, 2766 W. College Ave.

The macrobiotic way of life includes not wearing synthetic or woolen clothing next to the skin, refraining from long, hot showers, having large green plants at home and singing a happy song every day, according to the Kushi Institute, a center for macrobiotic study.

"It is a very healthful diet," Scholten said.

But not everyone agrees that macrobiotics is beneficial.

Johanna Dwyer, professor of medicine and community health at Tufts University Medical School, wrote in a recent paper that, "Macrobiotics cloaks itself in the trappings of status and respectability."

The macrobiotic lifestyle, Dwyer wrote, is dangerous because its devotees often alienate themselves from science-based medicine. The diet can be nutritionally inadequate and cause rapid weight loss.

But macrobiotic diets provide enough protein intake and remove a lot of saturated fat from the diet, said J. Lynne Brown, associate professor of food science.

"You can live on the diet," Brown said. "You have to have some concern for mineral intake because it is a high-fiber diet. Fiber causes minerals to pass through the body instead of being absorbed."

Planning a macrobiotic diet is complicated and time-consuming, Brown said. A lot of the nutrients from meats, such as vitamin B-12, are not found in vegetables, she said, adding that this makes a balanced diet difficult to achieve.

A desire to be healthy can motivate someone to become a macrobiotic, said Helen Hendy, assistant professor of nutrition psychology at the University's Schuylkill Campus. But a macrobiotic diet must be planned correctly and adhered to or it will not work, Hendy said.

"Ironically, if it is done incorrectly, it can damage their health," she said.

According to a study by the Agricultural University in The Netherlands, macrobiotic children weigh less and are shorter than their peers. The paper attributes the growth stagnation to the nature of the macrobiotic diet.