The Dancing Vegan

It's well documented that a healthy diet rich in whole grains and light on red meat can serve to protect from the onset of cancer. But, after diagnosis, can a drastic change to a macrobiotic diet help save one's life?

According to Dr. Wilmore Webley, this might not be the case.

"There is no scientific evidence to support this," Webley said in an email interview. "There is evidence that a diet high in whole grains and vegetables and possibly low in saturated fat, red meat, and preserved meat products can help to prevent many types of cancers," he continued, but he claimed a strict macrobiotic diet "could actually harm such a person since there is a limited amount of calories, vitamins, proteins, iron and even calcium."

In Mariana Pina-Bergtold's case, however, diet seems to have been the key to survival.

Pina-Bergtold, co-owner of new take-out restaurant The Dancing Vegan in Pittsfield, MA, seemingly owes her life to a change in diet. In 2000, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and told she had three months to live. After altering her diet into one both vegan and macrobiotic, without the help of chemo therapy, the cancer has ebbed and she is still alive today.

In spite of Dr. Webley's skepticism, he certainly does not rule out the possibility that the diet could be of use. "There are aspects of a macrobiotic diet that could be important in cancer prevention and possibly treatment," he said. "A macrobiotic diet is designed to reduce the amount of harmful toxins that a person takes in, and could therefore reduce the chances of mutation from these toxins."

Those practicing a macrobiotic diet and lifestyle, first developed at the beginning of the 20th century by Japanese philosopher Nyoichi Sakurazawa (known by his pen name George Ohsawa), believe that harmony with nature could be achieved through eating simply and with balance, promoting body health and warding off disease. Pina-Bergtold and her partner Yukiko Sato began their restaurant in response to the utter lack of local options for those practicing macrobiotics or veganism.

“The diet itself is what you make of it,” Pina-Bergtold said. “You’ve got to learn who you are and how the macrobiotic principles work for you. The diet is changing constantly day to day, depending on seasons, the local area, natural produce, and the body’s condition.”

Before Pina-Bergtold was diagnosed, she ate a standard American diet. While it was ripe with fresh foods, it was also heavy with the processed and non-organic foods common in a rich, gourmet diet. She emphasized that one “can have wonderful flavors in food” without one’s health suffering.

After Pina-Bergtold received news of the cancer diagnosis and that she was terminally ill, she admitted herself to the Kushi Institute in Becket, MA, where she eventually met Sato. In just 18 months, her cancer had receded. “The Kushi Institute saved my live,” she claims. “I was reborn.” She proceeded to study at the Institute over five years, claiming one must study macrobiotics and put in a lot of work in order for the diet to yield results.

"There's so many vegan and vegetarian options in the area, but you've got to travel south to Lenox or Great Barrington," Sato said. "[In Pittsfield], we could try to go out, but there's nothing out there to eat."

The co-owners opened The Dancing Vegan on January 26 and have been pleasantly surprised at the response. The restaurant is a take-out only amalgamation of daily menu items, specialties to spice things up, and healthy, vegan dessert alternatives. Since the business is still young, the restaurant does not have any paid employees, just friends helping out in the kitchen.

Sato, originally from Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in Japan, got her start experimenting with veganism before she headed to the states for the first time, curious as to whether or not she could create healthier dessert alternatives using less butter and sugar.

"The desserts I made at home were wholesome, but gritty and not so tasty," Sato said. "Then I took a macrobiotic dessert class in Tokyo which really focused on the effects of sugar and dairy in one's diet."

The class initiatives stuck, and through the program she discovered the Kushi Institute, where she eventually met Pina-Bergtold. There, Sato learned more about macrobiotics, which she then considered a full-fledged hobby. She took a job in the institute's kitchen, which she held for a year and a half, before eventually settling down to start her current business.

The Dancing Vegan’s spread is 100% vegan (even the chocolate), 90% Kosher, and 95% organic, as well as accommodating wheat- and gluten-free diets. The only non-organic foods used at the restaurant are ones which are either extremely hard to find organic or are extremely unreasonable price-wise. “We’re not high-end,” Pina-Bergtold said regarding the restaurant’s prices and clientele. “My goal is that everybody can eat from here.”

The restaurant has also started a meal plan option, providing meals five nights a weel, Monday through Friday, for $80. The meals include a grain, a bean, a vegetable, and dessert three times a week. Pina-Bergtold said there are only two people signed up for the plan as of now due to a lack of pushing the deal, but with the addition of another full-time chef the numbers could increase. The Dancing Vegan is also looking to get into delivery.

Even though macrobiotic eating is not a very new trend, it does not seem to be a very popular one. As mentioned previously, there is no current scientific evidence regarding the diet and its relationship to cancer though, according to Webley, "there are currently some clinical trials underway to examine the efficacy of a macrobiotic diet, but that data is not yet available." He said that a macrobiotic diet could act as a complement to chemo-therapy, but should not and cannot stand on its own as therapy.

Pina-Bergtold seems to think otherwise. “I had no chemo. I walked away, adopting a different diet and healed myself through diet.”

PHOTOS/AUDIO COMING SOON.