by Louis Kervran - Book Condensation - George Ohsawa

Biologically speaking, sunlight, water, air, and elements transform into organic matter in the form of carbohydrates, protein and fat. This is the plant world.

Man eats vegetables, digested to the simpler form of molecules such as glucose, amino acids and lactic acid. Man combines these molecules to form cells. Cells form various tissues and organs. These tissues and organs form a unit called man. Man is, therefore, a result of transmutation of the vegetal world.
soil ---(yang)------> vegetable (yin)-------> man (yang)

According to modern Western physiology, oxygen combines with hemoglobin in the red cells. This theory does not explain why O2 combines with hemoglobin in the red cells instead of the plasma which surrounds it. Since plasma contains more sodium (Na) than red cells, plasma is more yang than red cells. For O2 to combine with hemoglobin which is inside the red cells instead of combining with the plasma, the yin-yang difference between plasma and O2 must be smaller than that between O2 and red cells.
plasma (yang)------O2---------red cells (yin)

Plasma (yang) is produced in the intestines from the foods (yin) we eat after the food has digested and combines with bile (yang). Bile (yang) also adds hemoglobin to the plasma. This plasma enters the blood vessels through the intestinal villa, and starts circulating throughout the whole body. Reaching the lung, the amount of O2 increases. Since O2 is yin and plasma is yang, they are attracted and combine strongly.

This combination transforms plasma into premature cells having no nucleus. They are called red cells because of their red pigmentation. Most of the red cell production, therefore, occurs around the lung capillaries.

As the O2 is taken out of the red cells through tissue activity, the red cells eventually become yang. The center of the red cells become so yang, a nucleus begins to form. This is the beginning of the white cell. The white cell must be very yang so it can breathe, move and change form. These white cells then pass through the walls of the blood vessels and are attracted to yin protein. When this attraction has taken place, body cells are born.

This change or transmutation of yin to yang - yang to yin, is life itself; the order of the universe; TAO. When we stop this physiological change or transmutation our bodies expire. Oxygen is a most important factor of this transmutation. In Japanese, "to live" means breathing. Breathing is one of the most important arts in the Eastern Art of Longevity. (1.)

 

1. Biological Transmutation - Appendix 1 - Herman Aihara

Biological Transmutation - Book Condensation - George Ohsawa - First published - 1971
©Copyright George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation - G.O.M.F