Steven Acuff was born in 1945 in Moscow, Idaho, USA. He received a Bachelor of Arts diploma from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon in 1967, and then continued with a year of graduate studies on a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Bonn, Germany.
He began eating natural food in 1971 with his discovery of macrobiotic food. At different times between 1980 and 1987 he studied with macrobiotic author and lecturer Michio Kushi in Boston, Massachusetts to further his understanding of macrobiotic food therapy and oriental body diagnosis.
From 1988-1993 he worked as a nutrition consultant for patients at the Habichtswald Clinic in Kassel, Germany, which had departments of internal, psychosomatic and cancer medicine.
In 1989 he published a book in German called Das Makrobiotische Gesundheitsbuch (Goldmann Verlag, Munich) which is now in the 9th edition. The book was published in Swedish in 1992 with the title På Kornet.
In 1993 Steven Acuff met Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions who introduced him to the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and the work of the great pioneer Weston A. Price which added to his understanding of healthy food. Also in 1993 he met Dr. Renate Collier in Germany who worked with acid-alkaline balance and digestive health. Dr. Collier developed a unique massage technique for the abdomen and to break down acidosis (over-acidity) in the connective tissue which he learned during his association with her. Dr. Collier also wrote some books on the subject of digestive health.
He has also taught several international seminars, including joint seminars with Shizuko Yamamoto, a world-renowned master of shiatsu massage. These courses furthered his knowledge of this Japanese style of massage and his understanding of the energy flow within the body and its importance for healing.
Steven was co-director of a center for healthy nutrition in Sweden from 1987-98. The center program offered intensive seminars on healing with food, including practical cooking instruction and shiatsu massage to guests from around the world. The staff also organized international summer camps with hundreds of participants.
Every year Steven teaches an intensive course in traditional facial and body diagnosis at the Alfa Center for holistic therapy in Stockholm, Sweden. This year he will teach healthy nutrition at the university in Harsta, Norway. He travels throughout the world and lectures about food and health as well as gives nutrition advice.
He has lectured in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Israel, the Bahamas, Iceland and many European counties. From 1992 until 1998 he was a regular guest at health fairs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, taking part in panel discussions with medical doctors and professors of nutritional science. He has been interviewed on American, Canadian, German, Austrian, Swedish, Spanish and Singaporean radio.
Some of his highlights include lecturing in 1991 at a conference for alternative cancer therapies in Berlin, Germany, an appearance in 1993 on Norwegian TV2 to discuss food for cancer patients, a seminar in 2001 for the staff of the Ministry of Health of the Thai government in Bangkok and lecturing in 2005 before the chamber of commerce in Linz, Austria. Steven Acuff is listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in America for his work with food and health.
Steven has published several articles on food and healing internationally, including the German publications Schrot und Korn and Dao, the American Macrobiotics Today and the Swedish Naturmedicin och Hälsa.
At the moment he is writing a book with an innovative approach to healthy nutrition, reflecting his extensive knowledge and many years of experience. The book will include many recipes. With all the books already published on food and health, there are none which can be recommended unconditionally. In spite of many valuable contributions to better understanding of the subject, all books up to now get the story only partly right.
