The Macrobiotic Diet
What is the macrobiotic diet? It is a diet based on whole foods, mostly vegetarian, that has a Japanese understanding of food energetics. I studied macrobiotic cooking at the Natural Epicurean in Austin, Tx, so I learned all about it. The diet has its good points and its problems. The Good Points: --The macrobiotic diet is based on whole foods. You will be cooking from scratch with real foods. -- The diet stresses quality. We cook with real foods, organic, in season, and any packaged foods are the best quality. --The diet teaches about the energy in food. They say some foods have yin, expanded energy, while others have a yang, contracted energy. Some foods, like grains and vegetables, are balanced and help you be balanced as well. --You can eat to support your lifestyle. Each diet is somewhat different based on your needs. --The diet changes with the seasons. -- The diet embraces a lifestyle of purity. We choose to use natural fabrics and non-toxic cleaners, and have a pure environment free of plastic, for instance. Sounds good, right? Well, there is the other side. Some Cautions with the Macrobiotic Diet -- The "standard macrobiotic diet" is too Japanese. The diet uses gomashio, umeboshi, tamari, tekka, miso, and makes dishes like kimpira and nishime. It's difficult to find the ingredients. --The diet is too salty! It's full of condiments like miso, soy sauce, gomasio and sea salt. There's not enough herbal seasoning and other flavors. --There's not enough fat and protein.The diet is heavy on whole grains and vegies. This works well for some, for others it can cause deficiencies or candida. --The diet uses a lot of soy, such as miso, soy sauce, tofu and tempeh. I got rid of my macro cookbooks because every recipe had soy in it. And I needed a fresh perspective. --Labeling foods causes guilt and you may judge food as good and bad. You can get too mental and judgmental about your food choices. -- The macrobiotic diet may not have enough variety Many foods are avoided such as tomatoes, potatoes, tropical fruits, eggs, dairy, and meat; some strict macro diets avoid avocado, asparagus and beets! -- It's easy to lose sight of your body wisdom. Here's what can happen: You go to a macro counselor who looks at your health condition and recommends foods. You leave with a list of food to eat and foods to avoid. I have had consultations several times and the recommendations actually caused more problems. Food sensitivities are not considered. What works for me is listening to my body. -- The diet may not change with new scientific research. The diet stays true to its roots, or as some would say, stuck.
The macrobiotic diet can promote health if you pay attention to your body wisdom over any theory. I like the basic ideas of whole foods, organic, local, fresh, and seasonal. The energetic system has some merit, and the avoidance of nightshade vegetables is helpful to me. Be careful with eating too many carbs, though, or you may get bloating or even candida. I know. If you choose to try macrobiotics, stay true to yourself and your body wisdom. Learn the principles and experiment. Make it fun and easy! Some of the recent macro cookbooks are more inclusive and flexible. Check out these books to learn more:
Food for Thought: "Trust your inner hunches and intuition concerning the physical body. Listen and follow you inner dictates. Your inner voice will tell you what to avoid, whom to seek out, what to read, whom to trust, what to eat, when to exercise and when to rest. Know that you are not alone and trust you will be guided in the proper way" -----Wayne Dyer Here's more articles you may like: Blue zones: where people live to 100 in good health of body and mind Here's all about the vegan diet
|
