MACROBIOTICS

Macrobiotics - Are we what we eat?

'It's a very odd thing - as odd as can be
That whatever Miss T eats turns into Miss T."
- Walter de la Mare

What is Macrobiotics?

Essentially a holistic approach to health, macrobiotics offers a refreshingly different way of looking at life. More than just a diet, the macrobiotic approach looks at how our health and happiness is affected not only by what we eat, but also by other factors, such as the ideas we choose to receive from our environment and how we choose to behave. The macrobiotic approach puts us back in control, making each of us responsible for our own happiness, health and actions. For in the macrobiotic philosophy, sickness doesn't just happen, but is seen as being the direct result of of following an unhealthy diet and/or lifestyle and is cured, not by taking drugs, but by changing to a healthier, more balanced way of living. The macrobiotic way of thinking, therefore, encourages self-change and enables us to live more naturally and in complete harmony with our environment.

Yin and Yang

In macrobiotics, balance - both physical and mental - is created and maintained by using the ancient, Oriental concepts of yin and yang. The simplest way to think of yin and yang is as a pair of opposite, but complementary and harmonious qualities which are interconnected to form a whole. Everything in nature and in the universe is interconnected in this way and everything (including our own behaviour and attitudes) can be divided into opposite qualities: day and night, light and dark, love and hate, to give but a few examples. I prefer to think of yin and yang simply as being the two opposite sides of a coin, or another way of looking at it may be to think of the opposites black and white, connected together with many shades of grey!

In macrobiotics, foods are given yin and yang qualities as well and are then arranged on a yin-yang scale. On this scale meat, poultry, fish, eggs, salt and hard cheese are considered to be very yang, whereas foods such as milk, cream, fruit juice, alcohol, sugar and molasses are regarded as strongly yin. In the middle of the yin-yang scale, there is an third intermediate, but more balanced group of foods which includes grains, beans, vegetables, seeds, nuts and fruit and it is foods from this latter group which are mainly eaten in the macrobiotic diet, as these foods are thought to create balance in the human body. Extreme yin and yang foods are avoided, whenever possible, because it is thought that eating these extreme foods can affect our organs, bodily functions, emotions, as well as our moods and the way we think. Violent behaviour and degenerative diseases (e.g. high blood pressure and arterioslerosis) are all thought to result when there is an imbalance of yin and yang in the body.

In this article I am going to concentrate largely on the dietary aspects of 'macrobiotics' because although the macrobiotic diet is not strictly a vegan diet, it can easily be made into a vegan diet by missing out the fish and as some vegans do follow a macrobiotic diet, I thought that you might be interested in learning a bit more about it, here.

The Macrobiotic Diet

Firstly, I would like to point out that there is no one macrobiotic diet. Everyone who practices the macrobiotic approach essentially designs their own diet, using the concepts of yin and yang to create balance and the diet is then modified, whenever circumstances change, in order to maintain this balance. The diet thus varies from person to person and also according to the season, climate, level of activity etc. However, in general, people who live in cold climates need to eat more yang foods and people who live in a hotter areas more yin foods. And if you live in a temperate zone - where the weather changes throughout the year - more yin foods, such as salad and fruits should be eaten in the summer and more yang foods (e.g. soups and stews) in the winter.

The macrobiotic diet strongly relies on the principle of eating seasonal, locally grown foods which have preferably been grown using organic methods. If seasonal foods are not available, then foods should be selected which have been grown in a similar climate - which basically means folks that it's OK to eat oranges if you live in Morocco, but not if you live in the UK! Other forbidden fruits include: dates, bananas and tomatoes which are all tropical fruits. Of course I am not going to tell you to stop eating these fruits in this article, just remind you what happened to Adam and Eve when they tampered with forbidden fruit! Seriously though, the principle of eating locally produced food is a sound one as it saves transporting food about unnecessarily, thus reducing environmental damage and also allows us to eat fresher food. Many imported foods are also treated with preservatives.

The Standard Macrobiotic Diet

'The Standard Macrobiotic Diet' is the name given to the type of macrobiotic diet which should be eaten by people who live in a temperate climate. This diet was designed by Michio Kushi and is based on grains, beans, vegetables, fruit, sea vegetables, nuts and seeds. Fish is also usually included in the diet, perhaps a few times a week, but as it forms such a small proportion of the diet, the diet can easily be made vegan, simply by missing it out. Containing virtually no saturated fat, the total amount of fat consumed by anyone following a standard macrobiotic diet is usually low - around 15%, the fat being obtained mainly from grains, beans, seeds, nuts and from the use of a little cooking oil e.g. sesame oil. Most of the diet (73%) is in fact composed of complex carbohydrate, eaten in the form of whole grains, beans and vegetables, with the remaining 12% of the diet being eaten as protein.

Macrobiotic Meals:

The Standard Macrobiotic Diet uses only natural wholefoods and contains no sugar, artificial chemicals or additives. The best macrobiotic dishes are in fact simple, well-prepared meals which use only one or two ingredients and seasonings. Perhaps when you think of the macrobiotic diet you think of a plate of brown rice? Grains do actually form a very important part of this diet (around 40-60%) and are eaten at most meals, including breakfast! They are most frequently eaten as wholegrains: rice, barley, millet, wheat, corn or buckwheat, but smaller quantities can be consumed in the form of grain products, such as pasta, noodles, couscous, rolled oats or sourdough bread. Oats, wheat, rice or barley flakes are also used to make a thick porridge. The porridge is seasoned with either sea salt, gomasio, rice syrup or barley malt and is eaten for breakfast, sometimes acompanied by pickles. The main meal of the day usually also consists of a grain which is often cooked with either chestnuts or beans, or cooked rice can be mixed with nuts, seeds or vegetables, to make a rice salad.

About 25-40% of the macrobiotic diet is composed of vegetables. A wide variety of root and green vegetables are used in macrobiotic cookery and these supply many important vitamins and minerals. Sea vegetables are also an important source of many nutrients, particularly iodine, magnesium, calcium and iron and are often used in soups, cooked with vegetables or beans, or in the case of agar flakes, used as a setting agent when making jellies. Altogether, sea vegetables make up about 3-4% of the standard macrobiotic diet.

Around 5-10% of the diet is eaten either as beans or as bean products (e.g. soya milk, tempeh or tofu). The beans provide protein and are often cooked with a sea vegetable (e.g. wakame, kombu or kelp) as this makes them easier to digest. They can be used in soups, along with grains, vegetables, sea vegetables, miso and tamari. Scrambled tofu is also a popular breakfast dish.

The remaining 5% of the diet is composed of nuts, seeds, seasonings and fish (if the diet isn't vegan). The seeds and nuts are frequently roasted to make a tasty snack, or they can be eaten as nut or seed butter or used to make desserts.

The main meal of the day is composed of a wide variety of dishes and usually includes a soup, a grain, vegetables, sea vegetables and a protein dish - perhaps, beans or tofu. Desserts are only eaten a few times each week and usually consist of fresh fruit, fruit jelly, fruit crumble, or cooked fruit with a soya custard. Refined sugar is not used at all in macrobiotic cookery and desserts are generally sweetened with dried fruit, barley malt, mirin, rice syrup or apple juice. Popular macrobiotic seasonings include: sea salt, miso, tamari, umeboshi (pickled plums), rice or cider vinegar, ginger, tekka, natto, mustard or gomasio (sesame salt). Stimulants, such as tea and coffee are generally avoided and popular beverages include: twig, green, mu or bancha tea, grain coffees (e.g. barleycup or dandelion coffee), spring water and apple juice. Drinking alcohol is not encouraged.

As cooking a food can change its yin and yang qualities, a balanced diet is more easily achieved if the food is cooked using neutral cooking methods, such as stir-frying, boiling or steaming.

The Macrobiotic Store Cupboard:

If you want to try out some macrobiotic recipes, then you will find it useful to have some of the following ingredients in your store cupboard:

Grains - Rice, barley, wheat, millet, rolled oats, spaghetti, soba, ramen and udon noodles, rice cakes.
Beans - Beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh.
Sea Vegetables - Wakame, kombu, arame, hiziki, nori, agar-agar flakes.
Seasonings - Miso, tamari, rice or cider vinegar, sesame oil, tahini, gomasio, natto, tekka, umeboshi plums.
Sweeteners - Barley malt, rice syrup, mirin, apple juice.
Seeds/Nuts - Sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, almonds, chestnuts etc.
Vegetables - Carrots, parsnips, daikon, broccoli, squash, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, mustard greens etc.

The Macrobiotic Diet and Health:

Stories abound of people who have been cured of illness by following a macrobiotic diet. George Ohsawa, the 'father of macrobiotics' who was born in Kyoto, Japan, cured himself of tuberculosis of the lungs and intestines by eating a diet which was based on brown rice, soup and vegetables. Christina Pirello (author of the book 'Cooking The Wholefood Way') similarly recovered from leukemia by eating macrobiotically and there are many other examples of the macrobiotic diet being used to treat diseases, such as cancer, breast cysts, heart disease, crohn's disease etc. You can read some of these stories for yourself if you visit Macrobiotics Online. You will also find many similar tales in the book 'The Macrobiotic Approach To Cancer' by Michio Kushi.

However, I would also like to mention here, that it is very important to plan a macrobiotic diet carefully, particularly if this type of diet is to be given to infants or children. There have been several reports of macrobiotic infants who have suffered from protein and/or calorie malnutrition and also a few reported cases of changes in red blood cells and low blood levels of vitamin B12 in macrobiotic infants and children. If you want to read more about these cases, then you should consult Gill Langley's book 'Vegan Nutrition' (published by The Vegan Society) where you will find more information on p. 17, 134, 135, 149. And finally, I would just like to suggest that, anyone who follows a macrobiotic diet and relies on sea vegetables, miso and tempeh as their only source of vitamin B12, should read the Vitamin B12 Update in this month's Vegan News.

Macrobiotic Websites:

Interesting Macrobiotic Articles:

Online Macrobiotic Products/Services:

The Macrobiotic Directory - Macrobiotic Services (USA)
Mountain Ark Natural and Macrobiotic Foods
Rosanna's Macrobiotic Kitchen - Free subscription to a Macrobiotic Newsletter.

Mail Order Macrobiotic Products (UK):

Clearspring produces many macrobiotic products which are available through leading health food stores. You can also purchase the whole range of Clearspring products (and many other macrobiotic products/books) by mail order from: Pure Multinutrients, 8 Victory Place, Crystal Palace, London, SE19 3RW. Tel: 0181 771 4522.

Also available (free of charge) direct from Clearspring are a range of information leaflets on various macrobiotic topics such as: Japanese noodles, sea vegetables, organic Japanese teas, traditional Japanese seasonings, organic miso and a selection of recipe booklets. For more information e-mail: info@clearspring.co.uk or telephone: 0181 749 1781.You can also obtain copies of these leaflets from the Clearspring website.