Macrobiotic Food

Macrobiotics is a way of eating and living in accordance with the natural order of the universe. This simple way of life has been practiced for thousands of years, originating with the ancient Far Eastern theory of yin and yang energies, a never-ending continuum where opposites change into one another to complement, balance, and form a union; for example, the sun (yang) and moon (yin), night (yin) and day (yang); summer and spring (yang), winter and fall (yin). All things on earth are created and held in balance by these two complementary forces, a fundamental understanding that governs the whole universe. The human body is included in the universal cycle of the endless harmonious motion of change. All the major organs and functions within the body have a cycle of yin and yang movement. For example, when we inhale (yin), we must also exhale (yang); the body needs both rest (yin) and activity (yang). Foods and liquids restore and maintain the body. Therefore, the macrobiotic way of living and eating is about understanding how to live simply and choose and prepare food in conjunction with the natural order of the universe, creating physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. The sidebar at right lists yin and yang characteristics.

The History and Development of Macrobiotics

The word "macrobiotics" comes from the Greek makros meaning 'large', 'a great' and bios meaning 'life'. Hippocrates first used the term in the fifth century B.C.E. in his essay "Air, Water, Places," about a group of people who lived long and healthy lives. Even to this day, his famous quote, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food," continues to be acknowledged and respected. Hippocrates emphasized that life itself depends upon what foods are consumed and how they are prepared. He suggested that healing takes place when foods are eaten in their most natural form.

While Hippocrates coined the term, macrobiotics was practiced hundreds of years earlier in the Far East. Around 500 B.C.E. one of the world's oldest medical books was written, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, a compilation of the medical wisdom of ancient China. The book states that people who lived in harmony according to the laws of nature, balancing yin and yang energies, lived long and healthy lives. This wisdom is believed to go back even several thousand years earlier. "Macrobiotics" became a common term used in early Western literature, including the Bible, to describe patriarchs such as Abraham as "Macrobiotic people." In 1797 Dr. Christopher W. Hufeland, a German philosopher and physician, challenged medical practices by becoming a macrobiotic spokesman in Europe. His publication of Macrobiotics or the Art of Prolonging Life warned against popular foods like meat as well as foods containing refined sugars in favor of a simple vegetable and grain diet.

The development of macrobiotics as it is known today is credited to George Ohsawa (1893–1966; formerly Yukikazu Sakurazawa), who overcame tuberculosis in 1909 by rejecting Western medical treatment in favor of a simple diet of whole cooked grains such as brown rice, earth and sea vegetables, beans, seeds and nuts, and miso soup. The source of the information that relieved his illness was A Method for Nourishing Life Through Food: A Unique Chemical Food-Nourishment Theory of Body and Mind, written by Japan's Sagen Ishizuka in 1897. Ishizuka's vision consisted of eliminating a diet of meat, dairy products, potatoes, eggs, white bread, simple sugars, and the other highly refined foods of modern civilization. He contended that eating this way goes against the natural order of the universe and humans' immediate environment, thus causing people to lose their physical, psychological, and spiritual ty and harmony. According to Ishizuka, the ability to experience the highest levels of spirituality is controlled by food. He emphasized that the great sages and saints all lived on whole cooked grains and vegetables cooked with salt. Ishizuka was also concerned with the way eating patterns determined how families and societies functioned. His philosophy and scientific studies echo the macrobiotic way of living and eating in the early twenty-first century. He emphasized balancing Na-dominance (sodium) and K-dominance (potassium) in foods, which is also known as the acid-alkaline balance. Ohsawa amended Iskizuka's theory by imposing yin and yang forces onto the acid-alkaline balance, contending that these energies make up the mystery of life. Iskizuka's work sparked Ohsawa's passion to study, write, and extend his own version of macrobiotic practice and teachings to American, Asia, and Europe.

Table 1

Table 2

Macrobiotic Foods

A macrobiotic diet is defined as eating in balance between extreme yin and yang energies. For example, animal meat is considered an extreme yang food and creates natural strong cravings for extreme yin foods, such as refined sugar in cookies and cakes. Extreme foods create sickness and are the body's warning that there is an imbalance. The imbalance causes the blood to become too acidic, creating an environment in which diseases can thrive. Human organs, especially the kidneys, need to work harder to buffer the acids and maintain a normal pH alkaline blood condition of 7.35–7.45. Scientific studies have shown how a sustained acidic condition can cause normal cells to change to cancer cells. (The sidebar below illustrates foods in relation to acid and alkaline.) If extreme foods continue to be consumed, the body starts accumulating and storing toxins in the form of mucus, fats, cysts, and tumors.

To avoid these undesirable conditions, the consumption of whole, unprocessed foods grown without pesticides and other chemicals is recommended. These consist of earth and sea vegetables, whole cooked grains such as brown rice and millet, bean products, seitan (a wheat-based food), nuts, seeds, and occasionally fish. Seasonings and condiments are used to add nutritional value and to enhance flavor. These include miso, made from soybeans and sea salt commonly flavored with fermented barley or brown rice, which strengthens the blood; umeboshi, a salty plum that neutralizes extreme foods and conditions; sea vegetable flakes, which are high in minerals such as dulse and nori; tekka, a powder made from hatcho miso, sesame oil, burdock, lotus root, carrots, and gingerroot that is simmered for several hours and gives strength; gomoshio, a mixture of sesame seeds and sea salt high in calcium; and shoyu soy sauce to help with digestion. Kuzu, a white starch made from the deep root of a wild vine that helps digestion, thickens sauces. These condiments and seasonings have a variety of medicinal uses and can also maintain normal levels of blood alkaline. Eating these foods, seasonings, and condiments balances the body without causing cravings for extreme foods; thus, the transition of foods from yin to yang and vice versa is smoother, thereby creating internal balance and promoting health.

In a temperate climate, macrobiotic foods do not include nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant. These foods are high in alkaloid content and contrary to the healing process. By eating nonpollutant food, the body has a chance to clean out stored chemicals, increase nutrient absorption, and improved health.

Cooking Techniques

Cooking processes also have a yin and yang quality. For example, cooking meals, such as beans, longer involves more heat, which indicates yang energy, and this way of cooking complements cooler seasons such as winter, which is yin. In contrast, lighter meals, such as salads, and quicker cooking methods are yin, which complements warmer seasons such as summer, which is yang. This style of cooking and eating promotes remaining in balance with the changing seasons, supporting the natural order of the universe.

A gas stove is recommended for cooking macrobiotic foods because the heat comes from natural energy. Also urged are cooking with natural spring water when needed and using stainless steel, glass, cast iron, and porcelain cookware to keep the food away from possible contamination that may occur with aluminum and synthetic coatings. Ideally, foods are locally grown in season to promote internal balance and harmony with the environment.

Food and Behavior

There is also a cause and effect relationship between food and behavior. For example, eating mostly extreme yang foods usually leads to irritability and anger, while eating mostly extreme yin foods usually leads to depression and reduced energy; however, soon after eating extreme yin foods, such behavior as explosive anger has been noted. Eating foods that are balanced with yin and yang energies without extremes maintains a normal alkaline blood level and leads to vitality and a peaceful, more comfortable state of mind. Table 1 illustrates foods associated with certain behaviors and moods.

Table 3

The standard macrobiotic diet consists of 30 to 50 percent whole cooked grains and whole grain products, such as sourdough bread and pasta (including udon noodles made with wheat flour, brown rice, and sea salt and soba noodles made from buckwheat flour); 20 to 30 percent locally grown organic vegetables; 5 to 10 percent beans such as adzuki and lentil (including tofu made from soybeans, nigari, and water and tempeh made from split soybeans, vinegar, and water); 5 to 10 percent soups, including miso and vegetable; and 5 percent condiments, such as umeboshi plum, gomashio, and sea vegetables, including wakame and kombu. Macrobiotic foods are high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals that provide the balance of proper nutrition that the body needs.

A very basic balanced macrobiotic meal may consist of: one cup of miso soup made with onions, carrots, and sea vegetables such as wakame; one cup of whole cooked grains, such as brown rice seasoned with a pinch of sea salt; one-quarter cup of cooked beans, such as adzuki mixed with a small amount of the sea vegetable kombu and a sweet vegetable such as butternut squash seasoned with shoyu soy sauce; one cup of cooked green and yellow root and leafy vegetables; a pickled vegetable; and a garden salad. Fish can be eaten occasionally along with soy products such as tofu and tempeh to substitute for beans to provide protein. For dessert, a recommended dish may be couscous cooked with apple juice and apples. Also used for sweeteners are barley malt and brown rice syrup. In addition, kukicha bancha tea, which has a pleasing taste, is used as a daily beverage that has virtually no caffeine, alkalizes the blood, has a beneficial effect on digestion, and relieves fatigue.

Recommended macrobiotic foods and their portions vary according to a person's physical and mental condition, climate, and age. For example, someone with a slower metabolism may benefit from eating fewer grains and more vegetables. Macrobiotic counselors throughout the United States help people adjust the diet to their specific needs.

The Spread of Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics owes much of its contemporary popularity to George Ohsawa and his wife, Lima. His students Aveline and Michio Kushi developed the Kushi Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, which helped spread macrobiotic teachings and practices in the eastern United States. Cornelia and Herman Aihara, also Ohsawa's students, developed the study and practice of macrobiotics in the western United States. Macrobiotic food may be found in health-food stores, and macrobiotic cookbooks are available there and in major bookstores throughout the United States. In the early twenty-first century, there are over five hundred macrobiotic centers throughout the United States whose advocates stress the advantages of this way of eating and living. The more common benefits experienced are increased vitality, better sleep, a stronger immune system, reduced fatigue, and improved memory. There are also scientific and medical studies which indicate that following a macrobiotic diet can prevent or relieve cancer and other terminal illnesses. These benefits are said to result from a body cleared of chemicals and toxins. Practicing the macrobiotic way of life moves beyond physical health to also revitalize the true nature of mental and spiritual well-being.

Table 4

Acid and Alkaline in Foods

Too much alkaline Too much acid

Refined salt Meat, eggs, fruits, sugars

Lower alkaline More Balanced Lower acid

Miso/shoyu Sea/land vegetables Grains, beans soy sauce

Bibliography

Aihara, Herman. Basic Macrobiotics. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1985.

Esko, Edward, and Wendy Esko. Macrobiotic Cooking for Everyone. Tokyo: Japan Publications, 1980.

Kushi, Aveline, and Wendy Esko. The Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook. Wayne, N.J., Avery Publishing Group, 1985.

Kushi, Michio. Doctors Look at Macrobiotics. Edited by Edward Esko. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1988. See the forward by Lawrence H. Kushi.

Kushi, Michio. How to See Your Health: The Book of Oriental Diagnosis. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1980.

Kushi, Michio. Macrobiotic Home Remedies, edited by Marc Van Cauwenberghe. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1985.

Kushi, Michio. Natural Healing through Macrobiotics. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1979.

Kushi, Michio, with Stephen Blauer. The Macrobiotic Way: The Complete Macrobiotic Diet and Exercise Book. Wayne, N.J.: Avery Publishing Group, 1985.

Kushi, Michio, with Alex Jack. The Book of Macrobiotics: The Universal Way of Health, Happiness, and Peace. Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1986.

Kushi, Michio, with Alex Jack. The Cancer Prevention Diet. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.

—Roberta Bloom