Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics is a philosophy and diet conceived by Japanese writers beginning in the mid twentieth century. The foremost early proponent was George Ohsawa.

The Philosophy incorporates elements of traditional East Asian philosophy such as Taoism and Zen Buddhism. One component is that of non credo (non-adherence to a creed) which advocates intellectual openness, warning of harm in strong attachment to any particular 'school' or point of view.

The Diet Macrobiotics posits a strong connection between foods and the physical and mental state of the eater. Foods are classified on a two-dimensional scheme: yin-yang and acid-alkaline. A right diet is considered to be one that achieves balance in each of the two dimensions.

Yin food characteristics
 * expansiveness
 * softness
 * sweet
 * watery
 * most synthetic food additives are considered extremely yin.

Yang food characteristics
 * compact
 * hard
 * salty

Cooking makes foods more yang.

Food acidity-alkalinity is considered not to be the measured pH of the food itself but its post-digestive effect on blood pH. An example of the difference is that of an orange. If one grinds up an oange and sticks a piece of litmus paper in the mush, it will indicate fairly strong acidity because of the high amount of citric acid in oranges. When one eats an orange however, the citric acid is removed at a relatively early stage by oxidation; the remainder of the orange is alkaline and it is this part which continues on through digestion to influence the blood. Blood pH must be held within quite narrow limits or else coma (acid) or convulsions (alkaline) will result. Animals need not pay continuous minute attention to food pH however because the body has mechanisms for removing blood pH imbalances, one of the main ones being the buffering of excessive blood acidity with calcium drawn from the animal's bones. Excessive dietary acidity continued for many years poses a risk of osteoporosis (decalcified, weak bones).

Food Classification in Yin-Yang, Acid-Alkaline 2-space -- .                                  Yang .                                    |                                      |                                     |                ▲ sea salt Ω meat                | |                                    |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                 § seaweed | Acid ______________________________|_____________________________ Alkaline |                                    |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                                     |                  ☺ refined          |              ♫ fruits and cane sugar       |               vegetables |            ↨ most pharma-          | ceuticals Yin .

Macrobiotics holds that appropriate diet is subject to climate: one should eat a more yang diet in a cold climate, or at cold times of year. It is held that organisms are in harmony with their natural habitat; from this follows the recommendation that one should for the most part restrict one's diet to foods that could, in principle, be grown in one's locality. So a high-banana diet is healthier in the Phillipines then Finland, Myanmar than Manitoba.

Macrobiotic advocates are highly sceptical of modern industrially-processed foods. This encompasses chemical additives as well as refined foods such as white flour and white rice. Modern civilised diets are seen as being almost always too acid, and, unless large amounts of meat are eaten, too yin.

Macrobiotics writers have in practice addressed themselves mainly to audiences in parts of the world which, like Japan, have a temperate climate. (Because that's the zone with rich people who have time to worry about diets? ) The recommended diet for that zone is essentially a North Asian traditional peasant diet, perhaps with substitutions. By far the most prevalent item in this diet is cooked whole grains such as brown rice, whole wheat, and millet. Second is vegetables, which should include a fairly large proportion of leafy greens (eg., lettuce, cabbage, Chinese lettuce, Chinese cabbage, parsely, spinnach, broccoli, collards, celery). Beans, seaweed, and fermented foods are eaten in small amounts (combined, maybe five to ten per cent of total diet).

Seaweed, being yang alkaline, is good for balancing the many yin, acid modern foods. Fermented foods include soy sauce and miso (essentially soybean cottage cheese). The writers tend to be highly enthusiastic about miso. Herman Aihara, for instance, governed his children with the proposition, 'you can do whatever you want as long as you eat a bowl of miso soup for breakfast.'

The diet permits occasional consumption of meat. In fact, it permits occasional consumption af almost anything: the idea is to maintain overall balance.

There is no requirement that any particular food (even miso) be obtained, as there are always many foods that will fulfill a given function. Saurkraut is a traditional fermented food in the West that can be used as an approximate substitute for the fermented soy foods traditional in Northeast Asia. At least on Turtle Island and in Europe, the ingredients of a macrobiotic diet can be obtained in ordinary grocery stores, patronage of health food stores is optional. A bag of brown rice and some vegetables and you're just about set.

In North America, Korean food stores are a good source of cheap seaweed.

Vive la Revolucion!