MACROBIOTICS More Than Just A Diet… The Way Of Life!

Search for balance

Macrobiotic cooking is based on restoring and keeping balance with our natural environment. Basics of this balance are two universal forces which manipulate all aspects of life, and are in macrobiotics called Jin and Jang.
Jin is manifested in centrifugal forces, expansion, low temperature, growth and moving higher, female sex, diffusion, easiness, …
Jang is manifested in primary force of materialization and is brought out in centripetal forces, contradiction, high temperature, male sex, density, heaviness, and many other values.
When we cook macrobiotic, we use different Jin and Jang principles, that are present in food and natural environment: only that way we can create balanced meals.

Definition of macrobiotic

Macrobiotics is not connected to food only: macrobiotics is actually a way of life, starting from nutrition, sleeping, personal hygiene, place of living, relationships. Macrobiotics dominates by the fact of living as healthy as possible. Macrobiotic origins in Greek word: macro (big) and bios (vitality, life), which brings us to literate translation: macrobiotic means big life.
Macrobiotic origins come from Japan. Macrobiotic eating and living is an old Zen skill, by which long and healthy life is achieved. Composite ‘macrobiotic’ is used in attempt to find appropriate name for such deep understanding of nature. Macrobiotic is integral way of nutrition, which means macrobiotics takes into consideration food functioning on the entire organism: physical, mental and emotional state, because all three states are interactively connected. Macrobiotics includes interactive connection of mind, body and food. In current phase of macrobiotic development, research is focused primary on ways, with which nature, by food functioning, brings to changes in body.

Jin and Jang

Jin and Jang are in macrobiotic cooking applied in many ways, which are in deep connection with food and natural environment.
Goal is preparing balanced meals: Jang factors represent fire, pressure, salt and time, while Jin factors represent oil, water, lack of pressure, shorter cooking time or freshness.
Cooking is mainly a process in which herbal food, which is more Jin, is brought closer to Jang. This is done through the process of fire, pressure, salt, and stagnation to achieve balance.
In all, except, most extreme polar climates, basis of food should be herbal. When we take animal food, it is possible to create more Jin, thus the right cooking technique and simultaneous consumption Jang foods, are inevitable.
To create ideal conditions for long and vital life, it is inevitable to choose foods that are in centre of Jin and Jang scale. Ideal balance between Jin and Jang factors in our daily nutrition is 7 to 1 (or from 5:1 to 10:1). Integral grains are those which are considered to be the closest to the centre, thus they are thought to be basic human food.
Perfect example for such balance is relation between sourness and basicity in brown integral rice, which contains 5 parts of potassium (Jin) and 5 parts of sodium (Jang).
Our nutrition must be conformed not only to the age, physical and pathological state of body, work activities and sex of a person, but also to part of the year, climate, time and place.

Macrobiotic food pyramid

Since each person has different backgrounds and health conditions, proportions and ingredients of each person's diet differs. Here are some basic standard recommendations for persons living in a temperate climate:

Whole Cereal Grains

My story

I am vegetarian more than 15 years, and am following macrobiotic regime for the past 4 years. My family is trying to live as simple and qualitative as possible: macrobiotics does not force you to do anything- in macrobiotics, as well as with vegetarianism exist a meal pyramid, and from time to time you can eat fish or good meat for example. If you want to of course. Best meat is turkey and poultry, and venison. This is just a general view over macrobiotics, details are little bit more complicated, but still simple :)
Macrobiotics means mostly food of herbal origin, sometimes also sea food. Macrobiotics does not demand many spices or fat. It is based on achieving harmony in your daily nutrition. Most represented in daily food consumption are integral and other grains: barley, oat, millet, wheat They represent more than 50% of daily food intake. Other half is combined from vegetables, crowberries, lentils, beans, raw salads. Crowberries, for example, contain proteins which are inevitable for organism. Proteins are also well favored in soya cheese and milk, wheat meat or in kelps. Rice is considered to be most balanced and most represented food in macrobiotics.
In macrobiotics most of the food is thermally processed. Since everything in macrobiotics is in symbiosis with nature, length of cooking is also adjusted to time of the year. When it is warmer, food is cut on smaller pieces and length of cooking is shorter, while in winter cooking time is a bit longer, and food is cut on larger pieces.
Fruit is used in smaller amounts, and only when is its season. ‘Out of season’ fruit I eat in smaller amounts and usually I thermally proceed it. Since fruit naturally colds organism, I eat less fruit in winter (in winter I eat mostly citrus fruits). I try to eat food and fruits typical for our climate, and avoid southern and exotic fruits.
Theory of drinking plenty fluid is not represented in macrobiotics. Basic rule is to drink when you feel thirsty. Main fluid is water and non-stimulative teas without caffeine or theine. Thus avoid coffee, and other ‘waking’ drinks, like cola or red bull… Most recommendable is spring water or filtrated water. One more important rule concerning drinking: do not drink cold drinks! They shock organism, particularly in winter.
Macrobiotics uses no sugar. Sugar has destructive effect on organism, it even demonstrates some sort of poison for organism. Exclude sugar from your child’s nutrition, because it creates favorable conditions for development of certain diseases later in life. Substitute sugar with natural sweeteners like fresh and dry fruits or barley and rice malt, or consume honey.
In macrobiotics alges are partly represented. They are very rich in vitamins and minerals, and we consume them in combination with vegetables.
Fish is not well represented in macrobiotics. The only one who eats fish in our house is my husband, and only small amount- as much as it fits in ones hand, not more.
Food is prepared on unrefined oils, which are used in moderate amounts. Most often I use sesame oil, sometimes olive oil. Occasional deep frying is allowed in macrobiotics, though you need to drain food well after. In combination with (un)fried food it is best to eat no yeast breads made of integral grains.
Among spices it is best to use miso (spice, of which is also made miso soup, that should be eaten on daily basis), soya souce and gomasio. Gomasio, also known as sesame salt, is baked sesame, which is milled and combined with salt in certain balance. Gomasio is added on cooked or baked meals- when food is served on table.
My 2 year old son Vitas eats macrobiotics since his birth. I try not to prohibit anything- I let him try things, and also food. He once tried meat, but he didn’t like it. Children can eat macrobiotics from their earliest age. It starts with grains, than follow vegetables, which are cooked little bit longer. Vitas drinks soya milk or pumpkin milk: as well as cow’s milk, they are all also very rich in calcium.
In nutrition generally, and in macrobiotics as well, it is very important to chew food. Every bite should be chewed at least 30 times! Some patients are for example advised to chew food even 200 times.
I could eat in some restaurants preparing macrobiotic food, but I love preparing food and my family avoids eating in restaurant.
My family uses oily resources for personal hygiene on oily basis, ecological detergents that do not contaminate environment. We haven’t found a solution for Vitas plastic toys yet, but we do not buy him plastic guns and weapons which are considered to be most natural requisite for children- not in our house! Clothes, which we wear is made of cotton.
One more detail in connection with food I forgot to mention before. It is recommendable to cook on fire because electricity is chaotic energy, and thus creates chaos in food. Even more important is spirit of person preparing meal: positive energy (as well as bad) energy is transmitted to people that eat that food.
For me, macrobiotics is simple. It changed my fife and world around me. I have changed my opinion on certain matters, but I remain guided by the basic laws of nature. I could never put aside anything I learned. I have woven all my experiences into the tapestry that makes my life what it is today.