In this month's edition of Natural Health Magazine, I found an article that really pertains to my fad diet topic for March talking about a kind of diet called the Macrobiotic Diet.
The premises of the diet is to eat in balance with the seasons, with your body's needs, and with nature. The diet gets its roots from traditional Chinese medicine, holding the philosophy to "identify and equalize the energetic qualities of all the foods you consume, which may be yin (cooling, moistening, expanding) or yang (warming, drying, contracting)." If you master this philosophy of the diet, then you can begin to put the foods you eat in energetic order and learn to use foods to balance out the other stressors in your life. According to a macrobiotics counselor in Mass., the word itself means "great life", which is an accurate description of the diet since it is more about a way of life. It is a "lifestyle diet plan that boarders on spiritual practice."
According to Natural Health Magazine, the macrobiotic diet is "a very healthy diet that's also approachable thanks to its emphasis on local, seasonal whole foods and mindful eating."
While macrobiotic dieters consider the nutritional quality of the foods, they pay more attention and put more emphasis on the energetic quality of the foods, and how that affects your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. According to the macrobiotic diet, every food has an inherent vibe that may either be cooling, uplifting, relaxed, and expansive (yin) or warming, grounding, active and contracting (yang). All foods contain some amount of both yin and yang, but it is a spectrum.
Many things can affect whether a food has more yin or yang energy in it; such as a foods season, climate, and even the way it grows. For example, leeks grow upward and have an large yin quality, while root vegetables on the other hand grow downward and are considered to have more yang quality. In order to eat in balance, the simplest solution is to eat in season. Since the summer time is very hot, many foods that have lots of yin qualities grow in order to have a cooling effect. In the fall, foods with a yang energy quality grow and should be eaten to help keep you warm.
In addition to how these foods grow, they way they are cooked and prepared also have an effect on their energy, as well as the climate, storage, and agricultural practices. The macrobiotics diet encourages the eating of fresh, local, seasonal, organic foods whenever possible.
Michio Kushi helped to develop the macrobiotics diet food pyramid, which is called the "Great Life Pyramid", in order to help us know what kinds of foods to eat. According to the pyramid, 50% of our diet should be taken up by whole grains because they could sprout, thus they are rich in "young energy" that helps to create clear thinking; vegetables should take up another 30% of our diet, especially cooked since they are easier to digest than raw veggies; beans and legumes should make up 5-10% of the diet, they are good living foods; fermented foods play a small role in giving us a beneficial probiotic bacteria to help aid digestion; sea vegetables should make up 5-10% of the diet; fruits should be consumed in moderation only a few times a week in order to keep you from feeling lethargic and depressed; seafood should be eaten occasional a few times a week; and meat, eggs, and dairy should be eaten minimally, these are acidic foods that contribute to the accumulation of fat and mucus in the body.
According to Natural Health, "a tradition of healing is what makes macrobiotics a deeply personal diet that requires you to tune in to your current well-being to decide what to eat." Based on the macrobiotics philosophy, when you're ill, your blood pH is acidic; so eating whole, unprocessed foods that are alkaline in nature help balance your blood's pH. Some have used the macrobiotics diet in order to help them through major illnesses such as cancer, however not much evidence exists that proves the macrobiotics diet to aid in curing and recovering from illnesses such as cancer. But, with its emphasis on always choosing what you need in every moment, the macrobiotics diet is a way to self knowledge and understanding unlike any other diet out there.
Exercise: While I could finally go to work today, I still did not do a workout. Continuing on my week of recovery and NO exercise. But for anyone who wants to get one in, I suggest getting a freestyle based swim in. If you go to last Tuesday's post, you will find a workout that takes you about a mile and a forth.
Eat: "Slash Sodium". According to Cooking Light, "for most people, the more sodium you consume, the higher you blood pressure will be. And as blood pressure jumps, so does the risk for heart disease and stroke." According to the American Heart Association and the USDA, a healthy adult should consume no more than 2,300mg of sodium per day (this is the amount in one teaspoon of salt). For those that are salt sensitive, they recommend only consuming a maximum of 1,500mg per day. This seems like a lot until you realize that the average American consumes over 4,000mg of salt every day...
Relax: Today I got to come home early from work since I still wasn't feeling up to staying until my usual 10pm. So I came home a bit earlier than normal and was able to catch The Biggest Loser with my family. I'm definitely feeling better though and hopefully I'll be able to do more than just watch TV shows for my relaxing time!
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