Macrobiotic
Refinements
Many
people begin Macrobiotics with various dietary habits. Although these habits will change automatically
over time as they continue to practice Macrobiotics, it can help make the transition to Macrobiotics go more smoothly if the reasons why these habits need to change can be better understood. In this article I will discuss some of these
habits and why they need to change.
1)
Liquid intake:
Most
people have been taught to drink as much water as possible; the more, the
better. Macrobiotics teaches to drink
only when thirsty.
Q:
Why this difference of opinion?
A:
Eating a diet high in saturated fat, refined, processed foods, refined salt and
sugar creates an imbalanced condition in the blood chemistry. The body reacts by craving more liquid to
dilute and re-distribute (i.e., balance) the excesses and deficiencies created.
When
one switches to a Macrobiotic diet composed of largely vegetable-based foods
that are inherently balanced, the need to dilute and re-distribute excesses and
deficiencies in blood chemistry is naturally reduced dramatically. That is why slowly sipping a little twig tea
after a meal can be all that is needed to maintain balanced body chemistry that
the body instinctively senses and tries to maintain.
2)
Drinking With Meals:
Most
people are used to drinking some form of beverage during meals. Macrobiotics does not recommend drinking beverages
during meals.
Q:
Again, why this difference of opinion?
A:
Since the basic Macrobiotic diet consists of soup, brown rice or other whole
grain dish and cooked vegetables, there is already a lot of water in the
food. On average the water content of
this type of diet is around 80-90%, which is the same as
exists in the body.
In
contrast, a diet based on meat, bread and other dry foods can lack sufficient
moisture to digest the food properly, hence the desire to drink something
during meals.
Drinking
during Macrobiotic meals dilutes digestive fluids excessively, so thorough
digestion can be impaired. Incomplete
digestion can lead to inadequate nourishment of body cells, because we are only
nourished by what our bodies can digest and our cells can absorb and transform
into body building, repair and energy conversion.
Drinking
a small amount of unsweetened twig tea or other Macrobiotic beverage at the end
of the meal can aid digestion by relaxing the stomach. Consuming cold liquids at the beginning of a
meal can impede the digestive process, whereas warm soup can aid
digestion. That is why taking warm soup
at the beginning of a meal is a recommended part of the Macrobiotic
regimen. Taking a small cup of warm tea
at the end of the meal helps neutralize any imbalances that may occur during
consumption of the meal, such as excessive salt or oil intake, lack of thorough
chewing, overeating, etc.
3)
Adding Salt to Food during Meals:
Most
dining tables include a salt shaker, and each person customarily adds salt as
desired during the meal.
Macrobiotics
addresses the individualized need for added salt by including goma-sio (sesame
salt) or other condiment on the table, but not plain salt. This is because salting food can lead to
excessive thirst and over consumption of liquid at meals or after meals.
Macrobiotic
cooking prefers to add salt to a level which is comfortable for everyone, but
not more. In this way, there is always
some salt in meals, but not excessive amounts.
For those who desire more salt, they can obtain this by adding
Macrobiotic condiments like goma-sio, tekka, tamari-kombu, tsukemono (pickled
vegetables) etc.
In
general, infants need very little or even no salt, children a little, active
teens and adults, the most, the elderly less.
Sesame salt contains salt coated with oil from sesame seeds, so it
enters the bloodstream without making one thirsty and helps build the salt level in the blood. Maintaining adequate salt levels in the blood preents bacteria and other pathogens from multiplying out of control. It also helps neutralize waste matter from cellular metabolism.
4)
Why the Macrobiotic Emphasis on Salt Anyway?
Modern
dietary thinking for the most part downplays the value of salt in the human diet,
and even considers it harmful and a cause of high blood pressure, heart
disease, kidney disorders and other complications. This is due to the fact that refined salt can
harm cells and organs because it lacks buffering trace minerals. Unrefined rock
or sea salt contains trace minerals so important to buffer and assist body
functions.
Salt
is a natural antiseptic. It is prevalent
everywhere. Our blood, sweat and tears
are salty. Nature uses salt to protect
us from infections and infectious diseases.
The sodium/potassium ion pump that exists on the inner and outer
surfaces of nerve fibers is responsible for the transmission of nerve impulses
throughout the body’s nerve matrix and brain.
Maintenance of the proper balance of sodium and potassium ions in the
blood is based on our dietary intake.
Most carnivores get the salt they need from the meat they eat. Vegetarian animals get it from licking salt
they find in their environment.
Macrobiotic
people need to maintain an adequate amount of salt in their diet to maintain
health. Lack of sufficient salt can
lead to body weakness, muscular cramping, digestive disorders, blood acidosis,
re-occurring or chronic infectious disorders, infections that don’t heal,
healing complications, retarded healing, susceptibility to infections and
infectious disorders, lack of mental focus and alertness, chronic lethargy,
negativity, pessimism, lack of energy and enthusiasm or joy of living,, etc.
In
short, we are the “salt of the
Earth”, and need to follow the literal as well as the figurative admonition of
Christ, “Therefore, have salt in yourselves, and live at peace, one with
another” (The Gospel of Mark).
5)
Drinking Tea Plain
Most
people are used to beverages that are sweetened, flavored heavily or enhanced
in some other way. This is especially
true of tea.
Macrobiotics
teaches to drink tea plain. This is
because tea is usually served at the end of a meal, and is not to be considered
a dessert beverage, but a balanced way to end a meal. Also, the Macrobiotic way is a journey away
from a way of eating that bombards the senses with exaggerated levels of
sweetness, saltiness, spiciness and sourness in foods and beverages back to an
appreciation of life’s simplicity and subtlety.
Understatement
in expression is a traditional way of life that has been replaced by
overstatement, boasting, exaggeration, noise and overindulgence in taste, not
only in diet, but in every area of life. Along
with the rising levels of stimulation comes unrelenting stress, a contributive cause
of many modern disorders.
Macrobiotics
offers a way: a way in, a way out, a way over, a way through, a way up, and a
way down, back to the basics upon which our ancestral lives were founded. The cry, “Stop the world, I want to get off!”
is arising in more and more people’s minds, spirits and souls these days. In some cases, where the cry is not answered
or resolved, the resulting stress, frustration and anger can erupt in tragic
ways.
For
such people, as well as anyone else not happy with their lives, Macrobiotics
offers a cup of cooked, unpolished brown rice seasoned only with sun-evaporated
salt and goma-sio, miso soup with vegetables and
seaweed, simply-cooked and lightly salted garden vegetables, and a small cup of
unsweetened, un-dyed, 3-year-old, roasted twig tea. All
that is asked is to chew each mouthful of food at least 50 times before
swallowing, and to try this for at least 10 (ten) days, and forsake other forms
of nourishment during that time.
The
rest is left to the ability of the subject involved in this little experiment
to record and notice the differences and changes experienced during that
time. If the effects noticed are not
considered of sufficient value or significance, then they will probably return
to their old way of life, and try some other way of dealing with the struggles,
sicknesses and frustrations of coping with their daily lives. If the effects noticed are impressive
enough, they will probably continue.
The
fact that so many have continued who tried this little experiment testifies to
the value of Macrobiotics. We hope
you will consider trying this experiment yourself if you have not
already, and will let us know the effects you observe.
-- Fred Pulver