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| Macrobiotics: A Diet or Philosophy or Both? Macrobiotics has been known for its dietary recommendations for health and healing. In reality, it is a philosophy applied to diet, lifestyle and all aspects of health and healing. For over 30 years, I taught and counseled people using this philosophy as a guide. Besides studying about diet and lifestyle, I learned about herbs, supplements, various exercise systems, systems of massage and manipulation, and a wide variety of natural healing techniques in order to understand what people need in aiding their recovery of health. The underlining philosophy of macrobiotics is the philosophy of balance. In this view, the human body in health has a certain state of balance between all the opposite tendencies such as heat and coolness, tension and relaxation, and internal and external circulation. Sickness of dis-ease, lack of ease, arises when this balance is disrupted. The road to health consists of restoring this balance. The energetic nature of food, herbs, supplements and healing techniques is central to understanding how to balance the body in macrobiotic practice. Modern physics confirms this originally ancient understanding. Physics, today, states that objects exist in different dimensions. Applying the macrobiotic philosophy to understanding food can take the confusion out of the conflicting dietary approaches that are popular today. Two opposite dietary regimens are examples, raw foods vegan eating and natural animal food eating. In raw foods vegan systems, nothing is to be cooked. Animal food consumption and cooking are identified as the source of health problems. Some advocates say we are designed to eat raw. Natural animal food supporters recommend people eat goodly amounts of grass fed beef and naturally raised free range hormone free chicken, along with other animal foods. These supply essential nutrients that all traditional people ate and valued. One way of understanding the energetics of food in macrobiotics is to understand that certain foods have a lighter quality. These foods that are lighter make us feel lighter. Foods that are heavier are concentrated in energy. They create strength and substance in the body. In looking at the raw foods versus the natural animal foods advocates, we see that raw foods have a light quality. I’ve seen people do better incorporating more raw foods when they are in good health living in hot climates or during hot seasons to create lightness. People who have consumed lots of animal foods in the past feel better incorporating more raw vegetables into their diet. A problem with raw food eating arises when excessive amounts are consumed by people who have weak digestion. In the macrobiotic system of India, Ayurveda, they say that raw foods weaken the agni, or digestive fire. Because we don’t have the ability to break down large amounts of raw foods like other animals, excessive amounts weaken digestion. I found it is best to consume raw foods in the right climates and for people who are either still eating lots of meat or who had in the past. On the other hand, animal foods give strength but are rich and harder to digest in large amounts. They have a place in people’s diets. The lighter the animal food, the easier it is to digest. Fish would be a good choice as an animal food because of this. Red meat, poultry and eggs when consumed in higher amounts are hard to digest and cause physical stagnation. I’ve seen problems with people consuming these foods, even when they are free range or grass fed sources. Traditional macrobiotic teaching recommended small amounts because of this. Around the world, people consumed animal products for strength. Some cultures were careful of the amount and time that they were eaten in the day. We must consider although there is evidence that hunter gatherers ate 65% animal foods, we are no longer hunter gatherers. We are city folk, people of villages and towns, and huge cities. The concentrated energy of animal foods doesn’t do well for people working with their mind and less with the body. According to the macrobiotic philosophy of balance and the energetics of foods, the best diet for human health centered on properly cooked whole grains and vegetables, with other natural foods and seasonings as side dishes to this main course.
John Kozinski currently teaches and offers macrobiotic natural health counseling, shiatsu, chi kung, and classes in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Virginia, Connecticut, Chicago, Kansas, Iowa, and at the Kushi Institute in Western MA.
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