General Medical Advices

Posts Tagged ‘Macrobiotic Diet’

Daikon: Radishes oriental winter white flesh with the outer skin, usually white, can also be black, pink or green. Its flesh is crisp and juicy and taste relatively fresh.

Fu: Pattie seitan (wheat gluten) air-dried.

Miso: Fermented soybean paste used as condiment.

Natto: Condiment soybean obtained in the presence of the bacteria Bacillus natto.

Panisse: Type of fries Parents of Southern France, made from a mixture of chickpea flour, water and olive oil. After having rested two hours, cut the dough into a circle is put to fry in peanut oil.

Spinach (birnel): condensed pear juice that can be spread on bread or used in dessert recipes.

Tahini Butter of crushed sesame seeds.

Tempeh: Proceeds from soybeans fermented with Rhizopus oligosporus close. It can also be made from other legumes such as peanuts, red beans or small white beans. It takes the form of a cake that can be cut into pieces and cooked it.

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* It is important to eat foods in season and local.
* About half of the meal should consist of whole grains.
* One to two bowls of miso soup is recommended each day. Thirty percent of the base is composed of vegetables, two-thirds cooked and the third thought.
* Legumes must represent 10% to 15% of the daily ration.
* The food of the animal kingdom are not recommended in large quantities, they are mostly very yang. Humans, being a warm-blooded fundamentally yang, must not be overloaded in yang energy. But if you want to eat foods from animal sources, it is preferable to select the species most distant possible to man in terms of evolution: lean fish and small sizes, seafood, etc..
* Consumption of dairy products is encouraged: the human being would not need milk after weaning, according to followers of the macrobiotic diet.
* It should minimize the consumption of butter from seeds or nuts because they are very fat and vegetable source very yin. However, if they are dry roasted and lightly salted, they can be consumed in small quantities.
* Some vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, lettuce and asparagus are avoided because they are very yin, particularly because of their high intake of potassium, an additional characteristic yin.
* As for desserts, they must be consumed in small amounts and preferably made of complete and natural sugars such as rice syrup or barley.
* It is important to use quality water for drinking or cooking as spring water or tap water, filtered. It is recommended to drink more in the spring and summer and especially around 8 am that morning. In addition to water, beverages are recommended tea twigs (twig) and roasted rice tea (Genmaicha) or roasted barley (Mugicha).
* The cooking in the microwave and electricity must be avoided and the consumption of supplements of vitamins and minerals.

The Yin Yang represents the world as the result of two forces both opposing and complementary one rather active and issuing (Yang), the other more passive and receptive (yin).

No food is completely banned as such, but several are recommended occasionally. However, depending on the state of health of a person, you can suggest to avoid certain foods altogether until his forgiveness.

The composition of the macrobiotic diet is based on the principle of yin and yang foods. It is recommended not to consume too much food very yin (refined sugar, raw vegetables, tropical fruits, nuts, alcohol, etc..) Or very yang (meat, poultry, refined salt, coffee, spices, etc..). Foods to eat that lie between these extremes are whole grains, vegetables, seaweed, beans and white fish.

Principle of yin and yang foods

The goal of macrobiotics is to achieve a balance between man, environment and universe. This balance is achieved primarily through the selection and preparation of foods, which are based on the ancient principle of the Tao: the yin and yang. The principle of yin and yang is used to classify universal phenomena into two poles, yin corresponds to the positive pole, the yang to the negative pole. But these poles are moving, nothing is completely yin or yang. For example, a carrot is considered more yin because the meat is sweet sip of water and plant sources. However, compared with a celery that grows vertically upwards, the carrot is more yang as it pushes down. More food gathers yin characteristics, it is considered more yin is the same for the yang.

Macrobiotic diet is designed to promote longevity. The term also comes from the Greek “macro” (large) and “bio” (life).

Although the system as practiced today is a Japanese macrobiotics draws its inspiration even in antiquity. The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates – the author of the famous maxim, “Let food be your medicine” – as was mentioned in his writings.

But it is Dr. Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, physician to King Frederick III of Prussia, who got first principles of macrobiotics. Released in 1797, his book The Art of Prolonging Life through macrobiotic gives worldwide recognition. It is also considered as a pioneer in preventive medicine.

The founder of modern macrobiotics is a Japanese George Ohsawa, who believed, knew the work of Dr. Hufeland. But it would be especially inspired by the power of Zen monks, known for their longevity, to establish the foundations of this philosophy of life. Having survived tuberculosis through Traditional Chinese Medicine, George Ohsawa sought to apply the energy principle of yin and yang to other dimensions of existence. According to him, we must seek the balance of yin and yang energy in our food: the food would indeed charge energy.

This is one of his disciples, Japan’s Michio Kushi, who after his arrival in the United States in 1949, became the main proponent of macrobiotics in the West. Kushi has written several books in which he explains the philosophical and practical bases of macrobiotics.

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