Thousands of years ago great sages realised that the food we eat not only sustains life, but also underlies our health and happiness. They compiled religious or medical laws-the Code of Manu in India, the Hebrew code, the Nei Ching and the Hon.so Komoku (the first medicinal herb book) in China; the Zen diet in Japan, are just some examples.
Around the end of the last century a Japanese army doctor, named Sagen Ishizuka, established a theory of nutrition and medicine based on the traditional Oriental diet, to which he applied the Western medical sciences of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and physiology.
He had been born weak and suffered from kidney and skin disease. In order to restore his health he studied both Western and Eastern medicine extensively. He compiled the information and conclusions of his lifelong study in two books-Chemical Theory of Longevity, published in 1896, and Diet For Health, published in 1898.
In 1907 a group of his followers started an association, called Shoku-Yo-Kail in Japanese. lshizuka was an Army doctor of the highest rank, and the co-founders of this association consisted of noblemen, congressmen, councilors, representatives, and successful businessmen of the day. At this time Japan was being strongly influenced by European culture and science. Going against this trend, Ishizuka criticized the adoption of the West's modern medicine and dietary theories, and recommended the Japanese traditional diet - whole, unrefined foods, with very little or no milk or animal foods.
He cured many patients by having them eat a traditional diet based on brown rice, and a variety of land and sea vegetables. Since his method was unique at that time, and effective, many patients visited his clinic; so many in fact that he had to limit his practice to 100 persons per day. There were also many inquiries by mail which, because of his fame, would reach him addressed only "Vegetable Doctor, Tokyo," ` `Daikon (Japanese radish) Doctor, Tokyo"; or "Anti-Doctor Doctor, Tokyo." His healing technique was based on the recognition of five very important principles:
Foods are the foundation of health and happiness.
Sodium and potassium are the primary antagonistic and complementary clements in food. They most strongly determine its character-or "yin/ yang" quality.
Grain is properly the staple food of man.
Food should be unrefined, whole, and natural.
Food should be grown locally and eaten in season.
Suffering "incurable" diseases at the age of 18, George Ohsawa learned about this approach to diet from two of Mr. Ishizuka's disciples, Manabu Nishibata and Shojiro Goto. After completely restoring his own health, Ohsawa joined ShokuYo-Kai. He was later elected the association's President. Before Ohsawa started his prolific writing career there were only a few books in Japan on the subject of diet and health. Mr. Akira Iida was a director of Shoku-Yo-Kai, and one of the editors of the magazine published by that organization.
About 1925 Mr. Ohsawa wrote many articles for the magazine, and in 1928 his first books, Physiology of Japanese Mentality and Biography of Sagen Ishizuka, were published. When Ohsawa's activities started to gain recognition he was excluded from the association, which I believe was due mainly to the jealousy of some of the directors. He then established his own organisation, where he devoted himself more to the teaching of the yin and yang philosophy rather than the direct treatment of the sick. From that point on Mr. Ohsawa devoted his life to lecturing around the world and to writing on macrobiotic philosophy and its application, until his death at the age of 74. George Ohsawa first mentioned the term macrobiotic in his Japanese translation of Alexis Carrel's Man, the Unknown. It did not appear in the main text but rather in his postscript. His first textual usage of the term was in Zen Macrobiotics, which he wrote in English in 1959. It was published in English by Nippon Centre Ignoramus, (Nippon C. I). in 1960.
In Greek, macro means big or great and biotic means concerning life, so the word refers to the "big view of life." This meaning suggests that we should relax our small, rigid views of the world so that the underlying unity of nature can be sensed. The word macrobiotic was originally used in literature by the German scholar Christophe Wilhelm Von Hufeland in Das Makrobiotik (1796).
George Ohsawa met a descendant of Hufeland in Germany in 1958. After Ohsawa died his disciples continued to teach macrobiotics in Japan, Europe, North America, and South America. It is currently being practised virtually all over the world, including the Eastern European countries.
During his lifetime Ohsawa wrote more than 300 books and pamphlets, in Japanese, French, English, and German.
He also published a monthly magazine for more than 40 years, and today more than 30 of his books have been translated into English, German, French, Swedish, Flemish, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. In America thousands of people are using the principles of macrobiotics in their daily lives in all the major cities, and the number of people practising this way of life is increasing across the country. Thousands of health and natural food stores throughout the nation now sell the basic foodstuffs commonly used in macrobiotics -such as organically-grown grain and produce, sea vegetables, and special condiments. A growing number of macrobiotic publications are also appearing.
A positive sign is that some medical doctors are now recommending the macrobiotic diet to their patients. Since the publication of Dr. Anthony Sattilaro's recent book, Recalled By Life, many people have opted for this natural method of healing, which simply involves providing the proper material and allowing the body to heal itself. Many of these people have had good results. However, macrobiotics is not primarily a diet for curing sickness, nor is it a new fad.
Macrobiotics is a way of life, based on an understanding of the rhythm, the ebb and flow of nature. Its roots can be traced back through civilisation to the beginning of human tradition. Although it requires study and seemingly very big adjustments, macrobiotics is a practical way of living towards happiness. Nippon C. I. or M. I. (Maison Ignoramus). Many of them went abroad and started macrobiotic centres in Europe, U.S.A. and Brazil. Michio Kushi was the first such student who left Japan from his school.)
Extracts from the book 'Basic Macrobiotics' by Herman Aihara
GEORGE OHSAWA'S PRIMARY ATTRIBUTES OF A HEALTHY HUMAN
BEING:VITALITY - All the energy needed to accomplish that which is desired.
GOOD APPETITE - Not only for food, but for life itself, which can be satisfied without extravagance.
DEEP AND PEACEFUL SLEEP - To be fully rested with no more than six hours of sleep in a day.
GOOD MEMORY - Which is a reflection of the harmonious functioning of the nervous system and its capacity to recall past experiences and events as instruction for the future.
GOOD HUMOR - A capacity to appreciate the paradoxical qualities of life and not to cling to unpleasant experiences.
MOOD OF JUSTICE - A deep appreciation of the order of Nature and an understanding of cause and effect; the capacity to see long-range results of our daily actions.
George Ohsawa formulated 10 diets according to percentages of various foods, with the best diet (in terms of balancing yin and yang) being one that consisted only of cereals (No. 7). This diet plan is highly unconventional vis-à-vis current nutritional beliefs. Please seek advice before applying any new diets.
I heard about Macrobiotics when I was a teenager, soon after I became a vegan. Although I have never followed the macrobiotic lifestyle consistently, I have experimented with it many times, for weeks or months at a time, and am hoping to go all the way someday.
Is anyone here familiar with macrobiotics, and have you either experimented with it, or adopted it as your lifestyle?
Back in the aikido years, I followed macrobiotic diet religiously.
I adopted everything Japanese back then, to the point that I have never owned a bed since the late 1980's....I have had futons and their frames ever since. Even if now the one I have has a $500 solid oak frame. Anyway, back to food.
My adopted mother had died of breast cancer and even though we weren't blood, I wanted to eat healthily... and macrobiotics was the best I have ever seen.
It takes alot of discipline and even though I hate to cook, macrobiotic cooking was fun...because it was scientific.
There is like a graph of x and y, and macrobiotics strives toward the 0 for balance, or where the x and y meet.
It's yin and yang, balancing acidic and alkaline. (It's been asserted that an imbalance in ph, fosters disease and bad health.) This is for the mind too.
Much like being a warrior and a poet. Somewhere in the middle is balance when you apply both sides.
Down to the foods.
6 oz of chicken or fish is allowed up to two times a week. Not mandatory, just allowed.
The majority of the time I ate, tempeh, tofu, tabouli, bulghur etc.
Best to use tamari sauce rather than soy sauce.
LOTS of MISO soup! Yummy!
I recommend the book "The Macrobiotic Way" by Michio Kushi.
I have a feeling this post has stirred me back to that diet! It really is the BEST!!
And I am so tired of the other foods I have been eating. To the point that I don't like cooking.
My favorite recipe:
fry onions, garlic, leeks, yellow squash in one of those healthy oils (coconut).
slice tofu and add tamari and tofu to the mix.
boil udon noodles (many varieties)
mix and eat....yummmm!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been eating lentils and rice with fresh garlic pressed over it. Add a little mild peach pineapple salsa on top and it's a gourmet meal! I eat it practically once or twice a week .... it's cheap (50 cents for a bag of lentils and $1.88 for a bag of rice). Seriously, there is no need for famine in this world!!!!
shitaki mushrooms are also extremely essential to this diet....they are soooooo
good for you!!!!
Everytime I ate this food in the lunch room where I was working people made many comments like "That looks like food they'd eat on the Enterprise of Star Trek." And they begged me not to bring it to potlucks. But seriously it's the only type of diet where I enjoyed cooking and felt physically the best.
I bought the last $7.00 buffalo steak I will eat in a while, I believe. Tonight.
Picked up the yellow squash, onion (I have garlic cloves), tofu, and buckwheat udon noodles. Ready to start back on macrobiotic.
That sounds great, SWTT. I am thinking that will adopt the macrobiotic lifestyle again too, only consistently this time.
Have you ever had kinugoshi Tofu? It is flavored with nigari. (sea weed)
There is a Japanese health food/vegan/vegetarian/macro restaurant that uses that kind of tofu in their miso soup. It is yum, yum, yummy!
Then I picked up the book...."Macrobiotic Diet" by Michio and Aveline Kushi.
It's an expanded and revised version of the one I used many years ago.
I tried to find my macro book earlier today, but I didn't have much luck. I will be tearing this place apart again tomorrow to find it. If not, I will buy another.
Cooking can be fun when it's scientific and spiritual.
I love to cook most of the time, but I agree with you, macrobiotic cooking is fun, and quite a learning experience. There is a place here that sells organic macro food supplies by the box for a week at a time. It's really not that expensive, and it saves tons of time from not having to purchase everything individually.
I'm looking forward to exchanging recipes with you and getting started again. I need that little bit of a boost right now, and there is no doubt, macrobiotics has always done it for me!
I found my book, but have been a little under the weather lately, so will post recipes when the thought of having to type them all out doesn't scare me as much.
Flutterbywingz said this in post #9 : How's it going so far, SWTT?
I found my book, but have been a little under the weather lately, so will post recipes when the thought of having to type them all out doesn't scare me as much.
Flutter fly....
Please get better soon, so you can back to your own undecipherable posting that is over most of our heads.
I went back to drinking rice milk instead of dairy milk and for my cereal. It's fortified with A, D, Calcium, and B12.
Found a much better cereal...organic and not that sugar crap they put in granola.
Tonight is lentils, (long for winter, short for summer) brown rice with pressed garlic...yum. I could eat that day and night.
Asked the lady at the health grocer if they had any macrobiotic recipes...she said the books only...but that I should be creative. I assured her that my creativity stops when it comes to cooking...and that I don't know crap without a recipe.
Fish oil is the best source, but if you refuse to eat fish and take any kind of supplements made from fish oil, like nikiTa said, Flax seed is the best way to go, but also, a great alternative with extra benefits is a product called "Udo's Oil."
You can buy flax seeds whole, or ground, or even flax seed oil capsules. Again, if someone refuses to take anything with animal products, capsules will not be suitable, but ground flax seed over a salad, or sprinkled in cereal is great!
09-25-2005 12:27 PM
