Starting a Macrobiotic Diet

The macrobiotic diet encompasses a philosophy and lifestyle that emphasizes simplicity. Combined with natural medicine, a macrobiotic diet is believed by its proponents to heal the body and help you live longer. The diet itself has been modified somewhat since it was first developed by a Japanese philosopher in the early to mid-1900s, but the basic principals of eating simply and locally, and avoiding specific types of foods remain the same.

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The modern macrobiotic diet is based on Eastern Zen philosophy as practiced by Buddhist monks in ancient Japan. Advocates of the diet, which incorporates certain specific foods, mostly organic grains, and avoids others, especially all processed foods, believe it to be the healthiest way of eating. This belief is founded on the premise that Zen Buddhist monks in Japan are among the healthiest and longest-living people in the world.

The diet is not only about eating and avoiding certain foods, but also about preparing, combining and eating foods in specific ways. For instance, organic rice and other grains are considered primary foods or the foundation of the diet. Up to 60 percent of the macrobiotic diet consists of rice and other grains. Foods such as fish and sometimes poultry are secondary foods, served in small amounts and only when they accompany the primary grains.

Strict macrobiotic practitioners use only a gas stove. Other kitchen essentials include a pressure cooker; wooden cooking utensils, including chopsticks; clay, glass or cast-iron pots, and one good chef's knife for cutting vegetables.

The philosophical foundation of the macrobiotic diet is balance in all things. Rice is considered the only perfectly balanced food, and, as such, it is the principal food in this diet and the "stabilizing" ingredient in every meal.

Eat

The traditional macrobiotic diet was strictly a vegetarian diet, but the modern version of the diet includes fish and sometimes certain organically grown meats and poultry.

A typical macrobiotic plate includes mostly organic brown rice and whole grains (fill half the plate), with locally grown fruits or vegetables on the side (up to one-fourth of the plate) and occasionally a small amount of seafood (up to one-fourth of the plate). Most macrobiotic meals include a cup of soup made with miso (fermented soybean paste), vegetables, grains, beans and/or seaweed.

The preferred grains on a macrobiotic diet include rice in any form and whole wheat, barley, oats, millet, buckwheat and rye cooked whole and in soups, breads and other baked goods. The vegetables most used are carrots, onions, pumpkin, cabbage, scallions, turnips, burdock, endive, lettuce, parsley and watercress. The recommended fruits include apples, strawberries and any fruits that grow locally where you live.

Fish eaten on a modern macrobiotic diet include fresh sole, flounder, red snapper, sardines, shrimp, salmon, and herring. Occasionally, you may eat small amounts of animal foods other than fish. When you do, choose pheasant, eggs, turkey, duck, chicken, lamb or sheep.

Use sunflower, sesame, corn, and olive oils to sauté vegetables, broil fish, and in general cooking.

Avoid

Some specific foods and beverages are always avoided on a macrobiotic diet. These include potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, coffee and commercially processed and packaged teas (which means most tea bags).

Avoid all processed foods and drinks. Specifically, avoid all canned and bottled foods, all refined foods, such as sugar and white flour, and any foods that contain preservatives, colorings or additives in any form.

Avoid foods grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides and foods that are grown at a great distance from where you live.