Although macrobiotic and vegan diets have many dietary features in common, they are not the same. The vegan diet is typically shaped by an underlying ethical philosophy that humans should not take advantage of animals, and a salient vegan goal is to avoid all animal products. In addition to meat, seafood and poultry, therefore, the vegan diet eschews dairy products, eggs and even honey as well. The macrobiotic diet, on the other hand, on the other hand, is based on food traditions of monasteries of Buddhists in old Japan, where monks, according to the founders of macrobiotics, ate mostly rice, beans, vegetables and sea vegetables and fermented soy foods, and balanced their diet according to the seasons and other factors that interacted with food energies. These diets share some historical influences, but one fundamental difference is that macrobiotic diets can include seafood.
The Macrobiotic Diet
The macrobiotic diet centers on the belief that foods, and indeed all things, contain a balance between yin and yang -- or negative and positive -- energies. The balance that suits humans best is found in a diet made up of whole grains, pulses like beans and lentils, seeds, vegetables with the exception of most New World vegetables, sea vegetables, and small amounts of freshly made pickles and fruit. Typically, 40 to 60 percent of the macrobiotic diet consists of whole grains, 20 to 25 percent is vegetables, and 5 to 10 percent soups made from vegetables, grains and beans, and flavored with sea vegetable and fermented soy foods like tamari or shoyu, which are traditionally brewed soy sauces, and miso, another fermented soy food. One macrobiotic dietary ideal is to consume only local, organically grown foods. Small amounts of fish consumed as often as several times a week are allowed, but not required, in the diet.
The Vegan Diet
The vegan diet is possibly the most restrictive vegetarian diet. A vegan diet excludes not only meat, seafood, poultry and other foods that require slaughtering the animal, but also foods, like milk, honey and eggs, that animals produce. A strict vegan will also avoid using anything made from animal products, including wool, silk, leather, feathers, and so forth. Despite its restrictions, if it is well planned and contains a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, with adequate attention given to sufficient protein and micronutrients, especially vitamin B12, which is only found in animal products and is essential to human health, many vegans find their diet to be quite healthful.
Macrobiotic-Vegan Diet
Because macrobiotic diets exclude foods from land animals and only optionally include fish, a macrobiotic diet can easily become a macrobiotic-vegan diet. By cutting fish out of the diet, a macrobiotic diet becomes a macrobiotic-vegan diet. In order to convert an existing vegan diet to a macrobiotic-vegan diet, foods that are too yin or too yang for human consumption, according to macrobiotics must be cut. These include foods with extremely yin energies, like black tea, sugar, alcohol, coffee, tomatoes, eggplant and hot peppers. Most yang foods, like meat, are already excluded on a vegan diet. Optimally, the food must be locally grown and organic.
Benefits
The benefit of a macrobiotic-vegan diet is that because it contains no animal products it is low in saturated fats, trans-fats and cholesterol. Furthermore, because diet contains a large amount of whole grains it tends to be low in calories and high in fiber. These qualities make the macrobiotic-vegan diet a heart-healthy diet that may improve cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, decrease the risks of stroke and help to prevent certain cancers.
Considerations
Separately both macrobiotic and vegan diets are restrictive diets, and when combined they can become even more restrictive. While it is possible to create a healthy macrobiotic-vegan diet, because of the diet's restrictions it is easy to become deficient in several important nutrients. These nutrients can include calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, iron, and Omega-3 fatty acids. Fortunately, a number of macrobiotic staples, like traditionally made soy foods and homemade fresh pickles, contain at least one of these vital nutrients, B12, but as they come from the microorganisms in the fermenting process, they are technically animal foods and may be objectionable to some strict vegans. Although a carefully-planned macrobiotic-vegan diet that includes a wide variety of nutritious foods can help avoid some nutrient deficiencies, it may be beneficial to consider taking vitamin supplements.
References
- Gaiam Life: Vegan, Vegetarian, Macrobiotic ... What's the Difference?
- Foodpyramid: Macrobiotic
- Vegan Diet: What is a Vegan Diet
- "Macrobiotic Cooking for Everyone": Edward and Wendy Esko; 1981
- "The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism: From 1600 to Modern Times": Tristram Stuart; 2008
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