Keeping your skin, the largest organ of your body, healthy and beautiful takes more than just eating healthy foods. The modern Macrobiotic diet uses a modified version of the ancient yin-yang theory and follows a traditional, grain-based plan. George Ohsawa, a Japanese innovator and the first to introduce brown rice and soy products to the public, taught that there is one basic human disease: living out of balance. The Macrobiotic diet promotes the belief that every person has different needs.
Yin-Yang Theory
Yin embodies the feminine qualities such as softness, passivity, receptiveness and expansiveness. Yang relates to masculine features such as being active and strong, aggressive and contractive. The poses of yin and yang in the Macrobiotic diet suggest eating foods that balance your body. If you have too much yang in your diet such as salt or meat, your skin can experience dryness, rashes, breakouts and redness. With an overabundance of yin foods such as refined sugars or artificially colored products, skin can become pale, droopy and weak.
Ecology
One of the Macrobiotic diet principles is eating locally grown, naturally cultivated and unsprayed foods. These foods can include vegetables, fish and whole grains that are grown without pesticides or other impurities that alter the food's makeup. Tainted foods are an epidemic to troubled skin. They cause a faster aging process, dryness, discoloration, allergic reactions and bloating. Foods grown naturally or organically provide your skin with the nutrients it needs to stay beautiful.
Economy of Life and Protein
A second principle of the Macrobiotic diet is to not waste anything. You need to eat whole foods such as whole grains, leafy green vegetables and sea vegetables. Protein is the building block for your body and is used for the growth and repair of your cells. The Macrobiotic diet does not use animal protein except fish, and utilizes the essential amino acids within the protein-rich foods such as grains, soybeans and sesame seeds. If one essential amino acid is lacking, you will be unable to receive the adequate amount of protein your skin needs to stay moisturized and unclogged.
Fats
You need fat for a variety of reasons, and the Macrobiotic diet includes fats that produce healthy and beautiful skin. Healthy fats obtained by fish oils, vegetable oils, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and soy products are critical to your skin's elasticity, brightness and overall appearance.
Complex Carbohydrates
When it comes to weight loss, carbohydrates often get a bad rap. However, it is the simple carbohydrates that hurt you---complex carbohydrates are your allies. The Macrobiotic diet includes complex carbohydrates such as those found in beans, vegetables and whole grains to provide you with long-lasting energy. Complex carbohydrates are rich in fiber and allow your body to eliminate toxins and keep bowels clear. This process permits your skin to obtain an even skin tone and helps it become refreshed.
Art of Living
An additional principle within the Macrobiotic diet is the concept of living the art of life. This entails taking responsibility for your life. Further discussing appreciation or gratitude for it is the root of freedom and happiness and having faith. This idea in the Macrobiotic diet reaches out to the psychological, mental, spiritual, and emotional levels the your body and skin need to be healthy. This is in addition to the basic nourishment you need to achieve beautiful skin, and if you do not balance yourself, your skin may react with blemishes, wrinkles, crow's feet, dryness, acne and loss of moisture and vivacity.
References
- Pocket Guide to Macrobiotics; Carl Ferre; 1997
- Food and Healing; Annemarie Colbin; 1986
- Glow; Christina Pirello; 2001
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