Macrobiotics....uhhhh.....
Sooo... I bought this book called The Hipster's Guide to Macrobiotics because I really wanted a new vegetarian book and it was in the vegetarian cookbook section and I've faintly heard of it and with the word "macrobiotic" I thought it had to do with science and I'm really into science and... yeah I was wrong!
Anyway, I'm skeptical about the whole yin-yang-energy-dairy-is-worse-for-you-than-cigarettes-whole-grains-connect-you-to-the-infinite-universe thing but I'm really trying to stay open-minded. Ummm... The recipies don't seem to appeal to me either. I don't know anyone who's ever tried it let alone someone who's ever heard of it... So I was curious if anyone has tried this whole macrobiotic business and if they could share whatever experiences they've had that would be awesome.
I remember the macrobiotic thing as a very small flash in a very large pan during the late 60s and early 70's, when the whole "natural foods" thing really started to take off...perhaps in reaction to being fed TV dinners as kids... ;D The fashion didn't last but you can still find people who are into it and write books about it...from what I hear, the food itself is rather bland and uninteresting; I guess being into the philosophical side helps. Then you can feel good about what you're eating without actually enjoying the eating part?
I think that's what Modanna & Gwenyth Paltrow follow. Don't really know anything else, except it seems really strict & involves a lot of brown rice.
Doesn't the diet include lot of fish? Seems like I looked at it briefly once and was unable to get on board with it...I would like to hear more about it too!
This sounds familiar... I think maybe MDVegan tried it for a while. When she explained it to me I said "Okay, at the risk of sounding like everyone else in the world when you talk about your diet.... what do you eat?"
I don't think she did it very long. Or maybe it was something else entirely, but it was a very restricting thing and I was like... woah, does that even have a taste???
Is this the thing where nothing can be spicy?
sadly, i haven't found anything really productive online that i can suggest you read. for some reason, all the macro stuff i've found online isn't really helpful like the books are in trying to figure things out.
If only we all had chefs like the celebs...
sadly, i haven't found anything really productive online that i can suggest you read. for some reason, all the macro stuff i've found online isn't really helpful like the books are in trying to figure things out.
If only we all had chefs like the celebs...
Seriously!
Thanks for the info BP! <3
No spices. No tomatoes. No avocados. No eggplant.
Nooooo fun. :-D
The deli at the hfs where I work bases their meals on macrobiotics. In the hot line, they always have a meal with animal products and a macro meal. I think some people include moderate amounts of mild fish (like whitefish or something), but from my understanding, most macro is vegan.
I concur. Spice is the, um... the spice of life. ::) ;D
I like the cleansing of the "sludge" part and the balance and the detox but no spices? fish? idk...
does anyone have anything good to say about it?
My Whole Foods carries macro vegan dishes in its cold food bar on a daily basis, and I get them often when I go there. They have these Thai dumplings, curried tofu, some kinds of noodles....they taste pretty good to me.
I am skeptical about something that talks about ying and yang business (like I am of any diet) if there isn't really a solid, peer-reviewed, scientific backing to it. I feel the same way about all-raw. Like, all that macro energy/harmony stuff sounds pretty, but who knows where it came from or whether it does what it says. I suspect most of what we know is anecdotal and subjective. But if it has a feel-good placebo effect for some people, then they should go for it. Whatever makes you purr.
No spices. No tomatoes. No avocados. No eggplant.
Nooooo fun. :-D
At the risk of sounding really ignorant (because I am, I admit it), what isn't macrobiotic with tomatoes, avocados and eggplants?
I think they may be too yin or too yang.... you're supposed to avoid extremes. Umm... or its just that macrobiotics is a very eastern concept and those foods are particularly eastern.
No spices. No tomatoes. No avocados. No eggplant.
Nooooo fun. :-D
At the risk of sounding really ignorant (because I am, I admit it), what isn't macrobiotic with tomatoes, avocados and eggplants?
Yes, apparently they are "too yin." Too stimulating. Macrobiotics is Japanese-taken-to-America. The concept of "locally produced foods only" would work better, methinks, if they weren't working on the basis of what is local to...Japan?
As far as whole over processed, and fresh over different ways of preservation, yeah, fine. But as garlic, tomato and onion are the Holy Trinity of Mediterranean cooking, and that's where I live, I'll stick to me yins, yins.
I'll stick to me yins, yins.
Teehee, very cute.
i'm a lot with KMK on my feelings about a lot of the diets. i think one of the things raw and (moreso) macro does is really cleans the CRAP out of your diet -- these diets really move you to eating very health-promoting foods. the one large difference with these (in general) and vegan diets is that some vegan diets (many i would say) include processed foods, flour, separated sugars (vs. sugars contained in, say, an hunk of fruit). Eat to live - done vegan style - is a really good "hybrid" kind of diet that i think incorporates a lot of the benefits of the three diets while limiting the less health promoting foods.
raw + some cooked grains/veg/beans = eat to live
raw + macro-style dishes = eat to live
Yup, 100% agreed. ;)b
Peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant are nightshade vegetables which are to be avoided on a macro healing diet...a more relaxed approach allows them in moderation. Avocados are tropical and unless you are from a tropical region they would be to yin for a colder climate.
I personally love eating macrobiotically ...but usually it becomes difficult after a while because I am still cooking for everyone else in the family and they are omnis(too much cooking)....btw, not all people eating macrobiotically eat fish...it is just if you feel you need it. It is a very healthy and healing way of eating/life.
Christina Pirello's books are far more relaxed. Try "This Crazy Vegan Life" Or even visit her websitehttp://www.christinacooks.com/ if you want to know more...Or for the hardcore info Mushio Kushi is the author to read...or go to his sight.http://www.kushiinstitute.org/there is even an article there about Christina recovering from leukemia through macrobiotics
There is a local woman that survived cancer by eating macrobiotically ...she is truly inspiring...go to http://www.becomingwhole.typepad.com/
Late arrival to the thread, but I must be reading different books than you about macrobiotics. I have never read about the no spice thing, I've read that spice is okay just not curry everyday. Indeed the cookbook I have is flavorful and uses herbs and such. And I think nightshades are fine once in a while but don't eat potatoes every single day.
When I was in high school I took a class in which we all introduced ourselves on the first day by saying something interesting or special about us, and we made a game of it where we had to remember everyone else's thing too. This one kid declared, "I'm macrobiotic." Nobody knew what he meant, and people were like, "what? you're acrobatic? you do flips?" Hah. Anyway, turned out his last name was Kushi! As in, the grandson of Michio Kushi, who basically brought the macro diet to the U.S. I was pretty impressed.
there's a vegan japanese restaurant in my area that has some (not sure which dishes count?) macrobiotic food, though there's avocado in a number of dishes:
http://theshojin.com/menu.htm
anyway, their food is pretty tasty. There is seasoning, albeit not the typical western stuff (more like vinegar, soy sauce, yuzu, ginger, etc)... so yeah. What someone else said - the restrictions might work better in japanese cuisine than, say, taking a western-type recipe and deleting all the non-macrobiotic things.
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