Macrobiotic Principles

In difference occasion I hear people complain about how confusing macrobiotic is. The
confusion can come from those people who has embrace macrobiotic by reading a book,
taking few cooking classes or by those teachers who don’t explain correctly the definition
of macrobiotic.
Embracing macrobiotic can be like returning to a natural state of being, simple life,
simple food, no wasting, no artificial dyes, no pesticides into our food, cooking base in
your climate, your health condition, and so on. But before to clarify more I will share
with you what macrobiotic is.
Macrobiotics ”is the art of prolonging life, as by special diet” -dictionary of the American
Language- another definition is “ big or large life “ or great life”. Now I will like to move
on and don’t get fix on the terms even though is important to understand the context of
what we are talking about. Most of you that I reading this article coin some definition
about the term “macrobiotic diet” some of you may refer to it as “ brown rice diet” “
starving diet “ “ tasteless diet “ and when I hear those term I know that is usually those
who know very little about macrobiotic principles. You can’t get the whole picture of
macrobiotic diet and life style just by reading couple of book or few classes, you have to
live it, taste it and feel before you can come with a opinion.
The way it should be define for me is “ a diet base in grain-and fresh vegetables” and for
me is a practical tool which I use for my own benefit –read my article- with great results
on my life.

“The superior medication is daily food with which one can

achieve, perfect health and happiness”. G. Ohsawa

Macrobiotic is a tool to:

Improve immunity promote regeneration harmonize with nature

Bring happiness boost stamina brings simplicity in ones life
Increase intuition increase life spent change your destiny
Appreciation to life detox the body develop unconditional love

When I come in contact with the macrobiotic diet was around 1990, I was vegetarian and
I was looking for a little more from life, so I search and found that macrobiotic diet has
the tools I was looking to create my foundation to health and education about food and its
effect in the body. It brought me close to my roots by understanding the basic of eating
according to climate, environment, condition and health, sex and activity level; the goal
of macrobiotic was freedom-freedom at that time of my life was eating regardless what I
was feeling or I may say the more I was feeling the more I was eating- so I re-define that
term “ freedom” and understand that was a point to reach during my journey. Today the
way I cook for myself and family is more intuitive rather than fallow recipes.

As a defined by Carl Ferre’ “ macrobiotic is a set of philosophical and dietary principles

use for one’s benefit, physically, mentally and spiritually…”macrobiotic today 2002

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Remember that macrobiotic is not a mere narrow diet with Japanese ingredients is a great
way to restore ones’ health by using tool that will bring you to the spirit of food and food
will bring close to your spirit.
We often forget that we are essentially product of nature – mother earth and father
heaven – which influence all us in different degrees. But what really interfere between
human evolution is the mechanical, industrial fast growing which insulated us from the
essential life forces and alienated from our true nature. I don’t have anything against
evolution, but when the fast growing society is loosing its root and they try to sell me
more synthetic, pesticide, microwave foods, I stand up and yield No Way. Bellow there
is a simple explanation about what I talking about, fallow me.

“ If you anger the foods, the people will came angry, if you cook peacefully, the people who eat our
cooking will come peaceful..” a Japanese say.

When you approach macrobiotic you can approach it form tree different point:

1. Theoretical macrobiotic was characterized is gaining good foundation to improve

and understand one’s judgment – few people teach today this type of lineage,
which come from Ohsawa teaching.
2. Intuitive macrobiotic give you the tool to be free and happy
3. Dietary macrobiotics which deal with list of food, basic principles of yin and
yang, energy in food, control of fire, salt and water in cooking, also include life
suggestion and a list of food to avoid for better health.
4. Healing diet , which is a more narrow path (from point tree) to fallow for those
with serious health issue

“ The natural way of macrobiotic in not limited to the relief of symptoms, is equally concern with educating people
toward an understanding and practice of a way of life in harmony with nature and the universe. Michio K.

Point tree is our focus and we will talk about it:

Principle #1 Eat along of traditional dietary principles.

DO you know where you roots come from?
Which is your tradition? Can you adapt yourself and family to it. Are you cooking along
your grandmother way of cooking or you are more fit to the American way of eating.
The answer to this question can lead you to understand if you are in balance or living a
chaotic life style. This is a basic problem with all tradition who emigrate from on part of
the world to the other, during this change of land they also left behind some of the most
precious element “THEIR TRADITIONAL COOKING”. In the far East, rice was a staple
food, Native American respect corn as a main grain, Italian use more olive oil rather than
butter and use olives pickles, instead umeboshi plums. Macrobiotic teach us how to get
in touch with it by incorporating whole grains and vegetables, which were considered the
staff of life. If you look way back , you find that your ancestors were eating grains as a
principle foods, and use vegetables and beans as a secondary foods. I say, It work for
thousand of years, respect that and don’t let the fast grown city dictated your choices.

Principle #2 Don’t waste anything.

If you peel a carrot eat the skin too. Ohsawa teaching.

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When I teach cooking classes some times people are surprise when I cut very thin the
stem of collard green or others questioning why I do it? I softly say, “this is a class
about whole foods why I should through away the stems, we need them, “they represent
our spine and legs” as they support the whole vegetable to be straight they play and
important role in our life too. They look at me with wide open eyes and smile… but I
learn from my own experience that waste is not only apply to food, we should apply it to
our daily life, “founding usefulness in uselessness is a macrobiotic principle..” Herman
Aihara,Macrobiotic today,2002.
“ …If we take only a part of the foods we choose, we can never
hope to gain a total view of the Universe”. Michio Kushi

Principle#3 Eat locally grown and in season.

This is one of the most common principle in macrobiotics is to eat base primarily on
foods native to the climate were you live. People use to relate to foods that grew in their
area, was part of their primary choices, until become modern technology spoiling us with
more varieties from other climates. Is common for people – I do sporadic – to eat
bananas from South America, pineapples from South Pacific, Kiwis from New Zealand,
and etc. When we eat from other climate that is very different from ours we loose
adaptability. For optimal health and harmony with the environment is wise to return to
locally grow foods.

Principle#4 Adapt your cooking to season

In macrobiotic we teach to fallow the seasonal changes along with the type of cooking,
seasoning and type of vegetables available for that season. The modern way of eating
does not respect seasonal changes, people eat pretty much the some diet all year round.
Spring an summer are influences by upward energy, lot of sun energy is in the earth and
we need to balance it with light dishes, light oil and some strong long cooking dishes,
here and there to keep our energy up. Then toward autumn and winter we need more fire
into our bodies to keep us worm, a little more oil and salt so will use more stew type of
cooking and more root vegetables, all this to create the perfect internal environment to
adapt to the seasonal changes, which at the end all this adaptability make work better our
immunity. The use of fire in macrobiotic in and art. When we cook our food we are
transmuting the sun in it into our cells and tissues by assimilating the chlorophyll through
the process of digestion in the small intestines into hemoglobin. This is the art of
cooking.

Principle#5 Yin and Yang

Nothing in life is completely yin( expansive energy) or yang(contractive energy). Both of
this energies have some of each other in order to exist and manifest. These two names are
very often use in and in relation to: classification of vegetables, grain, seaweeds, fish type
of cooking, seasonal changes and influences, type of cutting, and etc. When you eat a
steak, which is very yang or contractive, we naturally balance it with opposite type of
energy, like mask potatoes, or alcohol or ice cream all in one meal, if you eat too many
sweets we will be craving salty foods to balance it, is a natural low. Stream foods need
stream balance which at the end is a shock to the body. Yin and Yang principles are very
important to feel confident and successful in your macrobiotic practice, fallow is a chart
which identify this energy.

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 Some of the basics of Yin and Yang
Characteristics Yin energy Yang energy
Nature expansive contractive
Physical character Non-matter, energy Physical matter
Basic nature Passive, intellectual, Active, physical, moving,
meditation, resting, slow aggressive, quick, etc…
moving, etc..
Location in the body Upper part of the body Lower parts of the body
In the body Blood The bones
Time of the day Evening and night, cold and Morning and day, warm and
cool hot

Principle#6 water, fire and salt

With the control of fire, water and salt in varies degrees we can control our metal,
emotional and physical condition and quality. As I refer to principle #4 cooking is and
art and we all should use fire to transform our food into energy.

I now that is a brief introduction to you, but I feel that can lead you to more curiosity for
further reading and questions. I still feel and student and very curios about what my
clients have to teach me, I learn a lot from them. I want to use this channel to thank all
those being which are not longer with me, which were the true inspiration in my path,
thank you all.
I will leave you with one thought “ the more we separate ourselves from our roots, we
setting against nature and we suffer, to find peace in us, choose to be simple in the way
you live ”.

Suggesting reading:
An invitation to health and happiness, G. Ohsawa, Oroville Callif.: G. Ohsawa
macrobiotic foundation
Ohsawa Essential, by Avery
Acid and Alkaline by Aihara, Oroville Calif.: G. Ohsawa macrobiotic foundation
Contemporary Macrobiotics by E. Esko, first books library, also macrobiotic foundation
Basic Macrobiotic Cooking by Julia Ferre’, Oroville Calif.: Ohsawa macrobiotic
foundation
The Quick and Natural Macrobiotic Cookbook by Kushi/Esko, Oroville Calif.: Ohsawa
macrobiotic foundation
The good morning breakfast by Aveline Kushi/Esko, Oroville Calif.: Ohsawa
macrobiotic foundation
Giorgio is a macrobiotic chef/ Qi-gong instructor and Nutritional Consultant in Los
angeles area, he is working in his first book about macrobiotic Italian cooking release by
summer 2003 if you want to contact him, email him at healingfoods@attbi.com

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