What is the Macrobiotic Diet?
The macrobiotic diet is not your everyday sort of diet. The regiment aims to alter not just your waistline like other diets do, but change your whole lifestyle so that you see positive effects on your body, mind and emotions. The diet itself was created by a Japanese army doctor in the late 1800’s (Sagen Ishizuka) who was suffering from several illnesses and sought a way to cure his ailments. The macrobiotic lifestyle the good doctor concocted features nutrient rich foods that possess balanced yin and yang properties, lifestyle suggestions such as to eat only when hungry and is based largely on the traditional Asian diet.
The Foods
Grains are the basis of the diet, composing 50-60%. Examples: Brown and wild rice, barley, millet, whole wheat, oats, corn, rye
Vegetables compose 20-30% of a macrobiotic diet. Examples: Green cabbage, kale, broccoli, bok choy, onion, carrots, radish, etc.
Beans and sea vegetables make up 5 to 10% of the diet. Examples: Beans: Azuki beans, chickpeas and lentils are recommended. Sea vegetables: Nori, kelp, comb, arame, dulse
Soups are to be eaten daily and are a good way to take in the vegetables and beans
Occasional foods to eat include fruits, white-meat fish, and roasted nuts
Fermented foods are good to eat with this diet and include tempeh, kimchi and kombucha
Some interesting macrobiotic beverage suggestions are roasted kukicha twig tea, roasted brown rice tea, roasted barley tea and dandelion root tea
*The macrobiotic diet menu is almost entirely vegetarian friendly
The Lifestyle
As mentioned before, the macrobiotic diet comes with lots of other advice that doesn’t relate to what you eat, but certain practices you should uphold in your day-to-day. See some of our favorite tips below.
Keep your home in good order
Chew around fifty times per mouthful of food
Put large green plants in your home
Get outside and take in direct sunlight daily
Retire to bed before midnight and don’t eat anything two to three hours prior to bed
Avoid taking long hot baths or showers (depletes body of minerals)
Wear as much cotton clothing as possible, especially when it comes to your undergarments
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