Macrobiotic meal
A macrobiotic diet is a way of life. Originating in Japan, macrobiotic comes from the Greek word for "large or great life." It is a natural, organic, pesco-vegetarian diet that approaches life and food selection with a Zen-like spirituality, balancing foods to achieve yin and yang. The objective is to enhance your health and life with the awareness gained through eating mindfully. Many followers of the diet strongly believe in its abilities to prevent and heal disease.
Instructions
1. Stock your kitchen with a complete supply of macrobiotic foods and cooking utensils. Select locally grown, natural foods. Find specialty ingredients online or at a natural foods store. Avoid processed foods, fatty meats, most dairy, sugars, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, refined flour, very hot spices, poultry, potatoes and zucchini. Limit your intake of tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. These foods are found to be too concentrated, extreme or overstimulating--counteractive to the balance of yin and yang that you seek to achieve.
2. Cook and eat macrobiotic meals daily, eating slowly and chewing food thoroughly. Most meals will involve food prepared by baking, boiling or steaming. Your diet should consist of roughly 50 to 60% whole grains, 25 to 30% vegetables (including seaweed), 5 to 10% beans, and 5 to 20% fish, nuts, seeds, fruits and miso soup. Use five tastes, textures and colors in your food preparation. Balance your meals with one to two cups of soup daily.
3. Learn the three basic macrobiotic self-healing principles: eating in harmony with nature, balancing natural forces in cooking, and using food to create desired effects. This involves taking more time to choose, cook and eat your food, mindful of every step along the way. The goal is to achieve faith and confidence in your own natural self-healing ability, as you become more sensitive to the food you eat and how it affects your life.
4. Strive to live each day with gratitude and appreciation for life and for the simple gifts of macrobiotic food and the self-healing principles. By making small daily changes, you can gradually adapt your diet and lifestyle to the macrobiotic way and begin to heal from the inside out.
Tags: natural foods, self-healing principles, your food