Thread: Mental Health
View Single Post
  #6 (permalink)   IP: 64.66.198.247
Old 05-27-2003, 12:44 AM
Nancy's Avatar
Nancy Nancy is offline
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Sierra Nevada - Western United States
Posts: 184
Nancy is on a distinguished road
Send a message via AIM to Nancy
Thumbs down Supplements

Bibliomonk/Daniel,

It sounds like you are making good progress cutting down on fruit and tofu. Many will say pressure cooking of grains is the optimum, nutrient/flavor saving, and more yang way to cook grains. Given one's particular condition, pressure cooking, boiling, steaming, or baking may be used, all with varying yin/yang effects. I do enjoy steaming, myself. As long as an excess of water is not consumed overall, which ultimately taxes the kidneys and heart through having to pump extra water in the blood. Consumption of excess liquid is not recommended in a macrobiotic practice, contrary to the practice of drinking eight glasses of water a day.

A healing macrobiotic practice does not include supplements.
Many are quite adamant about this. Anything consumable in pill form is a very yin substance, usually comprised of chemicals made in a laboratory. Macrobiotic theory emphasizes natural, whole foods, i.e. --Vit C in dark leafy greens or fruit, not in pill form. Drugs in pill form or supplements are extreme yin. Consider whether you want to ingest extreme yin, rather than nutrition the kind way, in whole foods.

Omega 3 also occurs naturally in flax seed, avocado, walnuts, and Brazil nuts, all easy additions to anyone's diet. No need to cook fish, if one simply cannot. My father, who is 81, takes fish oil supplements. This is a fine way for him to receive Omega 3, since he does not like fish, and finds it uselessly impossible to change his eating habits and become macrobiotic (he doesn't want to). I am more flexible than most in recommending that anyone experiment regarding what they would like to do for their own condition. This is learning for yourself, and is coined by the macrobiotic phrase "non credo".

My recommendation is that any vitamin that you feel would be especially good for your own condition be taken in whole foods. If you feel that you especially need calcium/magnesium, B complex vitamins, etc. --list the foods that contain an abundance of these vitamins and post them on your refrigerator, to be sure to eat them regularly and frequently.

You will find that the macrobiotic community is a closely knit, yet worldwide(!) group of helpful, intelligent, and spiritually oriented people. There is a connectedness and caring that is always easily accessible, either online or off, --when you begin to connect with others in your own locale.

We are gladly here to help!
Nancy
__________________
"Self-restraint and self command, consideration for others, politeness, fairness, generosity, tact, discernment, good taste, and the art of friendly conversation -- all learnable and practiced at the table -- enrich and enoble all human life."

-- Leon R. Kass, M.D. The Hungry Soul

Last edited by Nancy; 05-27-2003 at 11:49 PM.
Reply With Quote