[Waco]

Hello all!

Over the last year i have implenented a fair bit of macrobiotic diet and living, eating a diet consisting of lots of whole grains, veg, seaweed etc, thou i have not been overly strict about it all.

In the next two weeks i will be becoming a lot more strict about it all and cut out all refined carbs and sugers, and make a few other alterations here and there. This is mainly because the diet makes sense to me, and i have seen it to help to the extent that i have tried it, it also agrees with my ethics, along with some of the other studies into diet and health i have done. I will also be following it to help clear up the bit of psoriasis i have (or more precisely, the imbalance that must be causing my psoriasis)

As such i have many questions! I would be very greatful for any help in answering any of these!

One concern i have with the macrobiotic diet is the idea of sourcing food locally. I veiw this to be very important so as to help the local community and economy as well as minimising pollution (and becoming more important in the future as transporting food becomes less viable). It seems to me that the macrobiotic diet encourages you to eat more local food, but then it lists japanese food to eat! So the question is, what would be the English equivelent to the Japanese foods?

Is Saurkraut (containing cabbage pickled in sea salt and with juniper berries) a good alternative to Japanese pickles? what local grains are good substitutes for short grain brown rice? what about locally grown beans? I love rice and adzuki beans, but i can't see either growing in this country (UK)!

How much sea salt should be included in meals? when i first started following a macrobiotic diet last year i didn't use any, i then find out that a meat free diet consisting of mainly grains needs a lot more salt in it, then i find on this site information about psoriasis saying only to use small amounts of salt, what is good? how much can i rely on my own judgement at this stage?

Can potatoes be made neutral enough to eat at the stage i'm at? will they interfere with my psoriasis? if i pretty much boil them away so as to use them for thickening soup will they be yang enough (or do they become more yin again if boiled for too long?)

I'm sure more questions will pop up, but any help on these would be a great benifit, for which i would be greatful!