nightshades

[josie_c]

I've just started exploring macrobiotics and have questions about nightshades. I belong to a CSA farm and this is tomato and eggplant season. I hate to waste all this food and was wondering if there was a way to balance eating these foods during their growing season. I don't know if it matters but I'm of Mediterranean descent (second generation Italian-America) and have eaten nightshades for my entire life so the weaning off period is going to be difficult. Also, how about fresh herbs -- I love my herb garden but have not really used much of it since I started integrating macrobiotics into my life. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Kismetwolf]

Hi Josie, I'm no expert but from my understanding Macrobiotics is based on a Japanese diet, so there will be many changes to what you were use to and quite strange ones too - but also new and exciting - delicious foods to try out and some that may take a little getting use to and others that you may reject all together - and that's okay.

There are many helpful people who post in here who have been Macrobiotic for years and can guide you further if you choose to be full on Macro but I wanted to share my experiences with you thus far as I am also Italian-American and I use to enjoy the same foods but now that I am studying nutrition, it is becoming more clear to me that certain foods do indeed "leach" nutrients, calcium, vitamins from the body, and some of these are "nightshades".

I haven't had tomatoes, potatoes or eggplants in the past 3 months and I really don't miss them even though I was raised on them, (same as you), but I would imagine that like everything else in life, if you are in good health and if you choose to eat them - then enjoy them moderately, there is no right or wrong way really, you need to do what works for you. If you enjoy eating the foods and if they don't give you allergic reactions, inflammation, or make you feel lethargic, then by all means enjoy them! They are in season and it is always best to eat what is in season in your region.

And you could most likely balance them by eating whole foods, whole grain breads (if you are not allergic to wheats), brown rice udon noodles, garlic, onions, olive oil, broccoli, watercress, cauliflower, lentils, limes, kiwi, nori (seaweed), etc. etc.. all the whole foods that are highest in vitamins and minerals.

I am not a strict "Macro", I am too much of a non-conformist (and adventurer of life) so a strict anything doesn't suit me! :o)
I enjoy making fresh herb breads and garnishing bean and rice dishes with various herbs that are not used in a strict Macrobiotic kitchen. I do eat a primarily vegan + macro diet and it works for me! You'll find the best way of eating that works for you, maybe you will want to be a strict Macro and that's great!

Or maybe you just want to eat balanced and healthier with whole foods and that's great too! As long as you are enjoying the experience, enjoying cooking and it doesn't become a chore - you will get the maximum benefit from your new healthy diet!

[Manymoons]

Josie c

I personally avoid tomato and eggplant. They contribute to a balance that I do not find advantageous.

There really is no right or wrong, only different balances. If one is willing to pay the price, anything can be done. Keeping things simple is the best way for me. I see no need to create a huge construct that is complicated and unmanageable when a simple solution is more direct and effective. The point is to recognize the yin/yang of things and align them appropriately. Everything has a place and function.

My wife is Sicilian and has devised a moch-red sauce that leaves no sence of deprivation for tomato. I believe she uses beet for color and umivinegar for tang. An Italian compliment of herbing puts it over the top! I would caution on the use of garlic. It is acid forming and really a balance for heavy meat. Use it carefully if you must.

Mannymoons

There seems to be a need for a bit more information about what plants are nightshades and why they are a problem. Part of this confusion in macrobiotics comes from the conflict between smoking cigarettes and eating nightshade foods, with most of the leaders being smokers and therefore unable to reconcile addiction to nicotine with avoidance of solanine, which is the same chemical compound. Ohsawa wrote a pamphlet that was withdrawn in the late 1960s in which he argued that the yin smoke in a cigarette went up into the air but this conflicts with all the evidence that the nicotine, which is the addictive drug in tobacco and other nightshades, goes straight into the lungs. It's a pity they never straightened this out as it undermined the macrobiotic argument for a lot of otherwise favorably inclined people.

For the full story on nightshades modesty does not forbid me to say that the best exposition of what they are and what they do was written by me and can be found at http://www.craigsams.com/pages/tobac.html

Enjoy!

Craig