New, howdy, some questions

[Shazzie]

Hey, y'all,

I'm new to this macrobiotic way of life, though not to whole foods or many macrobiotic foods. I'm making a gradual transition, eating as macribiotically as possible while using up some products in my pantry (but the dairy just had to go--my immediate gastric relief upon finally giving it up has been all the proof I need.)

I have a couple of questions for y'all.

1.How much pickle? I've read a tablespoon per day in some places and more in others.

2. The only way I can heat my food at work is a microwave and I can't drive home at lunch. Anyone else run into this? Any suggestions?

3. Which miso is the best for everyday use in soups & sauces? Or does that vary by season, and if so, are there any general guidelines? I've been using a mix of 2-yr rice, 2-yr red, and 2-yr barley.

4. What about nutritional yeast? It doesn't do the same things in the body as regular yeast and is a great source of B-12. Any experience with this?

I'm sure I'll have a million more questions soon. Thanks already!

s.

[Bruce Paine]

Shazzie,

The size of the pickle depends on several things:

Your state of health

Your needs

Your capacity often determined by your size.


Don't microwave your food, chew it well (it will warm up with each chew!).


All foods should be as organic as possible, as your misos.

The older the better for health and darker is usually more yang than light.

You may mix two misos in soup but make one of them the greater influence.


Use of yeast depends on your state of health and how long you have been macrobiotic.

If you are just starting and in good health, you might experiment with yeast but you may find in time, that the microorganisms contained in good quality fermented food are far superior.

Tell us more about yourself and what brings you to macrobiotics and we may be able to better help you with your progress.

Have you read any macrobiotic books and if so, which ones are your favorites?

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Klara]

Bruce,

As always, great answers.

Shazzie,

Great questions - actually, all questions are great, especially if you've been thinking about them - because that's what mb is all about, becoming more conscious of everything in your life, and that comes from alot of self-reflection, experience, and sometimes some help from some friends (teachers, couselors, books, and us!!)

Pickles is part of the whole amazing world of fermentation, as is the miso - and part of it's amazingness (such a word??) is you don't need a lot to have an effect. But like all things in mb, no one cure-all - must look at all sides of the picture - can't say, ah, pickles then drown in them - that certainly won't create balance. Realizing most of these fermented foods are also salty, make sure you don't overdo, and that you have nice sweet vegetables and lots of quickly cooked greens for balancing. But generally, two to three small pickles is quite enough for most people. If that's a tablespoon, I don't know, but realize it is just a small amount.

When I leave my home, I take my food in a wide mouth thermos, my favorite being Alladin's Stanley Steel as it doesn't break like glass does (tho could bend if dropped so still need to be careful). If you don't have a wide mouth thermos, the very least bring some nice warm liquified soup, or other drink in regular thermos (sweet vegetable drink, ume-kuzu drink, and there's always bancha tea) but again don't drown in liquid - Bruce is right, chewing is wonderful - but it is more fun to have warmed up food - any chance of bringing one of those camp stoves to work? will they allow that? it's portable and very useful for times when you can't be eating in your home.

Pity about our society - we've all run out of time and go for the quick fix (microwave) which in turn creates more problems. Slow and steady wins the race.

re misos - I believe they all have their place - again it's consciousness - which may come with more experience - the barley is the one most used - I guess the most balanced, I don't know - the white/shiro miso suits summer hot weather, it's lighter - since all the misos you mention are 2-yr, guess then they have similarities - so the guess work would be what they are made of and is that more yin or yang, and what it is you need at the moment of cooking/eating.

btw, the whole business of yin/yang comes slowly and later - often beginners only concentrate on making the food palatable - but if you understand the concepts, you're way ahead of the game.

In any case, enjoy!!!!!!!! And my hats off to you regarding your own realizations how milk affected you!!!!

Klara

[Bruce Paine]

Shazzie, Klara, and friends,

Make sure the pickles are made of fermented vegetables, not ones pickled in vinegar nor with any added sweetener nor with refined sea salt.

Learn to make pickles in many macrobiotic cookbooks but a really wonderful book is Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Katz.

Okay, so let's say chewing 100 times per mouthful is out of the question for you and you really want your food to be warm when you eat it...

Microwaving it is really a bad idea if you are trying to eat a healing diet!

If there is is a large enough space at work for setting up a portable stove, butane is the way to go as it is safe to use indoors, will not set off the smoke or fire alarms, and you can cook a few or heat up many meals from a single cannister (and if you live near any city that has Chinese supermarkets, you might be able to get butane cannisters for less than a buck, each.).

If a stove at work (or in your car, if you drive) is not viable, then the thermos method might be.

Apparently the company that made the Alladin Stanley Stainless Steel thermos has split into two companies: Alladin and Stanley

The Alladin products are made of plastic and are microwaveable whereas the Stanley products are made of stainless steel and are not microwaveable!

Another company that makes stainless steel thermos is Thermo Nissan.

Here are some misos for you to select from.

Regarding yin and yang, it depends on you... If you are more conceptual you might want to study yin and yang first and the intuition will kick in later or if you are more intuitive, then the yin and yang will come along when you are ready for it!

Have fun with it and good health to you!

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Shazzie]

Thanks, y'all. What quick and thoughtful answers! I think bringing butane would be frowned upon at my rather conservative job, but I hadn't even considered using thermoses. That will be my solution from here on out.

I've come to macrobiotics in a beautiful zig-zag of alternating healthy-food and junk-food obsessions. I was vegetarian when I was younger but was sick all the time--in hindsight and with the wisdom of macrobiotics I now see that I was eating completely out of balance, eating way too many beans in an attempt to "get enough protein". I have IBS and was in pain much of the time. Since starting to eat macrobiotically--about 6 weeks now--my IBS has settled down almost completely.

The moment of truth came because over the past year and a half I've been having a lot of gastric upset & pain--heartburn, stomach burning, sharp pain in the gallbladder area, IBS--many ouchies. Eating was not fun anymore. And the doctors poked, prodded, laproscoped, sonnogrammed, and found very little. They gave me a Nexium prescription and told me they hoped I felt better. So I started doing research, and macrobiotics was the answer I found. Two days after starting the diet and I was no longer in pain after a month of pretty much constant upset.

Enough said. But what I'm really loving is how clear I feel, how connected spiritually. All that sludge is sliding away. Yee-haw!

Off to work, y'all. Thanks again.