Honey in Macrobiotics

[beauty_sofa]

Could anyone please comment a little on how honey is viewed in Macrobiotics? Is is acceptable to be used as a sweetener once in a while or is it a big no-no?

My cookbook does not reference honey aside of saying it contains fast-absorbing sugars (Keith Michell - "Practically Macrobiotic Cookbook"), and no recipe within it contains honey. I am very new to Macrobiotics and still working on gathering valuable sources of informations (somebooks are on their way from Amazon...) and making sure I understand right how I should appreciate a specific ingredient.

Why I am particularly interested in honey is the lack of some proper ingredients here (seems impossible to find rice or barley syrup to make some cookies ) and I thought I could use honey instead, as it's for sure much better than sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Any inputs would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Bruce Paine]

beauty_sofa,

Honey is considered a simple sugar and too yin for a macrobiotic diet (though Christina Pirello [a more gourmet macrobiotic cook and teacher] http://www.christinacooks.com/ likes to use it sometimes).

Though honey has a lot of minerals and other nutrients and can be used in many ways of healing, some macrobiotics consider honey to making ones energy somewhat scattering like a bee going from this flower to that one.

If you have been consuming honey regularly (I did, for a year or two, before getting involved in macrobiotics), stop for a long time, maybe six months and then try it and see how it makes you feel.

Interestingly enough, apparently Osama Bin Laden http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1594143.stm had been using a honey distributing business to make money and smuggle contraband.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[beauty_sofa]

Thank so much for the inputs, Bruce! I was, indeed, a honey consumer for a long long time. In our household, my mom replaced sugar with honey for a long time now, and we were lucky enough to have access to quality honey since our neighbor had bees in his yard and provided us every year with fresh honey (we never found any weapons in it, by the way...). However, I stopped using it extensively about 1.5 years ago, when I relocated and lost my source of honey (and I don't trust much the one sold in supermarkets... oh well...). I'll follow your advice and try a little honey to see how my body responds to it, but I guess I'll do it some time later since my body is actually still in the period of adjustments and transition to a new lifestyle (started macrobiotics only a month ago).

Once again, thanks for the reply!
Otilia

[Bruce Paine]

Hi Otilia,

To get Rice Malt, Barley Malt and Maple Syrup on your side of the Atlantic, try GoodnessDirect http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-...ect/FCISS.html

Of course you know about Clearspring http://www.clearspring.co.uk/?

Thanks to Gary Miller for both the Goodness Direct and Clearspring links!
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Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine