Making the Transition to the Macrobiotic Diet

[pierrot lunaire]

hello,
I am not quite a macro but am in that whole research-reading mode. I go back & forth between eating whole foods and/or whatever-the-heck's-out-there (usually convenience eating-out) and have terrible trouble & confusion with the concept of giving up certain food habits; as in, how exactly do you go about it? cold turkey?
I've still got a lot more reading to do but meanwhile I'd like to hear some stories of how some of you were able to transform your eating habits/lifestyles. What worked for you?
thanks

[Roy Collins]

Hi Pierrot. Very GRADUAL! From my own long experience with macrobiotics I think that the best way to begin is to introduce
new foods to your body very slowly in order for it to get adjusted properly. If you make extreme change the body freezes up and
rejects that which is foreign to it. I began very wide diet myself
in the 1960's but then went very strict and blood began to stagnate in my intestines. Too much salt and too rigid. When I saw Mr. Muromoto in 1973 he said that too strict maco and over-use of fish gave me beninning stage of colon cancer. It is interesting that I was able to cure this when I first went on macrobiotics with wide eating! So after stopping animal food
and eating more vegetables and less grain then I was OK within 6 months.

I think what is causing most health problems all along for most society is too much animal and vegetable fat in conjucntion with too much simple sugars and artificial ingeredients. Plus too much stress from society on mind/body. Therefore if you start macro by eliminating these two extremes (meat/sugar) and using whole grains on a daily basis you are off to a good start. Next I would
start to take away dairy foods as these foods are designed for baby calves and are not considered whole foods but rather extracts from the whole. It is too concentrated in protein, sugar,
calcium and other nutrients (to help baby calf grow quickly). I don't think it is a good idea to stop cold turkey on this or other SAD foods unless there is a serious illness going on.

Fish is OK but not fried. Try to eat less during hot weather, however. A little later on you may want to try to add more sea vegetables and depending upon your age a little miso soup. Most
macro books give you a basic "standard" that is pretty good across the board but take time making a transition toward this.
Keep in mind always the season you are in, the latitude you live at and the foods that grow locally in your environment. Too much baked food in general is not good for you and depletes energy and makes mucus in intestines and leads to stagnation there. Especially not a good idea to use baked food during hot weather.
Always make modifications -- even too much pressure cooked rice can be too yangizing during summer so you can boil long grain
variety and use other more yin grains as well (like corn, oats, barley) and cracked grains like bulghur wheat.

Eating a little pressed and raw salad during transition time is suggested as well, as these provide valuable enzymes to aid digestion and help absorb and cirulate nutrients to body. Common table salt is preserved with sugar and is minded from the earth so has extreme yin and yang in it. It should be avoided whenever possible. During transition time it is fine to eat more fruit (during hot season) and I have no problem with vegetable juices and soyfoods on occassion. Try to limit intake of liquids to around 6 cups daily (aside from liquid ued in cooking/soup) but a little more can be tolerated during the hot season. Again local grown herb teas are good, bancha with mint, mineral water, etc. Try to stay away from carbonated drinks and fruit juices whenever
possible. A little soy milk is OK on occassion as well but this is not really a whole food so use sparingly. Good for older crowd and people with specific cancers, however.

So don't make too radical adjustments during first year of macro transition. Enjoy your life and the new foods this way of life offers.
Good idea to take basic macro cooking class and to contstantly observe changes going on the the natural world. This is the best teacher of life, but some basic understanding of physcial yin/yang system can make your practice interesting overall. For this you will just need a few books or talk to other macro friends.

I hope this helps.

In peace, Roy

[pierrot lunaire]

Thanks so much for your response. i find it very helpful; it segments the whole process into doable chunks.
I have one question, however; I have allowed myself to become very addicted to coffee lately & in some strange way this has led my eating habits to deteriorate significantly. I did not drink any coffee for about 4 months, during that time i was eating fairly well , & was on my way to eating even better. THen, while I was unemployed for a month I began to drink a lot of coffee (boredom? anxiety?) & that just snowballed everything. Before I knew it, I was eating all sorts of garbage. Understand that this has been a semi-conscious/ semi-unconscious decision on my part, and am now starting to end this cycle of irresponsible eating.
But I guess my question is A) from the macro perspective, what role might coffee have in exacerbating bad eating habits/ bodily addictions? Is there some authentic bio -type of link, or probably just psychological? B) is coffee one of those things that one as a macro ought not to consume (sort of like meat/sugar)? C) is there anything you could recommend to ease my body into giving up the coffee without all the resistance it now gives?
I would appreciate any response.
cordially, aaaaaa.

[Roy Collins]

Hi Pierrot. Yes, coffee is one of those extreme foods that macros try to avoid on a regular basis but may occassionally take if you like -- if your health and constitution is good. Coffee is very yin -- from a tropical berry. Very concentrated in both yin components and a at least one strong bitter that tends to dominate taste, like beer hops and tobacco plant. Because it is yin it require minerals like calcium, zinc, as well as B-vitamins to buffer its acidic properties, as does refined sugar. So bones and teeth become more weakened, as well as central nervous system and kidneys and makes it difficult to feel grounded. It is also diuretic and diarrheal (yin).

There are a number of coffee substitutes that have a coffee-like taste and are available commercially in health food stores. My favorite is Roma, but I also like Inka. Pero, Caffix and Yannoh are some other brands. They may take some getting used to. They are in powder form. You may want to add a little decaf coffee to the mix in the beginning so that your body doe not recognize the difference too much and then slowly wean yourself from the decaf altogether. Organic black tea can also be used on occassion and recent research shows that it is beneficial to health as green tea is and does not leach calcium from bones as some people think. Both green and black tea do contain caffeine and too much can make you jumpy. Later on you may want to switch over to Kukicha twig tea which is a roasted green tea and has less caffeine but a more robust flavor. A few slivers of Astragalus root steeped in the twig tea makes it a little more bitter and helps boost the immune system.

I hope this helps.

In peace, Roy