help full books

[Karlitta]

I have been a vegetarian for 20some years, converted over to veganism and now I am trying to gain some knowledge in macrobiotics. Could someone please suggest any helpful books.
I already own American macrobiotic cuisine and The self-healing cookbook by Kristina Turner.
I find some macrobiotic foods rather hard to get accustomed to.
Thanks you for your help.

[Roy Collins]

Hi Karlitta. Thanks for your inquirery. You should
be able to click on the following link to find some
of the books you are looking for: http://www.cybermacro.com/public_html/booklist.html

Be sure to eat a wide selection of foods when first
starting macrobiotics, escepically miso and sea vegetables
and more pressed salads in the summer...

In peace, Roy

[jennifer_t]

Pocket Guide to Macrobiotics, by Carl Ferre. This book contains no recipes; it is strictly macrobiotic philosophy. It is a small volume which is easily read in a short time.

Aveline Kushi's Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking, by Aveline Kushi. This is a recipe book; however, the first few chapters do have some philosophy and also describe the ingredients and tools needed to cook macrobiotically.

Here's one which isn't 100% macrobiotic, but I think it would be a helpful addition to a newbie's library: Cooking the Whole Foods Way, by Christina Pirello. The beginning has a little bit of macrobiotic philosophy, some shopping tips, and a list of the unusual ingredients needed. The rest of the book is recipes. Since you are already vegetarian, this book may be a good choice for you. Just remember that some recipes call for ingredients which true macrobiotic practitioners avoid--tomatos and green peppers, for example.

HTH

Jennifer

[Bruce Paine]

jennifer_t,

You say that Christina Pirello's "Cooking the Whole Foods Way" and cooking with tomatoes and green peppers is not macrobiotic.

Everthing is macrobiotic!!!

Macrobiotics is about balance and justice.

If you eat to much of one thing and not enough of it's complement, you willexperience some form of problem, maybe resulting in something others refer to as a sickness and that's the universe's way of being just.

You can be macrobiotic and eat meat, potatoes, white bread and sugar and the universe will show you (in time) why that is not a good balance.

All these useful and whole foods that you see in the macrobiotic cookbooks are both for healing and also living a simpler macriotic way, but if you like to live dangerously and learn many things you can eat the Standard American Diet in all it's variations, and you will recieve quite an education.

If you are trying to quickly heal yourself of some extreme condition, using "Cooking the Whole Foods Way" ( http://gomf.macrobiotic.net/Books_Cook.htm ) and foods like tomatoes and green peppers might be too much of an extreme for you, but please don't say that it's not macrobiotic.

It just might not be the form of macrobiotics that you need.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Karlitta]

Thank you for all the help I have so far received. I went ahead and bought a copy of Cooking the Whole Foods Way.
This webside has truely been a blessing on my path.
Thank you everyone

[jennifer_t]

Looks to me like we disagree about the term "macrobiotic" and how to use it. You choose to use it more loosely than I do. That's fine. But I will continue to use it they way I think it should be used, which is more strict than how you do.

Jennifer

[Bruce Paine]

Jennifer,

You think that macrobiotics should be used more strictly?

Which do you think macrobiotics is :

1. A religion ?

2. A philosophical belief system?

I started following the macrobiotic way in 1974.

It has never been my religion but until recently I thought it was just a philosophy that coincided with mine.

Lately, I've come to understand that it is also my belief system though it is still not my religion.

I believe that everything in the universe is comprised of either more yin or yang energies and that nothing is neutral.

It seems to me that when one says that anything should only be one way it is like stating that it is a religion or dogma (i.e.: evil food or good food).

Many newcomers to macrobiotics are concerned about getting enough measureable nutrients (vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, etc), whereas I believe that one can intuitively get all the nutrition that one needs and that the body is capable of manufacturing certain nutrients that it needs via biological transmutation (http://www.lasarcyk.de/kervran/kervwork.htm http://www.papimi.gr/foreign/kervran/kervranindex.htm http://www.celtic-seasalt.com/bioltran.html ).

The truth is, that you have the freedom to do what you want, whether it is to use macrobiotics as a philosophical belief system, religion, or even ignore it.

I want everyone to know about how useful macrobiotics is but I would not want to live in a society where everyone follows macrobiotics, dogmatically.

Freedom to choose is more important than obedience to any system that appears to give it's practitioners excellent health.

So what do you say now: is macrobiotics a system of shoulds, or coulds?

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[jennifer_t]

Thanks Bruce. It seems like you use the word interchangeably with yin/yang. That's fine. I prefer a more strict useage, one that I think is easier for newcomers to understand. If you want to broaden a newcomer's understanding of the word, I think that's what you should do. That's not my mission, but, hey, if it's yours, great!

Jennifer

[Bruce Paine]

Jennifer,

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response.

I feel that the converation here has gone off topic and so because I presently have nothing to say on the topic of helpful books, I will quit this conversation, here, and take it to a more appropriate place and you can decide whether you want to respond there or take it some other place or at all.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine