Certain Foods That Are "To Be Avoided"

[annemj]

I've read several books about macrobiotics now and generally understand the balance of yin and yang principles, and avoiding certain foods is obvious. What I don't understand are avoiding some foods that would seem healthy to most other health ideas in the world.

The foods I'm talking about are:

Asparagus
Spinach
All nightshade family plants (Tomato, tomatillo, potato).

I understand that tomato and tomatillo are relatively new to European-descened bellies and that a potato is a quick response carb, but I am baffled by spinach and asparagus.

Any wisdom?

[umeshoyu]

These foods are too yin and have an excessive amount of yin vitamins, minerals and nutrients without balancing yang factors.

Also, they are favored by the modern public. This is because they somewhat balance a heavy animal based diet (yang). This is another indication that they are very yin. You don't see many people eating yang vegetables like burock, lotus root, or hard fiberous leafy greens like kale, watercress, collards, etc., except in some places.
A carrot burdock kimpira wouldn't compliment a steak like sauteed spinach or asparagus with butter. But spinach or asparagus don't compliment a riceball so well either...they are too yin.

thanks.

[annemj]

I'm not trying to be contrary here. Maybe I'm just generally confused. Is the notion to balance the yin and yang or is the notion to avoid anything that would be an outlier if you were to graph a bell curve of yin and yang?

And then within that, how is it determined whether something is yin or yang? I understand that pure minerals are yin, and plants that continue to grow indefinitely would be yang, but in between the two, how is that line drawn?

Also, I know that there is commentary on tomato being bad because the Europeans didn't eat them until introduced fairly recently from an evolutionary standpoint. (I avoid them because they irritate my stomach; I've had ulcers since I was a small child.) But the same could be said for corn.

I apologize for all these questions, but I'm certain I must have been one of those children who said after everything, "but why."

Anyway, my name is Anne, and I live in one of those areas where we do eat a lot of collards, turnip greens and turnips, and kale. The Deep South. Pleased to "meet" you.

Thanks for your help.

[MJS]

You ask excellent questions! Keep asking "why"!

Here is a good article on nightshades from the front page of Cyber Macro.

http://www.cybermacro.com/articles25.html

Peace

Mara

[Chris]

http://www.supermarketguru.com/page.cfm/139

[Bruce Paine]

No, nightshades are not bad!

It depends on the context in which you choose to use them.

They may be bad for you if you are trying to heal a condition in which nightshades might give you trouble.

Then, as long as you are in that condition, you would do best to avoid nightshades.

If you are having a problem with a nightshade such as a tomato, then it seems to me that the universe is telling you something like don't eat tomatoes, now.

If you are having trouble understanding yin and yang, then get a book like The Macrobiotic Way http://www.qualitynaturalfoods.com/s.../macroway.html and read Chapter 9 Yin and Yang or get the cookbook by Kristina Turner The Self-Healing Cookbook: A Macrobiotic Primer for Healing Body, Mind and Moods With Whole Natural Foods http://www.qualitynaturalfoods.com/s...lcookbook.html.

While it might be fun to teach you the rudimentary basics of yin and yang, I've got other things to do and you could probably learn a lot more from those authors.

Thank you, very much.

bruce Paine

[annemj]

Thanks for the information. All helpful.

Bruce: I have read "The Macrobiotic Way." I am just questioning the notion of "yin and yang" to some degree because it is not consistent. If you can eat salt, which is pure yin, why can't you eat that salt on meat to balance it? I have no intentions of doing this, I'm just trying to better understand the underlying principal, which has thus far proven quite inconsistent. When dealing with science, I tend to prefer scientific explanations rather than artful ones. In all honesty, it would make more sense if it just said "don't eat it; it's bad."

At any rate, there is no need to be patronizing. Nothing in my writing has indicated that I am a child or in "need" of spoon feeding. I have run numerous searches online and have read a number of articles and several books about the yin and yang theory. But none has yet to answer my question. I thought perhaps the practitioners on this forum might have a more logical, consistent explanation, as you had on your nightshade article.

Thank you for the link to the other book. I shall take a look at it.

[Nancy]

Anne,

Thanks for coming to the Main Forum with questions that are normal and reasonable for anyone new or old to macrobiotics to think about and understand. I will attempt to help answer them.

In your first post in this thread you mention asparagus, spinach, and the nightshade family. Asparagus is a very yin vegetable, which in and of itself is not forbidden to eat for a healthy person, in fact no food is forbidden. Most people finding macrobiotics for the first time in life are not just seeking a healthy diet -- they are already sick and seeking an answer to restore their health. As we age, we find that we are prone to the diseases of old age that come from previous years of unbalanced eating -- usually having eaten on the side of too yin or at the extremes of yin and yang. Both situations will eventually cause disease. Thus, guidelines for the macrobiotic diet first instruct one how to balance their health -- away from eating and thus being, predominantly too yin or too yang.

Spinach is also too yin, because of its known qualities of high oxalic acid. We can think of yin and yang in several ways, one being acid (yin) and alkaline (yang). Herman Aihara has written a book entitled "Acid and Alkaline" which is a helpful treatment for further understanding.

The nightshade family of plants are also extremely yin (acid). It is recommended to stay away from tropical fruits and tropical vegetables, unless one lives in the tropics. Vegetables with a tropical origin are: potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, asparagus, tomatoes, and eggplant. All are extremely yin. Many people with acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome do not know that white potatoes are an extrememly yin, acid food. Rather than take medication for these problems, simply eliminate the foods. Peppers are also yin (acid).

In your second post in this thread you question whether the purpose of macrobiotic eating is to learn to balance what we eat or to eat among the more naturally balanced foods and avoid those at the extremes. A healthy person can eat anything in moderation. Disease is caused by too much eating at the extremes, either too yin or too yang, or both, over the span of several years. To balance one's condition, we must equally correct and maintain eating -in balance- for several years. Sometimes our bodies respond very quickly to a balanced diet, even though we have abused it severely over time. A good example of balancing at the extremes is a cheeseburger (yang) balanced with french fries (yin) and coke (yin). This is balance and feels good and satisfying, but we can expect an array of old age diseases from continued eating this way. Better to treat our bodies respectfully and eat foods that are inherently balanced: whole grains and root vegetables.

Increased knowledge of yin and yang comes over time while faithfully pursuing the macrobiotic path. Knowledge is always increased by selecting organic foods for yourself in the grocery, learning what foods are recommended seasonally to enhance healthy discharge from organ pairs during each of the five seasons of the year -- and then cooking for yourself. Soon one learns upon waking, how one feels physically and emotionally, and can thus, choose foods to balance both physical health and emotional health. Different cooking methods can also make the same cooked food more yin or more yang, depending upon one's needs and condition.

To again address your question about tomatoes, tomatoes are a food of extreme yin. Thus, their extremely acid qualities would irritate an ulcer. On the other hand, corn is a whole food that grows in kernels on a cob. Rather than a vegetable, it is considered a grain product when ground for meal. Flat bread (tortillas) can be made from it, as well as other breads. Corn meal can be used as grits or polenta for any breakfast, lunch, or dinner (especially popular in the South). It is a temperate climate food, natural to North America. Native Americans brought corn as a gift during the first Thanksgiving with Pilgrims.

In your last post you state "salt which is pure yin" could be sprinkled on meat to balance it. Salt is extreme yang and meat is extreme yang. Rather, if attempting to heal a yin disease condition, yet still craving fruit, a pinch of natural quality sea salt could be sprinkled on cooked fruit to give it more balance. If suffering from a yin disease, best to avoid fruit and fruit juices altogether.

The science of yin and yang is very ancient knowlege, and it does make perfect sense. It is only our own knowledge regarding yin and yang that isn't quite perfected. It all comes in time.

Note: Please see cybermacro private message addressed to you.

Hope this helps,
Nancy

[annemj]

Nancy:

That's very helpful. Thank you. For some reason, my brain wants yin to be contracting and yang to be expanding. It may be an issue of the way they sound and perhaps the fact that yang is a longer word. Thinking of it as acidic and alkaline is much easier for my wee brain right now.

I was not aware that other nightshades (except tomato and tomatillo) were acidic. Potatoes seem rather benign in that respect; so I am among those a bit shocked by them being acidic. Perhaps a few years of being strict will allow me to on occasion enjoy my beloved salsa. :p

Anne

[Johnnyzen]

Keep in mind that although spinach and aspargus are not eaten regularly, occasional use is fine. Just try to emphasize the main veggies, like roots, squashes, and the flowering veggies like broccoli and kale. basically, a third of each,and some sea veggies. I enjoy aspargus and spinach on occasion.