How to Follow a Macrobiotic Diet

Macrobiotic comes from the Greek word, "macro" meaning great and, "bios" meaning body. It is a diet based on he concept of the opposite forces, Yin and Yang. Yin is said to be cold while Yang is hot, Yin is Sweet and Yang is salty; Yin is passive and Yang is aggresive. The modern practice of the Macrobiotic Diet was started in the 1920's by a Japanese educator by the name of Geoge Osawa. It is said that he cured himself of a serious illnes by following a simple diet of brown rice, miso and sea vegetable. But the Macrobiotic diet is more than just a bland diet of brown rice and soup. It incompasses a wide array of different foods.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. The main dietary restrictions of the Macrobiotic Diet are to eat a diet free of meat, dairy, sugar and preservatives. Seafood and fish are okay to eat and very much encouraged.

2. You'll also need to eliminate nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers and eggplant from you diet. These vegetables have a high acid content which could be harmful to your body. Acid is said to rob valuable nutrients like calcium from your body. Too much acid can hurt your stomach and cause alcers, acid reflux and other problems.

3. Eat plenty of sea vegetables! Seaweeds are some of the most nurient rich foods found on the planet! They are low in calories and full of minerals and trace elements like iron, calcium and iodine. Many are also rich in vitamin A, B and C complex. A recent university study showed that Kombu, Hijiki and other brown seaweeds can help to remove radio active stromtium from our bodies.

4. Eating small frequent meals like fish and steamed vegetables is good for digestion. Eating frequently actually helps raise your metabolism. Its much better than just eating two or three large meals a day.

5. Only eat organic foods. Other products may contain preservatives and other additives like antibiotics and bleach.

6. There are great meat substitutes to eat on this diet like Tempeh or Seitan steak. Seitan, also known as, "wheat meat" is made from wheat gluten and is popular throughout Asia. It is also high in protien, about 18%. Tempeh is a prerssed fermented soybean cake that contains almost 20% protien. That is about as much usuable protien as you'd get from beef, only without the cholesterol.

7. Tofu is a product made from soy beans and eaten by about 25% of the population. It has about half the protien as beef and is very versatile. You can fry it, have tofu burgers, tofu stirfry, etc.

8. Sushi is aslo great to eat on this diet. Its filled with rice, seaweed and fresh seafood. Rolling your own sushi at home is pretty easy. Be carefull when eating sushi out. All of the products might not be organic and free of preservatives.

9. Eat whole grain breads, rice, and legumes.

10. Cigarette smoking is also not allowed on this diet!

Resources

• http://www.thegourmetyourway.com