Macrobiotics means “great life” and is a science that deals with all aspects of life. A vegetarian diet is one of them, which supposedly can also cure diseases. The principles of yin and yang, those two opposites that form a perfect whole, underlie macrobiotics.
Macrobiotics is based on the principles of yin and yang.
The principles of yin and yang, those two opposites that form a perfect whole, underlie macrobiotics. In terms of nutrition, this means: One avoids extremes such as one-sided meat food or too many desserts. Rather, the aim is to bring the person into an inner balance with the help of food. Yin and Yang are energies that are also present in food. Yin is the expanding force, yang is the contracting force.
Yin-influenced foods and stimulants include sweets, dairy products, coffee and black tea. A strong yin is alcohol, while many meats, eggs and table salt are extremely yang. Spring water, cereal coffee, grains, legumes, vegetables, seeds as well as seaweed are classified as rather neutral. Through a balanced diet, famous macrobiotics claimed, numerous diseases can be prevented and even cured.
Macrobiotics: prevention instead of cure.
The origins of macrobiotics lie in Taoism, the Chinese philosophy and religion that originated in the 6th to 4th centuries BC. In Germany, the term became a byword for preventive medicine through the physician Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland (1762-1836). Hufeland, who counted Goethe and Schiller among his patients, became famous with his book “Macrobiotics or the Art of Prolonging Human Life.”
Nutrition plays an essential role in macrobiotics, because humans absorb many environmental pollutants by eating the wrong foods. “Prevention is better than cure” is the most important principle of Hufeland’s teachings and continues to have an impact on today’s ecological movement. In the 1960s, it was the Japanese George Ohsawa who applied the principles of yin and yang to nutrition. With sometimes radical principles, such as drinking little, he earned criticism and is now considered outdated.
Macrobiotics became really popular especially in the 70s and 80s by the Japanese Mishio Kushi, who adapted the macrobiotic diet plan to Western eating habits.
Macrobiotics: diet with rice and cereals.
Plant foods form the basis of the macrobiotic diet, with brown rice and whole grains making up a significant portion. Vegetables, although less often as raw vegetables, gently cooked, are also part of the diet. The protein requirement is covered by soy products – and seitan, a gluten protein from wheat.
Since they contain too much yin, the following foods should rather be avoided:
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Eggplants
- Sugar
- Canned food
- Fruits and vegetables that have been treated with mineral fertilizers or insecticides.
Instead, prefer foods that come from their own region and are in season. Algae cover the need for iodine. Fish and meat are not forbidden in principle, but macrobiotics rarely take all animal products, including eggs and dairy products. Overall, the macrobiotic diet is now very similar to the whole-food diet, it is a very conscious way of eating and supports biodynamic agriculture.
Macrobiotics and cancer
The German Nutrition Society rejects macrobiotics, at least in its original form, because the extremely one-sided food selection leads to deficiencies in protein, vitamins A, D, B12, niacin, folic acid, vitamin C and finally in the minerals iron, calcium and iodine – a problem for pregnant women and adolescents.
Above all, the claim to cure diseases such as cancer should be rejected. Good, on the other hand, is the high consumption of whole grain products, as this positively regulates digestion and can prevent colon cancer.
