Macrobiotics is not made of taboos and food bans. It is rather an ancient philosophy, much more similar to the Mediterranean diet than we can imagine
There are now plenty of food regimes. From vegetarians and vegans, to fruitarians and raw foodists and so on. Macrobiotics, on the other hand, is not at all like this: in fact, it is not a food tribe with taboos and bans, nor much less a fashion, but rather an ancient philosophy, much more similar to the Mediterranean diet than you could to think. In fact, unlike what many erroneously believe, in macrobiotics there are no rigid rules such as recommended or prohibited foods (if not industrial products such as snacks), as centuries-old ideas that see man as part of a holistic system, much more broad and global (in fact macrobiotic means great life). For this you can eat everything, since it is the way that makes a macrobiotic food or not (from which to eat macrobiotically). The important thing is to do it with a balance between those two primordial and complementary forces which are Yin and Yang. So, let's really see what it is beyond false myths, erroneous beliefs and unfounded prejudices. Do not worry if you have doubts about the topic: it is in the very nature of macrobiotics to be open to countless interpretations, to have blurred boundaries, without too rigid or sharp divisions. So let's start to understand how and thanks to whom macrobiotics has spread in Italy.
Origin and diffusion of macrobiotics
Imagine post-war Italy and the advent of modernity, where even in the kitchen you wanted to abandon and exceed tradition, in view of the arrival of novelties such as fast food, frozen foods or packaged foods. That where Italy began to abandon organic even before this word existed and where quality food was certainly not, as today, a priority. It is in this context that the ideas of Georges Ohsawa, already known Japanese writer of philosophy, politics and economics. Sick of tuberculosis, in search of treatments other than pharmacological ones, he deepened the Eastern philosophical model inspired by the Shinto religion, Buddhism, but above all by Chinese Taoism. Thus he discovered a very simple truth: "Nutrition connects man to the universe because the foods themselves contain the complementary forces of change, Yin and Yang, which redistribute themselves in the human body, cure it, and if in balance , keep him healthy. Health therefore cannot be only physical or biological, but also mental and spiritual, because spirit and matter are two aspects of the same reality . The desire to share his discoveries with others led him to become the first great popularizer in Italy and Europe of Chinese theories focused on human health and well-being, in particular of macrobiotics and the vision of food not only as a source for sustenance, but also as medicine for the body and soul. Macrobiotics, therefore, has oriental origins to the extent that its discoverer and spokesman was a Japanese, but in reality its basic principles are strongly intertwined with something that, more or less consciously, already existed in our tradition: the Mediterranean diet, intended as a lifestyle, made of seasonality, conviviality, frugality and balance. In short, everything that revolves around food itself.
The basic philosophy
According to macrobiotics, there is no diet that is suitable for everyone: foods must be balanced on the basis of each individual person, according to various factors, such as where he lives, how old he is, how much physical movement he does, and so on. There are therefore no absolutely prohibited or recommended products or, even worse, a list of "yes and no" foods, since it is the way in which they are produced, cooked and combined that makes a food macrobiotic or not. This is why it is preferable to speak of "eating macrobiotically". In macrobiotics, in fact, you can eat everything, just as required by the food pyramid of the Mediterranean diet: the important thing is to do it with a equilibrium between the two yin and yang forces, present both within the various ingredients and in the way in which we prepare them. Yin and yang are two antagonistic energetic forces, at the origin of many Eastern philosophies, which attract and complement each other, interconnected and interdependent: one is of expansion (yin), the other of contraction (Yang). In reality, however, they should not be thought too dichotomously as two clear, rigid and divided categories, because with macrobiotics it would be only misleading, since there are no foods that are always and only yin or yang. It all depends on a number of factors, although the western mind often gets stuck in understanding this lability.
Yin and yang
It tends to be yang everything that has a contracting and descending energy, such as salt, cheese rennet, eggs or, among the vegetables, carrots and daikon, which grow underground; meat is yang, as is fish, although a little less because it lives in water which is instead yin. IS yinin fact, all that is expansion, which grows outwards such as tomatoes, fruit, green leafy vegetables, sugar (preferably cane) and oil, as well as (almost) all liquids. Cereals, on the other hand, are among the most balanced foods there is, since they are contracted (therefore yang), but with the ears that grow outwards (therefore yin). In this regard, it must be said that, at the beginning of the spread of macrobiotics, one of the main errors was that of following a diet almost exclusively based on cereals and legumes, reducing or eliminating all other foods. This too rigid and absolute interpretation (and therefore incorrect like all the extremes), has created a lot of damage, since our body needs to eat a little of everything. In reality, it is simpler and more spontaneous than it may seem: in fact, in the summer, perhaps we naturally no longer want something yin, like raw or lightly cooked foods, such as salads or tomatoes? And in winter, when colder, you are not oriented towards products with more yang energy, with longer cooking like braised? In short, for all these reasons it is impossible to recommend a macrobiotic menu or to talk about a macrobiotic diet, simply because it does not exist. There is a eat macrobiotically so we can eat everything consciously, seeking balance in the way we prepare and combine food with other ingredients. Last but not least, chewing is also fundamental, as Ohsawa writes, it is the first form of digestion, which allows us to better assimilate food, and therefore a form of self-control and awareness.
Do not worry if you seem to have understood little: these are complex issues, which must be "assimilated". But after a while you will discover that balanced eating is much more natural than you think, certainly much more than completely banning food or setting taboos. In fact, if you are wondering why to do all this, the answer is simple: because macrobiotics, if not taken to extremes (as has unfortunately been done), has surprising beneficial effects on health. Seeing is believing!
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