As more stars jump on the macrobiotic band wagon, many of us wonder what this diet is and why it is so beneficial. A macrobiotic diet is not an easy diet, and it is not for everyone. However, it does contain some interesting principles that can be applied for any type of diet. Let's take a look at this diet to see what all the hype is about. Please note that the advice contained here in cannot replace the advice of your doctor. Always check with your caregiver to see if this is a diet that may work for you. They will be able to guide you on making smart decisions.
The main focus of this diet is to eat organic and fresh foods. These foods do not contain a lot of harmful preservatives and the majority are also low in calories and fat. The first focus of the diet is switching from highly processed white flour to whole grain flour. Next, you'll be focusing on numerous vegetables.
This is a largely vegetarian diet that can be very strict and hard to maintain. However, it does get results, and can produce them quite fast in many cases. The main issue though is fighting cravings since you are removing entire food groups from your diet. If you are strong and healthy, this should not be a problem, but suddenly switching to macrobiotic diet can be a shock to your system. It will take a little getting used to.
Foods that are allowed in macrobiotic diets include just about every vegetable under the sun. While you may be allowed to eat steamed or boiled chicken or fish every once in awhile, most meat is discouraged with this diet. This is probably the hardest thing to get used to when you got on a macrobiotic diet. Your body does need protein to survive, so if you cut out meat, replace it with soy or something else that contains higher levels of protein.
One very interesting concept is that foods that are considered to be tropical are not allowed in this diet. The main thought behind this is that they are grown in temperate climates and as such, may remove the body's natural immunity, if you are not from that particular area. Potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant all fit into this category according to the diet.
Most adherents to this diet try to consume 5 to 10% of their daily needs in the form of soup. Another 10% is recommended to come from sea vegetables such as wakame, and from beans. Many macrobiotics survive on nothing more that vegetable soup and beans, and this does get pretty boring after awhile for many.
While there are some really great features about this diet, it is one of the hardest to maintain. Some nutritionists worry that it is not a balanced diet and could lead to health problems, unless you make sure that you are getting enough protein and reducing the amount of bad carbs.
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Originally posted 2008-09-24 05:01:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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2 comments ↓
This sounds completely unbalanced and unhealthy to me. I can’t imagine eating this way long term.
We started a macrobiotic diet six months ago and it is definitely the healthiest thing we have ever done. It is extremely difficult in the beginning, as you give up alot of your favorite things, but in the long run, we have both seen exceptional results. For myself, not only have I lost weight (but losing weight isn’t really the point of macrobiotic eating), my skin and hair look great, I have a ton of energy, my knees no longer hurt, I feel exceptionally great. I’ve started jogging again, I don’t have hot flashes any longer, I sleep through the entire night (I used to have horrible insomnia), and I’m less stressed. My doctor said he could not believe the change in my blood pressure, cholesterol and weight as well as the improvement in my thyroid function, which has always been off the wall (it is not right where it should be and I attribute this to eating sea vegetables every single morning in my miso soup. He is a huge advocate of eating macrobiotically. While not for everyone, it has really worked wonderfully for myself. I was very skeptical at first, but figured I had nothing to lose by trying it. Now, I cannot fathom going back to my extremely unhealthy ways of eating. It’s just a matter of making relatively small changes in not only your diet, but your lifestyle as well (yoga, meditation, etc..). I still love pasta, but now eat only whole wheat or Udon.
Dana Vigilante
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