Macrobiotic Diet

In the last 3 billion years, any other animal species on this Earth learned the art of cooking, Man is the only one that applies to the daily diet. As a result of his intellectual development, consumption of cereal grain was increased for millions of years, during the ice age began to use fire for an adaptation to their environment. The fire provides energy, vitalized the physical, mental and spiritual. For this same reason, man began to build their culture and civilization.

In the beginning, the fire was applied to their food, then to produce the clothing, later applied to their home, along with the manufacturing of tools and equipment from natural materials that surrounded it. Thanks to fire absorbed by their body in the form of food, and the fire that surroundedthem in the form of culture, mind awareness grew rapidly, emotional, intellectual social and ideological man appeared. Man has become a completely different species to the other biological life on Earth. Prometheus was able to liberate man from his environment which was not subordinate to it more, and was re suited to adapt positively to manage his own destiny.

However, in applying the use of fire in various domains of life, turning into a technological man, he began to lose its ability to use fire in a flexible way to their natural environment, and has become a slave to the artificial environment of the fire has grown beyond its control. Civilization especially in the last few thousand years, has continued its course without an adequate cure based on the understanding of life and order of the universe.

Internally, modern man now suffers from various physical and mental diseases due to the use of artificial denatured foods and beverages, and breathing polluted air, all produced by the action of fire, while outside is experiencing diverse conflict and strife, wars and battles, also resulting from the application of fire.

Therefore, is urgent and essential that everyone understands the culinary principles to be applied to the daily food. These principles should be applied not only to ensure the existence of Man as humans, but also a more high quality development of mankind, as the greatest art produced by man. Even if there are major works of art such as Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, Mozart and Beethoven and many others, none was able to create and change their life. Except cooking applied to everyday life. The purpose of the culinary art is to use a part of the environment – minerals. water, air, pressure and time – to transform the simplest dishes in the most practical and condensed forms delicately designed to gently change a man into healthy, happy and free being.

Macrobiotic principles

These principles contains the following:

• All foods should be selected from among the organic products that grow in the same region and at the same station.
• It should represent all stages of biological development in its entirety – the most plant species.
• These foodstuffs must maintain its vitality until the time of cooking and used integral mind.
• The basis of daily meals should be focused on whole grains.
• Before applying fire and water, food must be cooked separately chopped – not mixed – to avoid exchange of quality.
• When cutting food, it is preferable that each piece can represent the two qualities Yin and Yang.
• During the cooking process we must avoid moving too often, and allow, where possible, the food simple mix alone during the natural process of cooking.

Seven Levels in the eating

The eating habits of all the peoples of the earth belong, according to their statements of opinion and conscience, to the following levels:

1. ° Level: Food mechanically according to appetite without using clear conscience. People come at this level anything available around them. Their way of life is to respond automatically without any thought or idea to external stimulus.

2. ° Level: Eating according to a desire for the senses, as to the tastes, color, smell and volume. People at this level follow the popular tastes looking for food products that satisfy the senses seek to do a sensual pleasure and satisfy desire for anything is their way of life.

3. ° Level: Eating according to emotional satisfaction. These people prefer an atmosphere and arrangement of dishes that appeal to their emotional comfort, using often music, candles and certain types of dishes for aesthetic reasons. Some of them advocate the vegetarianism for sentimental reasons that do not want to kill wildlife.

4. ° Level: Eating according to an intellectual justification. It is usually based on theories about nutrition that includes the concepts of calories, vitamins, enzymes, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and other dietary components. This is the theoretical form of eating of modern society, but its shortcoming is the lack of a clear view of the biological nature of humanity in relation to the environment, and the absence of a true principle understandable.

5. ° Level: Food according to a social conscience. It is based on the idea of fair distribution, often by an egalitarian principle. At the same time, ethics and morals and a conscience economic control types and amounts of foods consumed. Control in the production and distribution of food belongs to this level. Also the national and international economy often manages food programs at this level.

6. ° Level: Food according to ideological beliefs. All forms of eating based on religious traditions and Spiritual correspond to this level: Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism and many other traditional teachings include dietary disciplines.

This way of eating is blindly observed or ignored in modern society.

7. ° Level: Eating according to a free conscience. This form is to eat according to a clear and intuitive view, freely exercised. This form of intuitive eating is not opposed to any kind of food, but it automatically selecting and preparing the most stable for the environment. This is the way to eat in order to realize our dreams.

The low levels of eating produce more disharmony among the people and the natural environment, resulting in a physical, mental and spiritual chaos. Higher levels produce more harmonious relations with the environment. However, how to eat can ensure good health and happiness for the individual and society as a whole. This way of eating begins with understanding the order of the universe and the biological clarification of veiled consciousness through the practice of an adequate diet for a period of time.

Michio Kushi

Source: The Book of Macrobiotics

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