I recently attended the Kushi Institute’s, Summer Conference 2011, which was held in Palisades, NY. It was a new conference for me. Although I was trained in a wide range of nutritional theories, I haven’t studied Macrobiotics extensively.
The Kushi Institute offers classes in Macrobiotic cooking and philosophy. It’s said that Macrobiotic is more a lifestyle than just a diet. Many people have turned to this way of eating and living as a way to fight cancer. The goal of Macro, as it is referred to, is to eat and live in a way that promotes balance of yin and yang. For example, excessively yang foods are meat, poultry, fish, eggs, processed salt, baked flour, hard and salty cheeses. These foods can make one feel too dry, tight, rigid, irritable, and hot. Whereas, excessively yin foods are sugar and artificial sugars, dairy, chocolate, tropical fruits, fruit juice, alcohol, drugs, and coffee. These foods can make one feel cold, tired, too soft, passive, and lackadaisical.
Eating too yin or too yang can be exhausting. If you eat in the middle, meaning whole grains, legumes, vegetables, this frees up your energy in every aspect of your life and health. Almost all food is cooked which is a departure from the current popular diet of Raw Food. We were provided breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. We were stuffed all day! We ate brown rice with every meal including breakfast, lots of cooked greens, a variety of legumes, miso soup with each dinner, and even had dessert (non-dairy and non-cane sugar sweetened). There’s an emphasis on soy products, which I, unfortunately, am allergic to; it was interesting to experience true Macrobiotic eating. I don’t know if this is the right diet for me but I enjoyed learning another theory of healthy eating and living. If you’d like to learn more, please visit their website at www.kushiinstitute.org, or you may click on the picture below.
Karen R. Threlkel, ND
Dinner at the Kushi Institute
