Macrobiotics For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Universal macrobiotic life principles

A macrobiotic lifestyle reaches beyond nourishing the body through healthy food choices. Macrobiotics is a comprehensive way of life.

The following macrobiotic life principles are the road by which we discover direction that leads to truth — our personal compass to self-discovery.

• The principle of opposites: Everything exists in opposition.

• The principle of change: Everything changes!

• The principle of cycles: All beginnings have endings.

• The principle of non-identity: Nothing is identical.

• The principle of front and back: Every front has a back.

The standard macrobiotic dietary model

Here are some basic guidelines for choosing foods that fit within your macrobiotic diet plan. This dietary model outlines principle foods, secondary foods, and pleasure foods.

Principle foods

• Whole grains: Approximately 25 to 30 percent by volume for the amount of food consumed for one day

• Grain products: Approximately 5 percent per day (as in one to two slices of bread or one to two servings of pasta)

• Vegetables: Approximately 35 percent of the day’s total percentage of food from greens, roots, and ground varieties

• Beans: Approximately 5 to 10 percent beans or bean products (tempeh, tofu, so on), either canned or dried

Secondary foods

• Fruits: Approximately 5 to 10 percent as fruits, according to sweet cravings

• Beverages: Grain-based teas, herbal teas, vegetable juices, and so on

• Oils, nuts, seeds, and limited dairy products: Approximately 5 to 10 percent natural vegetable oils, nuts, seeds or limited dairy products.

• Reduced animal protein: Approximately 5 to 10 percent of fish (preferable) or meat (optional)

• Swing percentage: Additional percentage of whole grains or more vegetables, according to your needs

• New foods: Devote a small percentage of your dietary template to exploring new foods, such as sea plants or fermented foods (sauerkraut, pickles, miso, and so on)

Pleasure foods

• WYW: Whatever You Want means exactly that. Enjoy the best quality, and control the volume of what you eat.

Stuff to avoid in your macrobiotic diet

You’ll need to make changes in the way you eat to achieve the best results in a food plan based on macrobiotics. By avoiding the following foods, you may increase energy, sleep better, stabilize blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and tame cravings. These positive effects contribute to a healthier, happier you.

• Any food containing white, brown, or any other refined sugar

• Maple syrup, barley malt, rice syrup, and agave syrup

• Fruit juice

• Milk, cheese, cream, butter, ghee, yogurt, and ice cream

• Refined oils

• Caffeine

• Alcohol

• Recreational drugs

• Medications (with some exceptions for current prescriptions)

• Heavy use of spices

• White rice and white flour

• Foods containing chemicals, preservatives, dyes, and insecticides

Food principles of macrobiotics

Applying macrobiotics food principles can help you build a healthy foundation for renewed well-being. These principles, if you use them daily, are effective ways to control and sustain your health, balance nutrition, and condition of your body.

• Enjoy principle, secondary, and pleasure foods.

• Emphasize seasonal and local foods.

• Be mindful of quantity and quality.

• Avoid dietary extremes.

• Become a chewsy eater by chewing your food thoroughly.

• Reduce the volume of what you eat.

• Use the power of five in food preparation: The five food groups, flavors, textures, cooking styles, and colors.

Macrobiotic principles of awareness

By becoming more aware and developing a better understanding of your feelings, you have the chance to change your life into something more meaningful.

To develop a personal philosophy that leads to a more creative and fulfilling life, apply the following macrobiotic principles of awareness:

• Develop a generous spirit: The principle of abundance.

• Embrace responsibility and admit faults.

• Discover life via personal experience.

• Develop your intuition.

• Cultivate active appreciation.

• Make friends everywhere.

• Respect your elders.

• Be mindful of ecology.

• Practice economy of life: Vivero parvo, which means take the minimum required.

• Discover humor.

• Practice self-reflection.

• Perfect the art of living.