The Standard Diet for
One Peaceful World

For centuries, the planet has followed the standard diet of macrobiotics, it is nothing new. What is new in this age is the industrialisation of food, mass exporting of food (esp. from the ‘tropics’), the processing, packaging, synthetic chemicals and the genetic modification of our food. In the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century we accidentally industrialised our food. At the same time we also see a booming health industry and the major causes of death in the western world being heart diseases, diabetes, obesity and cancer – not old age, these diseases can all be related to our diet.(cfr. Wikipedia or Ross Walker, one of Australia’s leading cardiologists)

Macrobiotics is a return to a more peaceful way, a harmonious way of living and eating in this currently chaotic world. The reason why food is so important is that it sustains our life. The quality of our diet is what sustains the quality of our life. It makes sense that a delicious diet full of variety would make a building block for a 'great life'. We all know the saying ‘you are what you eat’ and it only recently did I start to understand how this concept impacts my life DAILY!

* did you know that the average diet in America consists mainly of 5 to 7 different foods week in, week out! Argh, how boring!

A diet based on macrobiotic principles is delicious, fresh, harmonising, strengthening, prevents many illnesses and promotes a long life. The principles are easy to understand as general ideas. The first is that the primary food of humankind is whole grain. The second is vegetable quality foods locally grown and eaten in season. Third, animal food, if taken at all, should be regarded as supplemental and based upon physical condition and activity.

Roughly speaking our diet should consist for 40-60% of whole grains (see below), 25-30% of vegetables, 5-10% miso (see below) and soups and 5-10% of seeds, beans and sea vegetables (see below). Other principles of the diet include avoiding very yin or very yang foods (see description under ‘What is macrobiotics’), eating only when hungry, chewing food completely and keeping the kitchen tidy.