I am happy about this...it took them a long time to prove it...the Macrobiotic people knew this from a long time ago...at least from around the sixties onwards!
Why hopping? Because I am happy! I am though mad about all these stupid diet fads and 'new' healthy suggestions...like the 'raw food diet'
Hopping like a bunny as the experiment was done with a carrot!
Have a look!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7998801.stm
So...
once again...
about Macrobiotic way of life and eating...
And with seitan goulash in the pot from yesterday's meal...
read on:
Vegetables in the Macrobiotic Diet
including dietary guidelines for the tropics
Among the different health philosophies, however, there is some disagreement about how vegetables should be eaten – whether cooked or raw – and even disagreement over which are good (or better) for health.
In macrobiotics, the recommendation is to eat mainly cooked veggies, with only small amounts uncooked.
Some macrobiotic dishes, particularly nishime, involves cooking veggies for quite long periods and people tend to worry that vitamins are lost in the process.
But this should not be a major worry because only a few heat sensitive vitamins – mainly vitamin C – are lost through long cooking. Certain other nutrients, such as beta carotene, actually beome more readily available to the body through cooking.
The bottom line is that people who follow a macrobiotic diet generally enjoy good health, even excellent health. So the loss of vitamins through cooking is not a major issue.
In any case, the macrobiotic diet does include fair amounts of lightly cooked vegetables, salads, pressed salads (quick pickles), pickles and garnishing with raw herbs like spring onion, coriander leavesl, parsley, etc. These are all rich sources of vitamins.
It is not as if everything in the macrobiotic diet is cooked until all vitamins are lost. Overall, the macrobiotic diet is actually very rich in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, including phytonutrients.
Enzymes
But it is debatable whether or not we need to “eat” enzymes in our food, or whether the enzymes produced by the body are adequate.
In the macrobiotic diet and way of life, there are two important sources of enzymes that are often overlooked.
One is chewing. Thorough chewing of food, of up to 50 times per mouthful, is highly recommended in macrobiotics – but, unfortunately, not always observed by followers. Chewing produces a lot of enzymes in the saliva.
The other source of enzymes is pickles and other fermented foods. Interestingly, most pickles contain salt and salt is known to enhance the activity of enzymes.
Again, pickles are often neglected by people who do not follow the macrobiotic diet strictly. Although pickles make up only a very small portion of the diet, they are important.
Here, pickles refer to good quality, preferably home made pickles. Apart from enzymes, these also contain beneficial natural vinegars.
Cheap, mass produced pickles sold in packets and bottles are best avoided. These tend to be pasteurised and they no longer contain enzymes. They also tend to be made with poor quality, often artificial, vinegar.
Cooked vs raw vegetables
On the surface, macrobiotic teaching may seem to get it wrong with its emphasis on cooked rather than raw veggies.
A deeper study of macrobiotics, however, reveals a profound understanding about how different types of plant foods affect the body and how they can be used to help recovery from disease.
At the same time, observation of those who eat predominantly raw salads and fruits – and understanding them from the macrobiotic perspective – reveals that they tend to be highly unbalanced.
These people tend to have overly expanded conditions. For example, their palms tend to be very soft, with red blotches (indicating that blood vessels beneath the skin have become overly expanded).
A friend of mine once met a raw vegetables person in Bali. The sun was hot and the person was wearing two layers of clothes – and still complaining of feeling cold. These are not signs of health.
Macrobiotic classification
Here, we look more at the unique way in which plant foods are classified in macrobiotics. Most books on macrobiotics talk about three main types of vegetables and emphasise the importance of eating all three types on a daily basis:
- Roots
- “Round” vegetables whch grow either just above or below the ground
- Greens.
In the tropics, however, the range of plant foods is much wider.
ROOTS, in macrobiotic books, normally refer to those that grow straight downwards, like carrot, white radish (daikon), parsnip, burdock and jinenjo (wai san).A few grow sideways but are also very hard, for example, lotus root (picture) and arrow root.
These have stronger contractive energy. They are more hard and strengthening. And they generally nourish the intestines and lower organs.
One extreme example is ginseng. It is so hard that it will not soften even if cooked for hours, and so strengthening that only a tiny portion is used.
Another example is kuzu or kudzu, which is used in macrobiotics as a home remedy – and also scientifically proven to be an effective remedy for hangovers.
The kuzu root is huge, sometimes bigger than a man. And it is rich in minerals.
One way to tell that kuzu is yang or contractive is this – when you dissolve kuzu starch in cold water, it settles down very quickly compared with other types of starches. Corn starch, in contrast, takes a long time to settle down.
ROUND VEGETABLES are those that grow either just below the ground, like onion, turnip and beetroot, or just above, like cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower and pumpkin (above ground).
These generally nourish the middle organs, such as stomach, pancreas and spleen.
They also tend to be naturally sweet. Cooking them slowly, for a long time, intensifies their sweetness as the starches are converted into sugar.
Eating such naturally sweet vegetables can help balance the body sugar levels and reduce cravings for refined sugar.
One macrobiotic home remedy, called sweet vegetable drink, is specially formulated for this. It uses carrot (another naturally sweet vegetable), cabbage, pumpkin and onion. For the recipe, click here.
GREENS include those that grow straight upwards, like spring onions, leek, chives and celery and other green leafy vegetables thatgrow upwards and outwards, like spinach, kai lan, bok choy, chye sim, etc.
Green vegetables that grow straight up nournish the liver. Those that grow up and out nournish the heart.
ALL THREE GROUPS OF VEGETABLES MENTIONED ABOVE ARE IMPORTANT TO EAT DAILY.
Vegetables for tropics versus temperate climates
In general, people in the tropics and those with a more yang (contracted) condition should eat more green leafy vegetables, while those in colder climates or with a more yin (expanded) condition should eat more downward root vegetables.
Almost all vegetables can be prepared in all ways – as raw salads, pickled, steamed, blanced, sauteed, stir fried, cooked in soup or stews, baked, deep fried, and so on.
Those living in the tropics may eat greater amounts of raw salads and lightly cooked vegetables. Likewise for those in temperate climates during summer.
Note, however, there are some vegetables that are not advisable – some even poisonous – to eat raw. They include potato, tapioca, eggplant, okra (lady's fingers) etc. These are the more yin (expanded) vegetables.
In cold climates, it is common for people to eat vegetables cooked for long periods, such as baked or in stews. This helps the body to keep warm.
But there seems to be some exceptions, which I do not yet fully understand. Once, I saw a TV documentary about Heilong Jiang (Black dragon River) in Northeast China, which is famous for its sturgeon caviar.
The place is extremely cold, to the extent that ice forms on the moustaches of men. Yet I clearly remember one scene, where the people were eating raw cabbage.
TROPICAL PLANTS
In the tropics, a much wider range of plant foods are encountered and commonly eaten. We apply the macrobiotic principle of yin and yang – expansion and contraction energy – to understand their effects on the body and when we should, or should not, eat them.
ROOTS THAT GROW SIDEWAYS – potato, sweet potato, tapioca and yam (grows straight down but swells sideways in the middle),
These are more soft and porous, meaning they have more expanded or yin energy. They tend to be weakening. They may be eaten in moderate amounts, perhaps a few times a week, by healthy individuals living in the tropics. Sometimes, they are eaten in place of rice and other grains, or cooked together (as in the case of yam rice and sweet potato porridge). These roots should always be eaten cooked, never raw.
Potatoes are, of course, eaten as the main carbohydrate dish in many Western, temperate climates. This makes a bit of sense when potatoes (yin / expanded) are taken together with meat (yang / contracted). Still, it is not exactly a healty way of eating as carbohydrates should come mainly from whole grains, whether in temperate or tropical climates.
NIGHTSHADES
This family of plants include potato, tomato, eggplant, bell pepper and tobacco. They are botanically classified as belonging to the belladonna or “deadly nightshades” family.
The word “deadly” is perhaps too strong. You certainly will not drop dead from eating these veggies. But they do contain some natural poisons called alkaliods. The most famous alkaloid is, of course, nicotine, found in tobacco. Nightshades are known to cause , or contribute to, diseases like arthritis. Also, some people are allergic or sensitive to nightshade plants.
Some macrobiotic books say to avoid them, but this applies mainly to people living in temperate climates or those with a yin (expanded) condition. It is okay to eat them in the tropics, but moderation is still advised. These are generally soft and juicy, that is, very expanded or yin. They have a weakening effect on the body.
In modern diets, these vegetables are usually eaten with meat, to balance the strong yang (contracted) energy of meat. However, it is not a good idea for vegetarians to eat large amounts of nightshades. It is worth noting also that, traditionally, nightshades are usually well-cooked to counter the yin energy – like in potato stews or baked potato, or tomato paste prepared by cooking tomato for many hours. The practice of eating raw tomato is actually very recent.
MUSHROOMS
Again, they are very strong yin, that is, have strong expanding energy. Mushrooms grow very quickly – some grow overnight. Most are very soft, porous and spongy.
One notable exception is the lingzhi or reishi mushroom, which growly slowly and is hard like wood! It is highly valued for its medicinal properties. Mushrooms can therefore also be very weakening. This is why macrobiotics recommends eating dried rather than fresh mushrooms. The sun's energy is yang and it balances the yin nature of mushrooms.
Also, macrobiotics recommends slower growing varieties such as shiitake or fa koo (flower mushroom) in Chinese. This is similar to the Chinese black mushroom or tong koo, but with a cracked "flower" pattern on its top. An important benefit of mushrooms is that they can help reduce cholesterol levels.As with nightshades, mushrooms are actually more suited for meat eaters than for vegetarians. And they are best eaten cooked rather than raw.
STICKY, SLIMY SPONGY VEGETABLES
In the tropics, many plants have very strong yin or expanding energy.
They include the leaves of tall plants like tapioca leaves, creepers and climbers like sweet potato leaves.They also include fruit-type vegetables like long beans, bitter gourd (picture), angled loofa, hairy gourd plus, of course, the nightshade vegetables.
In general, these are sticky, slimy, juicy, spongy or hollow.
Chilli, for example, is hollow inside. So is the stem of the kangkong, a popular Southeast Asian vegetable.
They are okay to eat occasionally if you live in the tropics and are in good health. Eat them well cooked, not raw. However, such vegetables are best avoided by those who are weak from illness.
And some may have special medicinal properties, like the bitter gourd, which is a natural diabetes remedy.
ORGANIC vs CONVENTIONAL vs HYDROPONIC vegetables
The macrobiotic principle of yin and yang (expansion and contraction energy) is also useful in helping us appreciate the difference between organic and conventional, chemical-fertilised, as well as hydroponic vegetables. The purpose of adding chemical fertilisrs is to make plants grow bigger and faster. From the macrobiotic perspective, plants grown this way are more yin or expanded.
Hydroponic-vegetables grown in water – and fertilised by chemical solutions – are even more yin or expanded. So are aeroponic-vegetables grown in air. In contrast, organic vegetables fertilised with compost, or grown in naturally rich soil, tend to grow more slowly, They are typically more yang or contracted. It is therefore possible to see, feel and taste the difference between organic and chemically-fertilised.
Organic vegetables are generally more compact and thus, harder. They are often, but not always, smaller. They tend to have stronger, more intense colours and. likewise, more intense flavours. And if you cut something like an organic carrot versus a chemically-grown carrot, you can even hear the difference. The organic carrot is harder, and the sound of the knife against the cutting board will be sharper and more “solid”. With a macrobiotic understanding of vegetables, you can even hear the difference!
No comments:
Post a Comment