A telltale golden paper box winks at me as I enter the kitchen in my office. "Uh oh," I think as I pour my cup of coffee, casting sly looks over my shoulder, "someone brought chocolates to the office again."
I’m usually able to resist the sweets in the morning, but as the afternoon progresses and assignments pile on, I convince myself that it’s O.K. to make one trip to the kitchen for a snack. But “just one piece” of chocolate is never enough.
Like many Americans, I’ve experienced tremendous pressure in the workplace this year due to the recession. And like many Americans, I have a tendency to turn to food—sweets in particular—to ameliorate my stress. Inevitably each milk chocolate-covered high comes with a stock market-sized crash, and after months of sugar binges my complexion is lackluster, my energy is depleted and I am certainly not ready for the beach. Fed up with my nasty habits, I decide to investigate macrobiotics in order to shake my dependency on sugar.
Macrobiotics, which means ‘long life’ in Greek, is more than a diet plan; it’s a philosophy on achieving a balanced life through ones’ food choices and daily activities. Macrobiotic meals are natural and consist of whole grains, legumes, vegetables, seasonal fruits and occasionally fish. While nothing is outright forbidden in macrobiotics, anything processed, packaged, and laden with GMOs is discouraged.
In The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics, author Jessica Porter states, “By practicing macrobiotics, you will achieve a radiant mind because eating whole grains produces a more holistic way of thinking. It makes sense that eating foods created by nature helps us harmonize with natural rhythms, while eating foods made in a factory helps us to harmonize with video games.”
The practice was developed in Japan in the 1860’s and Eastern philosophies are an essential element in macrobiotics. Practitioners believe that yin and yang (opposites) energy are natural forces that keep the universe in motion. Yin, is upward, expansive energy and yang is downward and contractive. Yin and yang can be observed in nature when a flower blossoms (yin), an apple drops to the ground (yang) or in your beating heart (yin and yang.) What we eat and drink have yin and yang qualities too.
“In conventional weight-loss diets, calories are the yardstick of impact; the more calories you eat, the more calories you gain, right? But a 100-calorie dessert and a 100-calories of salty pickles have completely different impacts on the body: one more yin and the other more yang,” Porter explains in The Hip Chick's Guide. Foods that are more yin produce relaxation, expansion, talkiness, and in the extreme, weakness or the softness of fatty weight gain. More yang foods create more active energy, tightness, and, in the extreme, rigidity. Every food has an energy charge. By keeping our food choices in the healthy, natural zone, we get to experience good-quality yinness and good quality yangness, which keeps our lives strong, flexible, and balanced.”
According to macrobiotic principals, the stress that clutches my body at work is tight, yang energy. When I turn to chocolate or a happy hour special to relieve this tension, I am instinctively seeking yin treatment. However, both sugar and alcohol are extremely yin. So, later I might crave meat, which is extremely yang, to achieve balance. However by sprinting from one end of the spectrum to the other, I have created a cycle of dependency on both of these extremes, which in turn, affects my moods and overall energy level.
I decided to give this macrobiotic thing a try for one week. The foods on my shopping list included whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and whole oats. Meat substitutes like tofu and seitan went into my basket and were delicious with herb seasonings. I stocked up on vegetables and fruit at the farmers market but avoided meat and eggs, which are both extremely yang. Macrobiotics discourages the use of dairy because of humans’ unnatural relationship with this product.
Because no food is considered inherently bad or forbidden in macrobiotics, I decided not to beat myself up for not eating by the book. When I went to a Middle Eastern restaurant for lunch, I ordered the beef kabob. I also used the microwave more than once, which is a macrobiotic no-no. However, by incorporating more wholesome foods into my diet I noticed changes immediately.
On the Wednesday of my macro-experiment, my colleague began to vent about our joint deadline. Her body was tensed above her keyboard and her voice was laced with panic. I noticed a packaged muffin and an energy drink on her desk, while jazz music softly played from my computer speakers and I approached my workload with a sense of calm that for the first time in weeks, has not been induced by sugar. I told my friend to look at what she’s eating then joked about my new macrobiotic kick.
The ultimate test came on Friday when I was offered chocolate-covered walnuts. I didn't resist, but I was amazed that I was able to control myself from wanting to eat the entire bag. Days passed without any sugar cravings.
Whether or not one believes in the principles of yin and yang, I think that eating whole, natural foods can only be healthy. Though this sounds commonsense, it can be a challenge in our society where mass-produced food items are readily available and cheap. With marketing campaigns working magic to promote junk in the guise of health food, it can be a challenge to navigate the grocery store. For me, macrobiotics has provided a compass.
