A basic macrobiotic diet is pretty much common sense, actually. Eat good, wholesome, nutritious food that's balanced between yin and yang. (We need a ratio of 5 yin to 1 yang for a healthy balance.) What we don't need are foods that are too much yin.
Therefore, here's a list of what we don't need (pages 51-52 of Zen Macrobiotics, by George Ohsawa):
1) No industrialized food or drink — no sugar, no soft drinks, no dyed foods, no non-fertilized eggs, no canned or bottled food.
2) No fruits or vegetables that are artificially produced with chemical fertilizers or insecticides.
3) No foods with preservatives.
4) No vegetable out of season.
5) No extremely yin vegetables — no potatoes, no tomatoes, no eggplant.
6) No spices or chemical seasonings (including commercial Japanese soy sauce and miso that is not made in the traditional, natural way).
7) No coffee, no tea with carcinogen dyes.
8) No chemically produced or treated meat or dairy products.
9) No yeast or baking soda (too yin, rapid-rising, expansive)
Obviously there are times when I'll eat some or more of the items on this list, especially when I'm traveling — however, I try to stick to it whenever I can and definitely when I'm sick or my condition is too yin.
For more information, see the following books, which are available on the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation website:
• Zen Macrobiotics, by George Ohsawa• Essential Guide To Macrobiotics (formerly Pocket Guide To Macrobiotics), by Carl Ferre• Essential Ohsawa, by George Ohsawa
See also:
What To Eat And Drink On A Macrobiotic DietTen Macrobiotic Diets By George Ohsawa
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