Let's talk food 

What is healing food?

The world is made up of opposites: hot and cold, up and down, night and day, male and female. In Chinese medicine, these are known as yin and yang. Balancing these opposites through food can be a powerful system of healing. Just as we need both heat and cold to thrive, our bodies require balance to function optimally. When in balance, our immune systems are strong, our internal systems function properly, our minds are peaceful, and we have abundant energy and consistent gratitude.

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Healing foods recognize the energetic properties of each food, element, environment, activity, and emotion, teaching us how to balance them with their opposites. For example, people often pair sugar (yin) with salt (yang) instinctively, like drinking soda with salty snacks. However, extreme swings between sugar and salt can create chaos in the body, leading to system failures and mood swings.

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To heal with food, we gently balance opposites, akin to a gentle tide rather than crashing waves. Jon Sandifer, founder of the Macrobiotic Association of Great Britain, describes this as internal Feng Shui. Just as Feng Shui balances elements in external spaces for comfort and productivity, macrobiotics achieves this balance within our internal environment.

How does this diet impact overall health?

Most health issues arise from internal factors rather than external ones. In a study where a live cold virus was implanted in people's noses, only 12% developed cold symptoms. We constantly breathe in germs and environmental toxins, but a well-functioning immune system effectively isolates and excretes these toxins, keeping us healthy. Illness or chronic conditions usually result from chronic internal stress that overwhelms the immune system.

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There are several reasons why the immune system might falter: toxic overload, inadequate nutrition, and emotional stress. Too much toxicity tires the system, while poor nutrition deprives it of essential vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients. Emotional stress, with adrenaline in the blood, inhibits the immune system's effectiveness.

Even with genetic conditions that develop later in life, internal factors play a role. Identical twins with the same genetic makeup can have different health outcomes. Genes can be turned on or off by the same factors that impact the immune system. Enhancing health involves adequate nutrition, reducing toxic input, getting good sleep, laughing, addressing emotional imbalances, and building strong, compassionate relationships with others and ourselves.

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Please note that each case is unique and requires professional assessment to consider all factors before drawing conclusions.

What does healing food consist of?

A key principle of healing with food is to consume unprocessed, unrefined foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, unprocessed oils, and high-quality, organic, ethically farmed animal products. Natural foods are not energetically extreme (neither too yin nor too yang). Processing foods can create extremes, which can imbalance the body.

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Yin foods are cold, wet, sweet, and lack structure, while yang foods are hot, dry, salty, and structured. Most natural foods fall somewhere in the middle of the yin-yang spectrum, maintaining balance. For example, an apple is moderately yin due to its sweet, wet interior, but also has yang qualities because of its fiber and structure. Turning it into juice removes its yang qualities, making it extremely yin.

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Macrobiotic principles teach how to balance your diet based on your current needs, considering factors like age, environment, and health conditions. Natural foods are nutritionally complete and balanced, providing the necessary nutrients for proper bodily function. Refining foods removes this balance, leading to deficiencies and health issues over time.

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Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. C.B. Esselstyn have shown through studies that a wholefood diet can prevent and even reverse degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. However, diet is only one aspect of health; emotional balance is also crucial for overall well-being.

What the Rambam says

In Chapter 32 of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, these principles are clearly outlined, aligning closely with macrobiotic principles.

• Chapter 32:7: People have different temperaments (hot, cold, medium), and their food should match their temperament. Medium-tempered individuals should eat medium foods, while others should consume foods that counterbalance their natural temperament.

• Chapter 32:14: Everyone should choose foods based on their temperament, climate, and season, preferably under a physician's guidance.

• Chapter 32:22: Maintaining health involves understanding and controlling psychological reactions.

Additional principles include promoting good digestion, chewing food thoroughly, eating only when hungry and stopping when moderately full, eating mindfully and while sitting, exercising, drinking clean water, sleeping well, breathing clean air, and achieving emotional balance.

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