Macrobiotics Today, November/December 1994, Vol. 34, No. 6
"Learning and Changing" Diane Avoli
Living in upstate New York in the early seventies my husband Joseph and I were very fortunate to find macrobiotics. Macrobiotics was spreading in some cities on the East and West Coasts, but in a small town in New York State interest was small and classes scarce.
With only a few classes, George Ohsawa's Guide Book to Living and having to drive hours to New York City to shop once every 4-6 months, it was not easy! Perhaps this is what made us strong.
Grains were all pressure cooked and overly salted. The quality of sea salt was not what is available now. The availability of products limited our variety in what we could prepare. There was no fresh tofu or tempeh unless you made your own. All pickles had to be homemade. Natto, amasake, mochi, and seitan were not available commercially. No dry products such as dry tofu, lotus root, daikon, or dry burdock were available. There were no good quality breads, cookies, snacks, or candies ready to buy. Even rice cakes were not available when we first started.
When people complain about how hard it is to prepare macrobiotic meals in 1994, I think back to the early seventies when Joe and I were both working full-time or going to school full-time and working part-time, raising a family and cooking macrobiotic meals without the convenience of all the local stores and availability of foods that are out there today. I don't know how we managed! Learning to adjust our choices of foods and cooking styles according to the seasons and the individual needs of the family has improved our health. Our large family has many different needs. The sports the children are involved in require them to eat more beans, oil, and generally richer dishes as well as more good-quality desserts.
One of the first lessons we learned the hard way was that small children become too yang if they eat the same foods prepared for adults. We had to prepare grains with less pressure cooking, less salt, more water and more variety. Children need more beans and vegetables, less salt in sea veggies and all dishes. They need more desserts, their own less salty condiments and lighter pickles, and less flour and almost nothing baked in an oven. If children are given too many snacks, desserts, and fruit juice they will not want what I call "middle of the road" yin, such as vegetables and perhaps beans. If they eat too much grain they will crave desserts. Too much flour, especially baked flour, and they get very yang, even stubborn.
Too Limited
As the children grew up and ate more adult food we realized we were all eating too limited a diet. We are all in generally good health and were following what we considered a "standard" macrobiotic diet. What we changed recently for all our benefit was: using more variety in grains, prepared in different combinations and with less pressure cooking; using more variety in beans; and especially using more variety in vegetables and using larger amounts of vegetables. We have learned how quick-boiling is more refreshing and a source of good-quality yin energy than steaming, and how relaxing an increase in vegetables and salads can be, especially in warm weather but all year long as well.
We have expanded our variety in the use of oils and vinegars. From sesame and corn to olive, safflower, sunflower, canola and others. From brown rice and umeboshi vinegar to apple cider and balsamic.
We have found that the use of mild herbs especially fresh from the garden in the summer has helped us relax more and not crave strong "binge" type yin.
As the health food industry grew and macrobiotic products became more easily accessible, we had to learn to refrain from buying many products that would have made our lives easier simply because they were ready to eat. We learned that our health could suffer because eating overprocessed food lacked freshness or had hidden ingredients that were of poor quality.
Especially in the area of snacks, there are many products that contain poor quality oil and salt, too much salt; they are baked, or are too hard and dry. Some examples of these products are chips, cookies, soy "meatless" and "cheese-like" products, soy milk, and packaged soups and beans.
Homemade foods take more time to prepare, but the freshness and quality control are important as well as being able to prepare foods to fit the needs of your family.
I remember when I had been studying and practicing macrobiotics for a couple of years. I was progressing in my chosen field, education, and planning my future in administration. I felt it was important to further my education and I believed I would not be content to "just" stay home cooking and cleaning and taking care of children. After my third daughter was born and I was teaching and working in administration, as well as cooking and taking care of my children - all of a sudden I no longer wanted a career. I wanted to be home with my family. I left my job and future career and devoted myself to cooking, cleaning, and raising my children.
I started sharing what I was learning with others and gradually started teaching classes. What my husband and I learned was that we had a dream and hadn't realized it. We wanted to help change many things in the world, starting with ourselves and family. As the years went by and we continued to study and teach, I learned that I can be away from my family, traveling and teaching from time to time, and still live a macrobiotic lifestyle and keep my family health.
Another big change in our lives came around ten years ago when we started spiritual practices and learned the importance of chewing well. Our lives changed. I finally lost weight and cleaned out stored old foods that I had been carrying around since birth. Our health has improved continually, our thinking became clearer and more orderly, and our lives became more organized.
So many changes have taken place in the over twenty years we have been practicing macrobiotics. Our faith in our way of life has come about through study and hard work - constantly self-reflecting and making changes to stay balanced and healthy. We look forward to continual change and growth.
End of Article
Author bio-statement: Diane Avoli is a macrobiotic teacher and cooking instructor and is the mother of eight children. She lives with her husband and family in Templeton, Massachusetts.
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