jueves, noviembre 16, 2006

semi-macrobiotic and nightshades...

A friend of mine has just recently had great success with altering a few things in her diet at the recommendation of her accupuncturist. She mentioned that it was in line with macrobiotics (which my sister has been raving about for years), but she's like me- not willing to go all the way. We love food too much. That said, I've been having some health problems in Madrid and have been researching macrobiotics to find out more about its premise.

The bad news: nightshade foods http://www.cybermacro.com/Macrobiotic_Articles/CyberMacro/Nightshade_Vegetables/
So...I'm going semi-macrobiotic. I don't want the whole thing. I'm not interested in bland food, but I was very interested to discover that all of the health problems I'm having right now are cited as being caused by (or contributed to by) "nightshade" vegetables. Related? Well, spinach, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes are staples in my diet and I eat them nearly everyday. Other,traditionally considered healthy,foods that I eat almost daily are listed on other lists as not so good for my energy. Go figure!

So, goodbye lovely tomatoes, tasty spinach, mashed potatoes and mysterious eggplant. So long to my beloved red bell peppers and my daily afternoon shot of espresso to get me through my 15 hour day (and most especially the children in the last half). Until my lungs recover, there will be no delectable cheeses even on occasion, nor my fabulously comforting Pakistani tea. All bleached flour products need not even try to tempt me, nor my aromatic Indian rice with its lovely coconut curries. (sniff)

Hello avena, bulgar wheat, quinoa and all varieties of organically brown and unspoiled cereales...you shall comprise at least 50% of all of my food intake. Miso, I shall faithfully take a cup of you instead of water with every meal and breakfast will be a quick cup of tea and a couple of umeboshi plums...whole grains if I have the time (unlikely). Seaweed will remain the same old friend it has always been, filling each cup of miso with a bit of green joy.

I am not willing to leave off alcohol or chili peppers...but have already cut back by about 60%. That will simply have to do. It's all a lot to give up in one day...not to mention that that covers nearly the entire content of my cupboard and fridge!

I am still searching for a complete list of foods and their various yin and yang properties. If you know a list online, I'd love it if you passed it along. I'm particularly interested in umeboshi...called the wonder food. They're bloody expensive pickled plums. I paid more than 12 euros (roughly US$15 for a little container of them). I only hope that they help to clear up my lungs quickly. At least they flavoured up my bowl of quinoa today. I cooked the quinoa in miso to make it a little more interesting...ok, and I added three drops of XXXHot Habenero sauce to make it tastier. The pollution in Madrid in combination with the climate change is bordering on disastrous for me and lovely nights like this one where one class canceled and so I have an hour to sit outside in the cold in the shelter of the bus stop in the rich suburbs before I can walk the 20 minutes in the rain to my next class...well, my lungs are never better for it. Still, it's nice that there is wifi in the area and that I have my laptop. :-)