Macrobiotics

Though the macrobiotic movement first developed in Japan, vegetarian and macrobiotic principles are followed there only in temples and in a few rare households. In North America, however, the movement has an important following, hence the availability in many natural foods stores of Japanese or Japanese-style products such as fresh and dried seaweed, soba noodles, brown Japanese-style rice, tamari, and tofu. Macrobiotics divides foods into yin and yang, or expansive and contractive; the goal is to eat a diet that will produce a good balance. No eggs or dairy products or meat are eaten, but seafood—fish as well as sea vegetables—is a major source of essential minerals and vitamins. The diet appears to be very close to the traditional eating pattern of the rural Japanese who live near the sea, where important foods are rice, root vegetables, seafoods, and so on, except that most Japanese prefer white polished rice to the brown rice of macrobiotics.