vegan or macrobiotic

September 17, 2010 5:43 PM

A friend of mine is touting the glories of a macrobiotic diet, so I'm looking into it for myself. I'm put off by the ying/yang woo woo aspect of it, so I was looking at going vegan but with more whole grains and a lot of seaweed. Surely I'm not the first person to think of this. Is there any literature out there that would be helpful? Is there any reason to really, for instance, avoid nightshade vegetables? Any reason to eat two bowls of miso soup or drink twig tea?
posted by kristymcj to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Can you say a little more about what aspects put you off? The yin/yang aspect is kind of the foundation of macrobiotic principles. You can eat macrobiotic without being vegan and eating lots of seaweed -- lots of cuisine is compatible with yin/yang. What specifically are you trying to achieve?
posted by hansbrough at 6:12 PM on September 17, 2010

That said, I'm not your nutritionist, but I would suggest experimenting with the aspects of macro that are appealing to you first and see what works. That's the best way to figure out this stuff anyway.
posted by hansbrough at 6:15 PM on September 17, 2010

Is there any reason to really, for instance, avoid nightshade vegetables?

There's a lot of speculation (but little scientific evidence, that I know of anyway) that nightshade vegetables promote inflammation, so if you have any health conditions such as arthritis, lupus, IBS, or chronic headaches, this might be a reason to avoid them and see what happens.

IANAD, IANANutritionist, etc. etc. - but I have been experimenting with paleo/primal nutrition and avoiding nightshades. Interestingly, I ate a small portion of potatoes at lunch and now have a migraine. Hmmmm.
posted by chez shoes at 6:40 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

If woo bothers you, talk to a registered dietician (in the US) or a person with at least the equivalent certification in your jurisdiction. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people who give out nutritional advice and don't have the scientific background to have based this advice on anything concrete. Perhaps your physician's practice can recommend a dietician they like or you'll find a local one via advertising.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 6:42 PM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

I know this'll sound silly, but i found The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone to be a pretty good intro to macrobiotic veganism (what she calls 'superhero'). Although she does do some advocating for some of the kinds of things that probably seem sort of silly, she's not terribly dogmatic about it, and she provides guidelines and encouragement for those who just want to eat that way some of the time, or to take useful aspects.
posted by Kololo at 10:27 PM on September 17, 2010