My Healing Journey Part 6/6 | Let thy food be thy medicine
- 21 hours ago
- 5 min read
It wasn't until I discovered macrobiotic cooking that I truly understood the transformative healing power of foods.
In Part 2, I explained how September was always a significant month. It all made sense when I learned about The 5 Elements.
September and October fall in the category of the Earth Element, Late Summer, which is associated with the stomach, spleen, and pancreas. The organs of digestion and nutrition. The stomach receives the food you eat and starts to break it down. The spleen and pancreas then distribute the nourishment throughout the body.
The pancreas regulates our blood-sugar levels. Hypoglycemic is associated with depression. Bingo!
The pancreas needs healthy "sugar" in the form of complex carbohydrates that release energy slowly - don't spike and crash our glucose levels. In my self-destruction phase, I wasn't eating whole grains and vegetables that stabilize and nourish my organs, mind and body.
Quite the opposite! I was consuming in such a way that was destabilizing and toxic.
The 5 elements of nature (according to Chinese Medicine are: water, wood, fire, earth, and metal.
Each element is associated with specific seasons, organs, emotions, colors, and other natural phenomena.
Wood is associated with Spring, the liver, the color green, and the emotions of anger or frustration.
Fire corresponds to Summer, the heart, the color red, and the emotions of joy and love.
Earth relates to Late Summer, the stomach, spleen, pancreas, the color gold or yellow, and the emotions of anxiety or worry.
Metal is linked to Autumn, the lungs, the color white, and the emotions of grief or sadness.
Water corresponds to Winter, the kidneys, the color black or blue, and the emotion of fear.
When eating according to the seasons, it doesn't mean excluding all other foods from other seasons. Weather changes rapidly, and our blood quality and organs change more slowly. Therefore we need to lay the groundwork and be ready for each season before it comes. The recommendation is to eat: 70% for all seasons, and 30% for the actual season. For example its healthy to eat broccoli and leafy greens all year around, even though we can't grow them locally out of season.
What makes food medicinal, according to macrobiotics?
Medicinal food preparation considers which organ(s) you are targeting to heal. For example: for diabetes, the organs most affected are the pancreas and kidneys. Kushi's macrobiotic recipes for diabetics include naturally sweet vegetables, millet, and their signature dish: Adzuki Beans & Squash. The squash in this case is typically the Buttercup or Kabocha variety. Hard winter squash are naturally sweet vegetables that nourishes the Earth Element organs - stomach, spleen, pancreas. Of all the beans, Adzuki Beans are considered optimal to cleanse, strengthen and boost kidney vitality.
In the case of cancer, it depends on the organs affected. Lung and/or colon cancer recipes will focus on foods from the Metal Element. Cancers of the reproductive organs (ovaries, uterus, prostate) benefit from foods from the Water Element. Foods to address heart disease, and breast cancer would focus on recipes from the Liver and Fire Element, to both detox the liver, cleanse the blood, and replenish the cells of the heart and chest cavity.
Boosting our immune system with foods that both detoxify and strengthen our blood, goes a long way towards healing many issues.
We cannot separate our physical health from our mental health.
Organs correlate to specific emotions. If one organ is particularly out of balance, those emotions will also display in an unhealthy way. Typically we won't be perfectly healthy in our whole body, except for one organ. Illness is usually systemic. Therefore we need to address our whole health, improving all our organs, and emotions.
Considering the health of their sick, and hopefully improving clientele, the Kushi kitchen had strict policies to ensure food was prepared at the highest possible level. The goal was medicinal cooking with a peaceful mind, gentle harmonious movements, in a space free from chaos, with healing intensions of the highest consciousness.
Here we go with the No's again: no electric appliances. Essentially, nothing with an electric cord attached as this disturbs nature's electromagnetic energy field in the foods, in our bodies, and in the kitchen environment.
No radios was a big deal.
If you've ever seen the movie Like Water for Chocolate, you understand that how we think and the energy we put into our food preparation transmutes to those who eat it. Radio waves and electricity aside, the music, the DJ, the commercials, including what they were thinking, saying or singing, were all considered toxic vibes they didn't want in their food.
We used a hand food mill to purée foods, however pureeing was discouraged. It was a luxury for special occasions. Whole foods, as close to how they came from nature was always the goal.
If you've enjoyed miso soup in a restaurant, while it may taste delicious, it's not medicinal by macrobiotic standards.
Commercial and restaurant brands of miso contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup to aid in the fermentation process, and are pasteurized which destroys the medicinal benefits. Medicinal quality miso is long-aged, naturally fermented, and unpasteurized.
And OMG the rice! They purchased brown rice directly from the farmer with the outer hard shell or husk still on it, in 50-pound bags by the pallet. Every few days we used a hulling machine to freshly hull the rice. These glistening shining translucent pearls of nutty chewy brown rice are the most delicious you will ever eat. Ok yes, they used electricity for this! But when you buy rice at the store it's already hulled, and typically packaged, unless you buy it in bulk. As time passes, after grains are removed from their outer hull, grains start to lose their translucence, become more opaque, and are on their way to going stale and rancid.
It's important to remember that no matter our good intensions and efforts, we can't heal everyone.
I believe, sometimes it's just our time to go. A force greater than us creates the circumstances to facilitate our transition which can manifest in the form of an accident or disease. Until it is my time, I intend and hope to live as fully-functioning, healthily and happily as possible.
Thank you for your time and interest. I sincerely hope this was illuminating and provided food for thought - pun intended!
Macrobiotic Cooking for a Healthy Heart, Mind & Body
Learn to make a complete balanced meal to boost your immunity, detox your blood and organs, and nourish your heart and soul!
Gingered Vegetable Miso Soup with Wakame & Tofu, Brown Rice, Adzuki Beans & Buttercup Squash, Arame Sea Vegetables with Carrots & Onions, Oriental Cabbage Quick Pickles, Steamed Broccoli with Lemon Miso Tahini Dressing.
*Resources for Further Reading:
Hunza Indians:
Blue Zones:
Michio Kushi Books:
Christina Pirello
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