Whole Grains --Human Food
Imagine lions.
What if some lions declare and say, “From today on, I stop eating
meat and become vegetarian!”
Or what if cows or horses start eating meat instead of grasses?
Each animal has its own food to support and sustain its unique
physical and biological characteristics.
Grass or grains cannot support lions, and they would definitely get
sick and die if they go on “vegetarian diet”.
The same things would happen for cows and horses or other
herbivores if they start eating meat.
Remember mad cow disease?
Or even grains.
Most commercial livestock are fed grains and beans, which causes
ulcer and other diseases, and tremendous amount of antibiotics are
used to treat them!
Again, meat or grains are not “cow’s food” or “horse’s food”.
They are designed to eat grasses.
Then how about human beings?
What is the “human food” ?
Human Food
For thousands of years throughout the world, grains have been the
major staple food for us human beings.
Rice in Asia, oat, rye, wheat in Europe, millet in Africa, corn in
Central/south America etc.
In Macrobiotic diet, whole grains are the principle food, around which
daily meal is planed and consumed.
Why macrobiotics suggest eating whole grains as the staple food?
Especially for healing purposes?
*Bread, pasta, oatmeal, couscous etc
Here in Macrobiotics, whole grains does not include bread, pasta,
couscous, oatmeal or other types of milled, cracked grains.
It means an intact form of cereal grains, such as brown rice, barley,
millet, whole wheat, whole oat, buckwheat, whole rye, whole corn etc.
1 Nutritionally most balanced food for us
For human body, the most important nutrient is carbohydrates
(glucose), which is the main energy source of trillions of cells,
nerves, and especially the brain.
Proteins are also necessary to take daily because our body cannot
store them unlike fat.
They are "building block", to build and repair cells, blood, hormones,
enzymes etc.
But contrary to the common belief, we do not need much proteins.
Think about a car.
Proteins are like a car itself.
But without the fuel, the car does not function.
And this fuel is the glucose (carbs).
You need a constant supply of good quality of carbohydrates for the
entire body to function.
There are two completely different kinds of carbs.
One is simple carbs, found in sugar, sweeteners, fruits, refined foods
(white pasta/bread/rice etc)
They break down and burn very quickly, spikes up blood sugar level,
kind of like burning a paper.
Complex carbs, on the other hands, break down slowly and regulate
the blood sugar, and gives us a constant, long-lasting energy, like
burning a log.
They are found in whole grains and vegetables.
Whole grains are composed of complex carbohydrates, proteins,
fats, vitamins, and minerals in an ideal portion for the needs of
human body.
The ratio of complex carbs and proteins, for example, is 7 to 1.
They are also an excellent source of fiber, B-complex vitamins,
vitamin E and phosphorus (key mineral to the brain).
*Refined grains
Refined grains such as white rice, white flour etc are depleted of
many essential nutrients, including complex B vitamins.
In fact, the word “vitamins” were coined by a Polish scientist in early
20th century, who discovered that many important nutrients were
stored in the germ of the rice, which is deprived in the process of
refining., when he was researching on beri-beri disease and found
out that the disease was caused by deficiency of those nutrients (a.k.
a eating white rice instead of brown rice!)
2 Biologically suitable for human beings
Zoologists and paleontologists decide the diet of each animal mainly
based on the structure of teeth.
When we look at our own teeth, 20(62.5%) out of 32 human teeth
are molars and premolars, which are designed to grind grains.
8 (25%) are incisors for vegetables and fruits, and only 4 (12.5 %)
are canines for animal foods.
It's more natural and suitable to eat according to this ratio.
Saliva contains large amount of digestive enzymes, such as amylase,
which primarily breaks down carbohydrates.
Human intestines are relatively long, similar to herbivores, and it
takes about 17 hours for the food to be broken down, absorbed and
eliminated.
Also the stomach does not secrete enough hydrochloric acids
needed for the digestion of meat (animal protein)
So when we consume large amount of meat, it won't be broken down
completely, and rotten during this long process of digestion,
producing toxic gases, causing intestinal problems, acidic conditions
in the blood, and so many other problems.
*colon cancer is still a leading cause of death in this country.
From structure of teeth, digestive enzymes, and the length of
intestines, our body is biologically designed to consume plant based
foods, especially grains.
3 Whole grains made us human beings
What distinguishes human beings from other animals is the size and
complexity of the brain.
And the main source of brain function is, again, glucose
(carbohydrates).
Human beings have evolved from other primates by cultivating and
eating grains, which developed the brain and enabled us to stand on
our feet.
When you look at the civilizations around the world, they were all
developed around grain producing.
Grains not only made us human beings physically, but also
developed spirituality, the most unique characteristic of ours.
*”Brain food”
Brain consumes about 20% or more of all sugar(glucose). If the
development of the brain makes us human beings, definitely the
grains are the most suitable “human food”.
4 Health benefits
Numerous studies have shown the health benefits of consuming
whole grains.
That includes, prevention of heart diseases, diabetes(regulate blood
sugar), and cancers, all these main degenerative diseases in the
modern society.
Population known for health and longevity have similar dietary
patterns, centered around whole grains as staple food, along with
vegetables and supplemented by local foods, with very small portion
of animal foods (infrequently).
5 Energetic point of view
Whole grains are alive.
Buy organic brown rice, put some pieces in water, and place by the
window.
In a few days, they sprouts.
Even after thousands of years, they can still sprouts.
Whole grains are full of vitality.
*Staying “alive”
For this reason, too, bread, pasta and other “grain products” are
distinguished from “whole grain” categories because they are not
“alive”.
From yin and yang energetic point of view, whole grains (seeds and
fruits at the same time) are almost neutral, not too yin nor too yang,
which gives us a stable, centering energy.
6 Most economical foods
One piece of rice will produce about 10000 pieces of rice.
They do not require too much water, land or fertilizer.
If we stop using most of the grains to feed live stock (as I mentioned,
grains are not their food), and use it for human beings, it can easily
feed this expanding world population.
Proper way of cooking & eating whole grains
Some people complain that after eating brown rice, they experience
bloating.
One of the biggest reasons is that the our digestive system and the
balance of intestinal flora has been weakened and disturbed by
consuming too much meat, dairy and sugar (and yeast), typical
modern diet.
But there is also a proper way to prepare and eat whole grains to
prevent "bloating" or other digestive problems.
1 Soak 6 to 8 hours (overnight)
whole grains, due to some protein and fat content, is slightly acid-
forming.
but soaking somewhat neutralize it.
also by soaking, it will stimulate the energy inside the grain to the
point where it almost starts to sprout.
2 Cook with kombu or sea salt
To further neutralize their slight acidity, cooking with alkaline forming
food helps.
One stamp size of Kombu seaweed or pinch of sea salt do the job.
3 Chew well
Digestion starts in the mouth.
Depends on how much you chew, the stress on the rest of the
digestion will be hugely different.
Try chewing at least 30 time per mouthful.
4 Eat with lots of vegetables and fermented food
To help digestion and neutralization, eating whole grains with variety
of vegetables and some fermented foods (pickles, miso etc) also
helps.
This way, you can maximize all the amazing benefit of whole grains
without uncomfortable experience afterwards!
For health and Peace...
Human beings have evolved by eating whole grains, the highest form
of plant, which developed our spirituality.
In most societies, so called “modern diseases” were unknown and
unheard of until they started to eat “non human food”.
It seems that since we stopped eating “human food”, things started to
go wrong.
Japanese word for "peace and harmony" denotes eating grains.
Left side of the character means grains, the right side mouth.
Let’s start eating “human food” again, for the health and peace of
humanity and the planet.
Study on brown rice and colon cancer (click here)
Imagine lions.
What if some lions declare and say, “From today on, I stop eating
meat and become vegetarian!”
Or what if cows or horses start eating meat instead of grasses?
Each animal has its own food to support and sustain its unique
physical and biological characteristics.
Grass or grains cannot support lions, and they would definitely get
sick and die if they go on “vegetarian diet”.
The same things would happen for cows and horses or other
herbivores if they start eating meat.
Remember mad cow disease?
Or even grains.
Most commercial livestock are fed grains and beans, which causes
ulcer and other diseases, and tremendous amount of antibiotics are
used to treat them!
Again, meat or grains are not “cow’s food” or “horse’s food”.
They are designed to eat grasses.
Then how about human beings?
What is the “human food” ?
Human Food
For thousands of years throughout the world, grains have been the
major staple food for us human beings.
Rice in Asia, oat, rye, wheat in Europe, millet in Africa, corn in
Central/south America etc.
In Macrobiotic diet, whole grains are the principle food, around which
daily meal is planed and consumed.
Why macrobiotics suggest eating whole grains as the staple food?
Especially for healing purposes?
*Bread, pasta, oatmeal, couscous etc
Here in Macrobiotics, whole grains does not include bread, pasta,
couscous, oatmeal or other types of milled, cracked grains.
It means an intact form of cereal grains, such as brown rice, barley,
millet, whole wheat, whole oat, buckwheat, whole rye, whole corn etc.
1 Nutritionally most balanced food for us
For human body, the most important nutrient is carbohydrates
(glucose), which is the main energy source of trillions of cells,
nerves, and especially the brain.
Proteins are also necessary to take daily because our body cannot
store them unlike fat.
They are "building block", to build and repair cells, blood, hormones,
enzymes etc.
But contrary to the common belief, we do not need much proteins.
Think about a car.
Proteins are like a car itself.
But without the fuel, the car does not function.
And this fuel is the glucose (carbs).
You need a constant supply of good quality of carbohydrates for the
entire body to function.
There are two completely different kinds of carbs.
One is simple carbs, found in sugar, sweeteners, fruits, refined foods
(white pasta/bread/rice etc)
They break down and burn very quickly, spikes up blood sugar level,
kind of like burning a paper.
Complex carbs, on the other hands, break down slowly and regulate
the blood sugar, and gives us a constant, long-lasting energy, like
burning a log.
They are found in whole grains and vegetables.
Whole grains are composed of complex carbohydrates, proteins,
fats, vitamins, and minerals in an ideal portion for the needs of
human body.
The ratio of complex carbs and proteins, for example, is 7 to 1.
They are also an excellent source of fiber, B-complex vitamins,
vitamin E and phosphorus (key mineral to the brain).
*Refined grains
Refined grains such as white rice, white flour etc are depleted of
many essential nutrients, including complex B vitamins.
In fact, the word “vitamins” were coined by a Polish scientist in early
20th century, who discovered that many important nutrients were
stored in the germ of the rice, which is deprived in the process of
refining., when he was researching on beri-beri disease and found
out that the disease was caused by deficiency of those nutrients (a.k.
a eating white rice instead of brown rice!)
2 Biologically suitable for human beings
Zoologists and paleontologists decide the diet of each animal mainly
based on the structure of teeth.
When we look at our own teeth, 20(62.5%) out of 32 human teeth
are molars and premolars, which are designed to grind grains.
8 (25%) are incisors for vegetables and fruits, and only 4 (12.5 %)
are canines for animal foods.
It's more natural and suitable to eat according to this ratio.
Saliva contains large amount of digestive enzymes, such as amylase,
which primarily breaks down carbohydrates.
Human intestines are relatively long, similar to herbivores, and it
takes about 17 hours for the food to be broken down, absorbed and
eliminated.
Also the stomach does not secrete enough hydrochloric acids
needed for the digestion of meat (animal protein)
So when we consume large amount of meat, it won't be broken down
completely, and rotten during this long process of digestion,
producing toxic gases, causing intestinal problems, acidic conditions
in the blood, and so many other problems.
*colon cancer is still a leading cause of death in this country.
From structure of teeth, digestive enzymes, and the length of
intestines, our body is biologically designed to consume plant based
foods, especially grains.
3 Whole grains made us human beings
What distinguishes human beings from other animals is the size and
complexity of the brain.
And the main source of brain function is, again, glucose
(carbohydrates).
Human beings have evolved from other primates by cultivating and
eating grains, which developed the brain and enabled us to stand on
our feet.
When you look at the civilizations around the world, they were all
developed around grain producing.
Grains not only made us human beings physically, but also
developed spirituality, the most unique characteristic of ours.
*”Brain food”
Brain consumes about 20% or more of all sugar(glucose). If the
development of the brain makes us human beings, definitely the
grains are the most suitable “human food”.
4 Health benefits
Numerous studies have shown the health benefits of consuming
whole grains.
That includes, prevention of heart diseases, diabetes(regulate blood
sugar), and cancers, all these main degenerative diseases in the
modern society.
Population known for health and longevity have similar dietary
patterns, centered around whole grains as staple food, along with
vegetables and supplemented by local foods, with very small portion
of animal foods (infrequently).
5 Energetic point of view
Whole grains are alive.
Buy organic brown rice, put some pieces in water, and place by the
window.
In a few days, they sprouts.
Even after thousands of years, they can still sprouts.
Whole grains are full of vitality.
*Staying “alive”
For this reason, too, bread, pasta and other “grain products” are
distinguished from “whole grain” categories because they are not
“alive”.
From yin and yang energetic point of view, whole grains (seeds and
fruits at the same time) are almost neutral, not too yin nor too yang,
which gives us a stable, centering energy.
6 Most economical foods
One piece of rice will produce about 10000 pieces of rice.
They do not require too much water, land or fertilizer.
If we stop using most of the grains to feed live stock (as I mentioned,
grains are not their food), and use it for human beings, it can easily
feed this expanding world population.
Proper way of cooking & eating whole grains
Some people complain that after eating brown rice, they experience
bloating.
One of the biggest reasons is that the our digestive system and the
balance of intestinal flora has been weakened and disturbed by
consuming too much meat, dairy and sugar (and yeast), typical
modern diet.
But there is also a proper way to prepare and eat whole grains to
prevent "bloating" or other digestive problems.
1 Soak 6 to 8 hours (overnight)
whole grains, due to some protein and fat content, is slightly acid-
forming.
but soaking somewhat neutralize it.
also by soaking, it will stimulate the energy inside the grain to the
point where it almost starts to sprout.
2 Cook with kombu or sea salt
To further neutralize their slight acidity, cooking with alkaline forming
food helps.
One stamp size of Kombu seaweed or pinch of sea salt do the job.
3 Chew well
Digestion starts in the mouth.
Depends on how much you chew, the stress on the rest of the
digestion will be hugely different.
Try chewing at least 30 time per mouthful.
4 Eat with lots of vegetables and fermented food
To help digestion and neutralization, eating whole grains with variety
of vegetables and some fermented foods (pickles, miso etc) also
helps.
This way, you can maximize all the amazing benefit of whole grains
without uncomfortable experience afterwards!
For health and Peace...
Human beings have evolved by eating whole grains, the highest form
of plant, which developed our spirituality.
In most societies, so called “modern diseases” were unknown and
unheard of until they started to eat “non human food”.
It seems that since we stopped eating “human food”, things started to
go wrong.
Japanese word for "peace and harmony" denotes eating grains.
Left side of the character means grains, the right side mouth.
Let’s start eating “human food” again, for the health and peace of
humanity and the planet.
Study on brown rice and colon cancer (click here)
Whole Life with Jin
Is milk human food?
From “human food’ point of view, the
strangest food that we are consuming
is milk.
Dairy is probably the most “disease”
causing foods to us human being.
What is wrong with milk?
Well, think about it.
Whose food is milk?
*more about dairy, click here
From “human food’ point of view, the
strangest food that we are consuming
is milk.
Dairy is probably the most “disease”
causing foods to us human being.
What is wrong with milk?
Well, think about it.
Whose food is milk?
*more about dairy, click here
Japanese word for "peace, harmony".
(Wa)
(Wa)
Do you eat like human beings or
carnivores?
carnivores?