SEVEN DIMENSIONS OF HEALTH

There are many, or at least several, aspects of macrobiotics and health is only one of them. I like to distinguish between macrobiotic cuisine, on the one hand, and macrobiotic therapeutics on the other. The therapeutics is for sick people. The cuisine is for anyone who loves good food. This blog is primarily concerned with the cuisine. I don’t think of zen macrobiotics as "health food." I think of it as good, wholesome traditional food that also happens to be very healthy. I’m a cook, not a medico, although I concede that where food is medicine the two might overlap. It is a pity, all the same, that macrobiotics has become known primarily as a “health diet” and is part of the so-called “health industry.” It is much, much more than that, and in any case “health” in macrobiotic philosophy is a much broader notion than is commonly accepted.

Somewhere or other George Ohsawa presented a seven-point definition of what constitutes a healthy human being. I found my notes on it in a computer file the other day but I had failed to note where it was that Ohsawa said it. No matter. Here it is. I correlate the seven points with the seven traditional planets (and alchemical metals) according to my own design. In any case, the correlations are somwhat obvious and on that basis are warranted I think.

1. VITALITY (Sol)

A healthy person has all the energy they need to perform their duties, to realize their dreams and accomplish the things to which they aspire.

2. DEEP AND PEACEFUL SLEEP (Luna)

A healthy person enjoys deep and peaceful sleep and will usually be fully rested with about six hours of sleep in a day.

3. GOOD MEMORY (Mercury)

A healthy person has a good memory which is a reflection of the harmonious functioning of the nervous system and its capacity to recall past experiences and events as instruction and preparation for the future.

4. APPETITE (Venus)

A healthy person has good appetite, for food, for sex, for life itself, and – importantly - those appetites take a form that is simple and wholesome and so can be satisfied without extravagance.

5. WILL (Mars)

A healthy person has the drive, will and application to bring their dreams and ambitions to fruition.

6. GOOD HUMOUR (Jupiter)

A healthy person has a capacity to appreciate the paradoxical qualities of life and not to cling to unpleasant experiences.

7. MOOD OF JUSTICE (Saturnus)

A healthy person has an appreciation (either articulated or intuitive) of the total order of Nature and an understanding of cause and effect; they have a capacity to see the long-term consequences of their daily actions.

Zen macrobiotics is about more than "health food". It is a whole approach to life, a discovery, an adventure. Neither is it just for sick people. It is for everyone, with the promise of the Great Life (macro bios) for all. I include this sevenfold scheme here for my own notes and so that readers might assess their own wellbeing against it. I'm rather adverse to the word "wellness" but it does have the advantage of looking beyond merely "health". Do you sleep well? Have a good memory? Strong appetites? Drive? A good humour? All of these things come into play in macrobiotic cooking, in my opinion.