We the Macro’s
Me and Carleen have, for some time now, been looking into the Macrobiotic Diet. Really more of a philosophy than a “diet” - it encompasses the philosophy of yin and yang. It kinda sounded rather hokey at first, but let me tell you, when everything you eat gives you stomach cramps and gas, crazy stuff starts looking more and more sane. Because, I’ve got to face it - the Western diet is just not suited for Ulcerative Colitis, and my list of “safe” foods continues to diminish.
The Macrobiotic Diet is very “Eastern”, lots of seaweed, Brown Rice (which i eat tons of anyway), Beans, Whole Grains. But it can get a tad extreme - no cooking in the microwave, no metal utensils, cook on a gas stove, etc. We’ve decided to wade slowly into things though. Come Monday, we’ll be going on a “Rice Fast” - we’ll be eating nothing but brown rice and drink nothing but tea for 10 days. Doesn’t much sound like “wading” does it? Well the benefits of fasting in such a way are well worth it, in my opinion.
Another major theme of Macrobiotics is chewing each bite of food about 100 times (no exaggeration). I’ve kept it reasonable - I try to chew each bite into a sufficient mush before swallowing. This has already been a tremendous help for me, significantly decreasing the bloating I was experiencing. It also helps control overeating, as you have time to register that you are full. Furthermore, by keeping each bite in your mouth longer, the enzymes can convert more of the food into the type of sugar that your brain needs to function properly
So I was being closed-minded about Macrobiotics at first, but I think I’m going to try to slowly convert myself and see how my health changes.
Tara on 
stephanie on 
Carleen on 