et food be thy medicine and thy medicine food” (qtd. in Kushi and Jack 32). Since then, macrobiotics has come down through Western history to mean a natural way of life, including a simple, balanced, natural way of eating, leading to health, happiness and longevity. Macrobiotics approaches living and eating the same way the earth handles the ecosystem - in complete balance. For example, what if a chemical by-product somehow disables all eucalyptus trees from producing leaves. This could render koala bears extinct because eucalyptus leaves are their only source of food. All organisms in the area would be severely affected indirectly from the by-products due to the balanced life-cycle being broken. The ecosystem over time would adapt only after the environment suffered deleterious changes. The macrobiotic philosophy is based upon yin and yang – the balance of the opposites. Without one, the other cannot exist to counter balance it. Male can only exist if there is a female. Something is hot only if it is compared to something cold. The more something is yin the more it is attracted to something yang. Likewise yin foods will balance or neutralize yang foods. The macrobiotic diet is different for everyone. Think of the pH scale to understand what foods are yin and yang and to understand how the macrobiotic diet can be applied to different people in different situations. Lemon juice, for example, is an acid because it does not have a balanced number of hydrogen and hydroxide ions like water, which is neutral. Lemon juice, however, is more alkaline than vinegar because it is even more acidic than lemon juice. All foods and all traits of objects can be classified into yin and yang. A few examples of yin and yang respectively are: feminine and masculine, winter and summer, softer and harder, lighter and heavier, night and day, expansion and contraction, etc. Very yin foods such as candies, desserts, sugary drinks, d...
