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Try to make food choices with the yin/yang balance in mind. Although you may desire to explore macrobiotic eating more closely, the most important thing to do is to avoid the extremes: sugary foods and too much meat. If you eat a variety of raw and cooked plant-based foods (cooking makes the food more yang), avoid sugar and refined foods and use tamari and sea salt for seasoning, you should stay well-balanced. For a deeper understanding of the yin/yang principles and macrobiotic cooking, read Herman Aihara’s excellent book, Basic Macrobiotics, which can be found on Amazon.com (since it’s no longer in print).

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For vegetarians, who tend to be more yin because they aren’t eating meat, I recommend making meals more yang by cooking part of the meal in tamari sauce (e.g., rice, beans, tempeh, veggies, etc.). Cooking makes the food more grounding, as does the tamari. Sea salt has the same effect. The one thing I find missing in most vegetarian philosophies is this crucial understanding of the yin/yang balance. The reason behind those “spacey” vegetarians is not a lack of protein, but rather a lack of yang energy.