Making Peace with Cravings

Cravings are an issue that comes up with any dietary change. This is the result of a combination of pure habit and some primordial physiology. Participants in Dr. Terry Shintani’s 10-Day Program say that their cravings are much easier to control after following the Peace diet program for several days. He explained why this happens so that people can have a better way of handling their cravings. 

Dr. Terry Shintani started a vegetarian diet when he was 26 years old, and used to take his dates to a steak house. He used to start off with a small salad with a lot of thousand-island dressing on it.  Then would order a 12 oz prime rib, well done, with baked potato and dinner rolls.  He slather the potato in butter and sprinkle it with salt, and he would eat several rolls, also well-buttered. The interesting thing is that even after eating all that, he still craved ice cream.  Modern science can't really explain why a person who has had that many calories would still crave more food.

Part of understanding of Macrobiotics is appreciating the ever-changing balance between yin and yang, the two major energies in the physical manifestation of the world. Yang is the male, firm and contractive energy of things.  Yin is the female, soft and expansive energy of things.  Yin attracts yang and yang attracts yin.

Food has these characteristics as well. Salt, meat, and baked goods are foods that are very yang in nature. Fruits, sweets, dairy and alcohol are yin in nature.  So when one eats a lot of food that is yang in nature, craving yin is a natural result despite getting enough calories. From this perspective, eating lots of meat and salt causes craving of sweets and alcohol.  So it is obvious that eating a steak will induce the desire for dessert and a drink.  In the Peace Diet, the extremes of "yin" and "yang" foods are eliminated, and a balance in the food is more easily achieved. Meat, animal products, salt, and baked goods are limited as well as sugar, dairy and alcohol. The result of these is an easy balance formed and cravings to eat more food are diminished.

Making Peace with Cravings

Cravings are an issue that comes up with any dietary change. This is the result of a combination of pure habit and some primordial physiology. Participants in Dr. Terry Shintani’s 10-Day Program say that their cravings are much easier to control after following the Peace diet program for several days. He explained why this happens so that people can have a better way of handling their cravings. 

Dr. Terry Shintani started a vegetarian diet when he was 26 years old, and used to take his dates to a steak house. He used to start off with a small salad with a lot of thousand-island dressing on it.  Then would order a 12 oz prime rib, well done, with baked potato and dinner rolls.  He slather the potato in butter and sprinkle it with salt, and he would eat several rolls, also well-buttered. The interesting thing is that even after eating all that, he still craved ice cream.  Modern science can't really explain why a person who has had that many calories would still crave more food.

Part of understanding of Macrobiotics is appreciating the ever-changing balance between yin and yang, the two major energies in the physical manifestation of the world. Yang is the male, firm and contractive energy of things.  Yin is the female, soft and expansive energy of things.  Yin attracts yang and yang attracts yin.

Food has these characteristics as well. Salt, meat, and baked goods are foods that are very yang in nature. Fruits, sweets, dairy and alcohol are yin in nature.  So when one eats a lot of food that is yang in nature, craving yin is a natural result despite getting enough calories. From this perspective, eating lots of meat and salt causes craving of sweets and alcohol.  So it is obvious that eating a steak will induce the desire for dessert and a drink.  In the Peace Diet, the extremes of "yin" and "yang" foods are eliminated, and a balance in the food is more easily achieved. Meat, animal products, salt, and baked goods are limited as well as sugar, dairy and alcohol. The result of these is an easy balance formed and cravings to eat more food are diminished.

Peace Diet and Weight Control

The Peace Diet program by Dr. TerryShintani emphasizes five additional aspects of food that will help in losing weight.

1. Whole Plant-Based Food. Peace Diet encourages people to eat whole plant-based foods. These are the foods that are naturally high in fiber, low in fat, high in water content, and high in vitamin, mineral, and micronutrient content. Foods that are not whole and are highly refined foods such as sugar, white flour, and oils, do not fill up the stomach and make people hungry, they are devoid of the nutrients that can help optimize health. Flour products such as pastries are laden with fat and sugar will contribute to weight gain very quickly.  Avoiding animal products is also helpful in contributing to weight control.  Most animal products tend to be quite high in fat.

2. Minimum Fat. A major factor in the Peace Diet is its low fat content.  Fundamentally, fat is an important factor that causes people to be fat.  Whole, unprocessed food tends to be low in fat. For example, potatoes are very low in fat at less than 2%.  Their SMI value is around 5.9, so it takes 5.9 pounds of potatoes to provide 2500 calories. Potato chips by contrast are nearly 60% fat and it takes just 1 pound of potato chips to provide 2500 calories.

3.  Minimum Processed Carbohydrate. Processed carbohydrates contribute to elevated insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that helps to control blood sugar, but it also contributes to weight gain, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Following this diet will lead to avoiding foods that will contribute to "metabolic syndrome." Peace Diet will also help in choosing good carbohydrate foods that help to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and stroke.

4. Maximum Fiber. Fiber tends to hold water and does so without calories.  In other words, it provides satisfaction without adding weight. Fiber also helps to prevent heart disease, stomach cancer, colon cancer and constipation. 

5.  Maximum Micronutrients. Whole foods also contain a wide variety of micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Though it can never be completely understand how the body utilizes all the micronutrients found in whole foods, it is known that the body is designed to use the micronutrients found in natural foods.