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.