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Updated Friday, January 26, 2024-02:27
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"I have always been very mystical, since I was little I was interested in Eastern philosophy, yoga, Buddhism and Taoism," says
Mariano Rodríguez
(Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 13, 1981). He has lived in the United States, Finland and Costa Rica, but ended up in Spain after studying Business Administration and Management at the Rey Juan Carlos University. "Despite opting for the economic world, that passion for food was there and I ended up training in
macrobiotics
on my own."
Today he directs the
Macrobiotic Zen Institute
, one of the most influential schools in the world when it comes to promoting this lifestyle that divides foods into two groups: yin and yang. In addition, she teaches cooking workshops, retreats, conferences and accumulates thousands of followers on social networks, where she disseminates content to promote health. He has just published
The Yoga of Foods
(Ed. Vergara) with the intention of making better nutritional decisions to live in balance and harmony.
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Many nutrition experts agree on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. How is it similar or different from macrobiotics? The traditional Mediterranean diet, without as many refined and processed foods as are consumed now, is the macrobiotic diet of the Mediterranean:
eat where you are
. It is nothing more than adapting to the environment, taking into account your objectives and reality, so both are connected. You can't, or shouldn't, take tropical foods, like coconut oil, because that's what you have the wonderful olive oil for. Although the industry tells you that it is very healthy,
if you live in Spain and it is winter it does not make much sense to eat so much avocado.
It is very healthy but for people who are in a tropical climate. Here we have the olives. In fact, there is a lot of criticism that in areas with little rain, such as in Malaga, in Andalusia, avocados are being planted during the dry season. It doesn't seem very optimal on an ecological level either...
Kilometer zero
is one of the basic precepts of a macrobiotic diet, along with the fact of using whole, organic live foods, without pesticides or herbicides, for ourselves and for the Earth. We should eat
local and seasonal foods
, but now we have watermelons available in winter. It is not the best thing for you or the planet. And not just because of the ethical, ecological and social aspects, but because it is a food that cools you down. In summer you have a gazpacho and it revitalizes you, and in the current season you want a soup more because it is very cold. Respecting the cycles of nature is common sense. Why did you choose the title "food yoga" for your book? Yoga provides numerous tools for full attention: body, mind and spirit. If you base your diet on harmony and balance,
your body will act as an antenna
that connects you with everything. Each food has a personality: an energy that has an effect on you. Those two energies are yin, which means expansion, and yang, which translates as contraction. Like day and night, they cannot exist without each other. They are complementary forces that interact. If you eat foods that enhance you, you will function better on a physiological level. On the other hand, if you get cold in winter and warm in summer, you will not adapt to the environment or live in harmony. But harmony is broken, especially in social moments or when we feel anxious and raid the refrigerator. How to avoid it? Becoming aware that
your body is your temple
. I try to motivate people to become aware of their full potential to fulfill themselves as human beings. Our body is a biological wonder, it is not designed just to feel sensory pleasure. It is like a great musician who plays with a rusty violin: he cannot perform with all his talent, no matter how good he is. But, if the violin works well, it can express its greatness. And this metaphor can be carried to the ephemeral pleasure of eating junk. We should ask ourselves, with attitude, if we are willing to contaminate this great gift. Everyday life and stress already cause us to contract, so it is normal to unconsciously seek balance in foods that expand us, such as chocolate, to calm that tension. If we choose more balanced habits, we don't need those havens of comfort because we won't be as frustrated. But you have to train that. What do you mean by becoming empowered through food? To make better decisions? Empowerment is to realize that we have a great capacity to express our abilities and talents. That gives you power when choosing the life you want to lead.
The most balanced foods change your reality and your habits
. They make you responsible for your life and give you freedom. Many adverse circumstances do not come alone, but we generate that bad luck or illness through our decisions. From the Eastern point of view, food creates thoughts and determines your destiny. If you drink half a liter of wine as soon as you wake up, you will not perform the same at work nor will you attract the same people. Have you been fired from work or did you have something to do with it? We tend to see only the seed and not the cause. By choosing habits and foods you are creating your destiny. Sometimes we are not aware of our power. Vegans against animal protein, supporters of
low carb
[low carbohydrate diet] demonizing the oxalates in vegetables... Has polarization also been brought to food?
Macrobiotics is an attempt to return to the diet of our ancestors
. But not based on the Neanderthal who lived for 20 years, but on evolved cultures such as the Egyptians, the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, or on the Mediterranean side, the Romans and Greeks, for example. All these people ate whole grains, vegetables, some fish and meat. We have four canines that are there because we are omnivores, but we do not have claws to hunt or the teeth of a cat. Our physiological characteristics tell us the legacy of tradition for thousands of years. And the basis was a vegetarian diet combined with animal protein. That is why macrobiotics is reactionary or contrary to trends. We cannot feed the entire population with meat, unless we make it artificial, but that is once again detaching ourselves from what is natural. Why do you say in your book that we do not know how to cook food? The clearest example is the legumes.
We say that lentils make you gassy, bloated and feel bad because we don't know how to prepare them
. Our grandmothers spent an hour cooking a stew in a clay pot for something. You have to transform the energy of food to make it digested. Fashions that advocate raw foods because enzymes are lost do not follow the example of civilizations that have lived thousands of years. The primitives ate all meat and fat because they had no other choice, and thanks to them we are here, but today it doesn't make much sense to base your diet on meat for fear of the antinutrients in legumes or vegetables. What you have to do is cook them well and choose good quality ones. Brown rice over white, which has nothing to do with it, for example. A few years ago people were afraid of fats and everything was
light
. Now carbohydrates are "the bad guys in the movie", can that criterion change again? For me,
it is a big mistake to eliminate whole grains from the diet, the problem is the refined ones.
The carbohydrates we are eating are simple, they spike blood sugar, and have nothing to do with high-quality complex ones. From there, since everyone eats white rice and white bread and doesn't see results, they go to the ketogenic diet as a reaction. It is no longer understood to have a dessert without sugar, that is why we avoid cereals, without understanding the point that they are simple. 30 years ago, as you say, fats were the bad thing because of cholesterol. And it is likely to change again due to interest. To know if something is good or bad you have to see what advanced civilizations that have lived for thousands of years have done. Now everything is a disaster, more artificial and less integrity, and not only in food, but also in relationships. The
cheapest, most ecological, most viable
and what makes the most sense is to eat a base of whole grains, vegetables and a little animal protein. Broadly speaking, how should you eat in winter and summer? When it is cold, a more yin climate, you should eat yang foods : long cooking, more animal protein, more fat, more salty... In summer the opposite happens. The body asks you to eat less, you can practically follow a vegetarian diet because you hardly need heat, but on the contrary, eat foods that cool you down and open the body, such as fresh juices and soups. Why is macrobiotic nutrition related to longevity? The word macrobiotic is separated into macro and biotic, it comes from Greek and means "great life." The translation is a diet that allows you to extend your life, or have a first-class life. When you adapt to the environment and connect with the cycles of nature you harmonize and balance both physically and mentally. But you don't have to eat a specific
superfood
behind a Himalayan rock to live longer. There is a large industry around it, when it makes more sense to bet on another form of consumption. What we believe is backed by science turns out to be based on scientific studies paid for by those brands that give us the
superfood
on a plate, and it is also very expensive. With a balanced diet we can create a more peaceful mind. The important thing is not only to live longer, but with more meaning.
The yoga of food
.
Macrobiotics to connect with our essential being
is published by Vergara and you can buy it here