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Chewing
The finer points of food combining and its preparation based on the yin/yang principle is perceived to be very important in practising macrobiotics but in actuality it not as important as thorough chewing, the most important macrobiotic tenet. How we eat is just as important as what we eat.
Macrobiotics teaches us that chewing well is a primary factor in health and transformation. Thorough chewing means chewing each mouthful at least 50 times (ideally 100 times) for physical, emotional, mental health as well spiritual progress. There are many macrobiotic gurus who conduct half-fasting retreats around the world based on chewing each mouthful 200 times. These retreats are very popular and successful, as people experience dynamic healing shifts, as well as states of bliss. They also report tangible improvement in serious ‘conditions’, such as asthma, structural/muscular back ailments and even cancer. This is due partly to the fact that thorough chewing activates the entire endocrine gland system and promotes rejuvenation.
Power Eating Program
Lino Stanchich, a macrobiotic expert, has developed PEP (Power Eating Program) as a result of a discovery his father, Antonio Stanchich, made during his imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp in 1943. Antonio survived the harsh conditions by chewing his food and water 50 - 75 times per mouthful. He found that this amount of chewing gave him extra energy and he was able to withstand the cold. He increased it to 100 - 150 times for dinner as he had more time and found that he did not get sick like the others. He taught this technique to two of his fellow prisoners. After two years in the concentration camp, the prisoners were liberated. Of the 32 that were originally imprisoned with Antonio’s ship crew, only three survived: Antonio and his two friends, whom he taught his chewing technique.
The basics of PEP are that we should be conscious whilst chewing. Eating in silence, preferably with eyes closed, allows us to go within ourselves and observe a sacred, meditative and spiritual experience. In his PEP seminars, Lino teaches an ideal position whilst chewing. Sitting with our back straight, both feet touching each other and the hands are interlocked into a mudra, where all the fingers of our left hand are touching all the fingers of our right hand. This position relaxes the shoulders and calms the mind. Also, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lung meridian flows through the thumbs and when we connect our thumbs we complete a circuit that strengthens our lungs and our breath. In addition, the large intestine meridian flows through the index fingers. Energy from the lungs goes to the large intestine, affecting our entire digestive tract. When the feet touch each other, and one hand touches the other hand, the energy circulates throughout the body. When such a posture is adopted while eating a powerful energy cycle is formed. Therefore, two or three times a day, the art of eating and the art of meditating can merge into one spiritual practice. Moreover, PEP facilitates greater satisfaction, as well as a state of bliss, for a number of biological reasons, discussed below. PEP is such a powerful technique that hundreds of people around the world have attributed it to healing not only serious conditions but cultivating a more harmonious and spiritual existence.
The Hunza people of the Himalayas are known for their longevity, as well as their practice of chewing. Dr. Tommozaburo Ogata, a professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, has conducted extensive research on rejuvenation. Ogata discovered that thorough chewing revitalises the body because it activates the parotid glands, located behind each ear, which releases parotin. Chewing well causes the parotin to be absorbed through the lymph system. The hormone renews cells and positively affects the entire endocrine system.
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