Why is the thyroid so important?

I take Gaia's Thyroid Support everyday and it has helped so much!  I take 2 in the morning before breakfast and 1 between lunch and dinner. 

The thyroid is your major hormone powerhouse.  Your endocrine system, which includes the pituitary gland, thyroid and parathyroid glands, and adrenal glands, releases hormones that influence the functioning of the organs and aids in digestion of food.  If you have the following symptoms the place to target may be the endocrine system:

• Rapid weight loss or gain
• Increased or decreased metabolism, including heart rate, blood pressure, nervous sensitivity, perspiration, sensitivity to temperature and pressure
• Muscle weakness
• Tingling, numbness, or tremors
• Rapid grown or cessation of growth 
• Tenderness in the gland of the neck
• Bulging eyes
• Thickened skin
• Abnormal blood pressure
• Fluctuations in blood sugar levels
• Abnormal sexual characteristics including hair quality, muscle development, sking texture and thickness, and voice quality

Interesting enough the endocrine glands are yang in form (small, dense, and compact) but attract extreme yin by metabolic energy.  In terms of the hormones released, yang hormones are tied to the functioning of the sympathetic nerves and ying to the parasympathetic nerves.  Therefore the production of hormones can be seen in two ways depending on your symptoms above:

• HYPOSECERTION (not enough) of yin hormones-->yang condition (sluggish, slow moving)
• HYPERSECRETION (too much) of yin hormones-->yin condition (hyper, anxious)

*Click on chart to see full image

So as you can see, the thyroid plays a huge health role so it's important to check into it once in a while.  The following is a macrobiotic remedy for thyroid conditions.  Follow the recommended ratio depending on how much you make:

Thyroid Drink

1. Finely chop up carrots (2 parts), lotus root (2 parts), kombu (1 part) and daikon greens or other hard leafy greens (4 parts) and add to pot.
2. Add 4 times as much water, boil, and simmer for about 15-20 mins.
3. Add pinch of sea salt at end of cooking or 3-4 drops of shoyu.
4. Drink and eat the residue every day, 1 cup, for 10-14 days.  Then every other day for an equal period.

Fried Udon and Vegetables with Steamed Kale

Having some whole grain noodles is a great way to include some variety in your diet.  It allows you to take a break from having brown rice or other type of grain every meal of the week .

Udon is a traditional linguine-shaped noodle in Japan made with wheat flour, which is usually refined to some degree.  It is more popular in the warm, southern areas of Japan, since it is more yin.  If you're in a colder more yin climate it's better to substitute buckwheat soba for this dish to balance it off with something more yang.

You can use a variety of other vegetables for this dish as well.  Good combinations are tofu and cabbage, mushrooms and scallions, and adding broccoli, cauliflower, napa cabbage, and yellow squash are also great.  If you don't use scallions in this dish you can grate some ginger as a nice garnish.  It's recommended to eat fried udon up to 2-3 times per week.

Fried Udon with Vegetables


10 cups water
1 package whole wheat udon noodles
Sesame oil
1 medium onion, cut into half moons
1 celery stalk, sliced diagonally
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
tamari, to taste

1. Place about 10 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Stir in udon and cook until noodles are tender and the same color inside and out.  Remove udon from heat and place in strainer.  Rinse under cold water and allow to drain.
2. Heat a small amount of sesame oil in a skillet.  Add onion and saute for 2-3 mins over fairly high flame, stirring to cook evenly and prevent burning.  Add celery and carrot and saute for 3-4 mins.  Place noodles on top of vegetables, and cover skillet.  Reduce flame to low and cook until vegetables are tender.
3. Remove cover and season with a little tamari.  Mix and saute for 3-4 mins longer.  Remove, place in serving bowl, and serve.

Eden Foods makes a great 100% Organic Whole Grain Udon pasta.

*Recipe courtesy of The Macrobiotic Way by Michio Kushi.

Shoyu

 "The Champagne of Soy Sauces." It's 100% organic, non-GMO, aged four years, unpasteurized, and made by Ohsawa, the most trusted name in macrobiotics.

Shoyu is a soy sauce, also called tamari, which is a dark brown liquid made from soya beans that have undergone a fermentation process.  Natural shoyu employs the use of a centuries-old method of fermentation involving a special koji (Aspergillus oryzae), which converts hard-to-digest soy proteins, starches and fats into easily absorbed amino acids, simple sugars and fatty acids.  The best-quality shoyu is naturally fermented for more than 2 year and is made from whole soybeans, wheat, and sea salt.  It is important to use the real shoyu because commercial ones, although cheaper because they are ready in a few days, use genetically modified beans and enzymes and contains added colouring, preservatives and sugar.


In macrobiotics shoyu is added to foods during the last few minutes of the cooking process and is not added to rice or vegetables at the table. This makes it more digestible and prevents cravings for sweets or liquid that easily arise if it is eaten uncooked.  However it is important to use it sparingly.  Often times what you'll find in common asian cuisine restaurants is a heavy use of shoyu in stir fries (note: if your your stir fry is brown that should give you a hint).  It's poses an excess amount of salt into your diet which could lead to other complications.  How I like to use shoyu is in macro remedies like shoyu bancha tea.  This drink is good to strengthen the blood if an overly acidic condition exists, to relieve fatigue, to relieve headaches due to overconsumption of simple sugars and/or fruit juice, and to stimulate good blood circulation.  I drink it 3-4 times a week to help me feel balanced.

Shoyu Bancha Tea

1. Place one teaspoon of shoyu into a teacup and pour in hot bancha twig or bancha stem tea that has been made a little stronger than usual. 
2. Stir well and drink hot. Be careful to pour the hot tea over the shoyu in a cup, not the other way around (adding the shoyu to the pot).

Macro iPhone app!

Word has gotten out about a new iPhone app made just for macrobiotic shopping!  Grocery shopping can get very confusing especially when you need to plan ahead and you just can't remember which foods are allowed on a macro diet.  If you're like me you end up forgetting a few things here and there even with your own made grocery list :P  But with this new app you can have all the info needed at your fingertips.  You create your own grocery list from the basics of macrobiotic foods.  Under these categories you'll find which items are suggested for occasional/often use in macrobiotics.  I really like how you can add your own items to the list if it's not there.  Also when you check it off it saves into the checked off category so it's easy to access it again.  You'll find that you tend to buy the same things when macro shopping ;)