An eating method that helps people live longer was discussed by PhD. Bui Phi Hung, Director of the International Management and English Training Co Ltd, at the seminar titled “Eat Yin-Yang: the Art of Health,” held on Saturday.

The method is based on Georges Ohsawa’s theory of macrobiotics, which is believed to help people live longer and maintain their physical and mental well-being. It focuses on the concept of “yin” and “yang”, also known as a balanced diet, which emphasizes food choices and their relative proportions.

Food with “yin” qualities are considered compact, dense, heavy and hot, such as sugar, alcohol, pepper and tomatoes, while salt, red meat and eggs contain “yang” qualities, as they are expansive, light, cold, and diffuse.

Besides the use of whole grains as a staple food in our daily meals, instead of highly processed or refined foods, a cooking method that helps provide nutrients and healthy courses is another crucial point in Ohsawa’s theory. 

Under the macrobiotic dietary guidelines provided at the seminar, whole grains, vegetables, bean products and pickles were among the healthy foods that were encouraged to be used regularly. Seafood, red meat, eggs, sweets and dairy were advised to be occasionally used.

In related news, Professor Jean - Baptiste Ricco, director of the European Society for Vascular Surgery, warned about the rapid increase in vascular disease in Vietnam over recent years in an interview with Tuoi Tre.

Besides smoking, consuming a lot of calories, fatty acids and sugar while following a Western diet is one of the major reasons behind the illness. Therefore, people should eat a traditional diet which mainly involves vegetables, he said.

Georges Ohsawa is the founder of the macrobiotic diet, which was first introduced in the middle of the twentieth century. Over 40 years he wrote roughly 300 books in Japanese, French, German and English, and published a monthly magazine that talked about his diet theory.