"The Holistic Holiday at Sea™ cruise is a transforming experience. It's an opportunity to expand your knowledge and eat perfectly healthy foods while relaxing in the beautiful Caribbean. It wouldn't surprise me if you came back from your vacation a different person."

Neal Barnard, M.D., Washington, DC
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Learning About Macrobiotics

Cruise Vacation featuring Macrobiotic Cooking Classes, Recipes and Gourmet Macrobiotic Food

The Holistic Holiday at Sea Caribbean Cruise features classes and lectures covering a wide array of holistic and alternative health topics including macrobiotics. In fact, macrobiotic food and education is one of the center points of the cruise program. Over the years many leading macrobiotic teachers have lectured on the cruise including: Michio Kushi, Denny Waxman, David Briscoe, Bob Carr, Lino and Jane Stanchich, Warren Kramer, Christina Pirello, cruise chef Mark Hanna, and cruise organizer Sandy Pukel.

Macrobiotic Classes – Covering Cooking and Theory

The cruise educational program offers a complete lecture track for those wanting to learn more about macrobiotics and the macrobiotic diet and lifestyle. Macrobiotic classes cover the basic history and theory behind macrobiotics, intermediate and advanced theory classes, a number of macrobiotic cooking classes, and classes that tie macrobiotic practices into the other holistic modalities covered on the cruise.

Macrobiotic Food and Recipes

Along with the full schedule of classes, cruise guests are also treated to three gourmet macrobiotic inspired meals each day. For those unfamiliar with the macrobiotic diet, these expertly prepared, healthy meals provide an opportunity to experience high quality macrobiotic food first hand. For those already familiar with the diet, the cruise meals allow macrobiotic followers to experience new recipes and flavors created by world-renowned macrobiotic chef, Mark Hanna. Guests also have the opportunity to select items off of both the holistic and traditional cruise menus, or order entirely from the standard cruise menu.

The cruise also offers a number of macrobiotic cooking classes that allow guests to learn about basic macrobiotic cooking principals as well as more advanced macrobiotic cooking and recipes. In fact, cruise chef Mark Hanna, co-author of the cruise inspired cookbook Greens and Grains on the Deep Blue Sea, teaches a cooking class with his co-author and cruise organizer Sandy Pukel. In this class Sandy and Mark demonstrate several of the most popular macrobiotic recipes from the cruise menu.

What is the Macrobiotic Diet?

The macrobiotic diet, often referred to simply as macrobiotics, is the dietary aspects of a holistic lifestyle. The macrobiotic lifestyle encourages followers to seek an energetic balance between the opposing forces of yin and yang. The macrobiotic diet focuses on energy balance in foods. The staples of the diet include whole grains, vegetables and beans. Followers of the macrobiotic diet avoid eating all dairy products and processed foods such as sugar and white flour. Macrobiotic practitioners also avoid foods that have been preserved or enhanced with artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Macrobiotics also attempt to eat foods that are appropriate for the current season and foods that could be produced locally. These local seasonal foods promote balance with the natural energies present in the local climate and environment.

Followers of the macrobiotic diet typically eat a high quantity of whole grains such as brown rice, as well as leafy green vegetables and sea vegetables. They also avoid certain vegetables found in the nightshade family such as peppers and eggplant, as well as most animal products. The macrobiotic diet cannot be characterized as a true vegan or vegetarian diet, because some macrobiotics occasionally eat seafood and other foods that would not be categorized as vegan or vegetarian.

Book Your Macrobiotic Cruise Vacation Today

To learn more about the macrobiotic diet and macrobiotic cooking, consider joining us for our next Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise. Call 1-800-496-0989 to book a room, or 1-828-749-9537 for more details on the cruise program.