Classification of food the Macrobiotic way:

1. According to their effect on our body temperature:

• Hot: ginger, alcohol, curry


• Warm: cinnamon, miso soup


• Normal: kuzu, rice


• Cool: mint, mild use of salt

2. By taste:

• Sour: vinegar


• Bitter: roasted seeds, olives


• Sweet: pumpkin, rice, corn, dried fruits


• Spicy: leeks, ginger, mustard


• Salty: miso, soy sauce
  

3. Direction in which they energize the body:

• Ascending, upward: sugar, alcohol


• Descending, downward: salt


• Floating


• Sinking