Nutrition as a Bridge to the World

We are connected to the outside world in three different ways: through sense impressions, through breathing, and through nutrition. Through sense organs we receive objective impressions of the world. Through breathing we participate in the world by rhythmical exchange of air. Through nutrition we are active in radical metamorphosis of whatever we receive from the various kingdoms of nature in the form of food. This can be performed because in the course of evolution an inner space has been created within our organism where the processes of digestion and nutrition take place in relative independence from the outside world.

Introductory Reading:

FOURFOLD HUMAN BEING

Three Bridges between Man and the Outside World

If we want to understand the purpose and the role of nutrition for human life we need to start with the simple observation that the activity of nutrition represents one of the three fundamental ways of our relationship to the world outside us. Each human being is connected with the surrounding world in his waking state in three ways. "First of all, through his senses. With the aid of his senses, he perceives and cognizes the phenomena of the various kingdoms of Nature. But this is not all. Man is also connected with the Earth through activities he performs unconsciously – that is, unconsciously even while he is awake. Man breathes, for instance, and is thus connected with the whole Earth. The whole Earth plays into the air man takes in with his breath. In the air he breathes, countless substances are present in a highly rarefied condition. And the very fact that they are present in this rarefied state enables them to exercise an influence that is of no small importance when they are received through the breath into the organism of man. What man perceives with his senses enters into him consciously; but subconsciously, even during waking life a vast amount enters into man that is more substantial than what enters him by the more tenuous paths of perception and thought. By way of the breath man's environment comes into him in a more material and substantial manner in comparison with sense impressions. Nor need you be reminded of how utterly dependent the human organism is on what it receives in the way of earthly nourishment. So that altogether we have to recognise three main types of influences working from the Earth upon the awake human being." [1] These are:

1. Perceiving as Intake of Objective Sense Impressions

Through our sense organs of vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch, etc we constantly receive a multitude of sense impressions. Sense organs should reflect the outside world in a neutral manner, as close to the original as possible. For example, our eyes need to be clear to get true visual impressions. If they are for any reason dimmed, our visual perception will be distorted. This is true for all sense organs. For that reason the archetype of perceiving can be characterised as a mirroring of the outer world. This 'mirror' of the sense organs reflects back to us pictures, sounds, smells, etc. If this 'mirror' is without any deformity, then we receive objective sense impressions of the things, beings and phenomena of the world.

2. Breathing as Rhythmical Exchange between Man and the World

We are in a different relationship to the outer world with breathing – one moment air is outside, then it is inside, and the next moment outside again. In this process the air is partially transformed: we take oxygen from the air and use it for our own purpose, and add carbon dioxide to the air when we exhale. But the key feature of breathing is its rhythm of inhalation and exhalation which goes on throughout our life. For that reason the archetype of breathing can be characterised as a rhythmical interchange of air between man and the outside world.

3. Nutrition as Total Metamorphosis of Outer Substances

Through eating and drinking we take in outer substances on a daily basis. If one consumes on average 1.2 kg of food per day, in 70 years the combined amount comes to over 30 tons. This great amount indicates the importance of nutrition for human life on the earth. Even more important is the fact that we do not simply use substances from the outside world as they are – all substances are subjected to radical transformation before they can be used for the manifold needs of our organism. For that reason the archetype of nutrition can be characterised as the taking in and metamorphosis of outer substances to such a degree that they can serve the specific needs of the human being.

Creation of an Inner Space for Activities of Nutrition

There is another important characteristic of human nutrition beside the one described above. If we want to grasp it we need to observe the transition from a plant's assimilation of nutrients to those of lower animals. "If we consider the green leaf of a plant, we know that the process of photosynthesis is carried on in this leaf in such a way that light streams in from above and carbon dioxide enters from below the leaf. The third process is the in-flowing stream of water and mineral salts which is taken up by the roots." [2] We can compare:

The combined effect of these three activities in a plant culminates in production of carbohydrates in its leaves, and proteins and fats in its seeds. In this manner a plant is capable of creating all three basic substances of our food which enable our life. [3]

Now "imagine that we change the leaf out of a flat structure into a kind of round sphere (see picture, left side). The upper side is the realm where the light from out of space streams in; the other side is the dark side where the carbon dioxide nourishes the leaf." [4] To this we need to add mineral salts coming from bellow, from the earth. In fact, we can already observe change from the plane to the sphere when we compare leaves with seeds. But we can never say that any kind of digestive process goes on inside the plant. For a plant doesn't have something we could call an inner space. For this something else needs to happen in the evolution of animal. "If this archetypal picture of plant process (of assimilation of nutrients) alters in such a way that animal or man starts to develop, then we find that the lower part is invaginated. It becomes invaginated like a ball which has been squashed in, and we see the formation which is commonly called the gastrula. We have now gone from the round sphere of the leaf to the archetypal form of a simple animal (see picture, right side). On the upper side sensory processes arise, and in the lower, invaginated part, digestion and nutrition processes begin. Thus we have made the step from the plant to the animal." [5]

This process which includes folding inwards of the spherical form is called gastrulation, which "is a phase early in the embryonic development of most animals." [6] In the case of human beings it happens "around day 16 after fertilisation". [7] Thus we can see that in the case of animals and human beings the inner space is created in the organism where the processes of digestion and metamorphoses of nutritional substances are performed in relative independence from the outer world. In the case of lower animals these processes are still quite simple and still quite open to the influences from outside world. When we progress up towards higher animal forms, we see progressively more inward, more independent and more complex processes of nutrition – all happening in this inner space that has been created in the evolution of animal kingdom to which also our physical body belongs.

Fourfold Nature of Real Foods

In FOURFOLD HUMAN BEING it is explained that the human being consists of four bodies, each providing us with specific functions:

This human microcosm is connected by means of three bridges – sense impressions, breathing, and nutrition – with the outer world, the macrocosm consisting of four kingdoms: the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, and the human kingdom. [9]

In FOURFOLD HUMAN BEING it is also explained that other natural kingdoms – with the exception of minerals [10] – consist of more than just a physical body. Because our food comes mainly from the plant and animal kingdom, this means that food we eat also contain etheric and astral components. This is not only the case with food of animal origin but also with food of plant origin. "It is true that the plant as it stands there in the ground has only a physical and an etheric body, and does not contain an astral body as the animal does; nevertheless, the astrality must outwardly surround the plant on all sides. The plant would not bloom if the astrality did not touch it from outside. Plants do not internalize astrality the way animals and human beings do, but they do need to be touched by it from outside. Astrality is everywhere, and nitrogen, the carrier of astrality, is also everywhere. So you can also imagine how important nitrogen must be for the life of plants." [11]

Although plant proteins are formed in its upper part, mainly in their seeds, all parts of plant contain small amounts of protein. This means that in all vegetables and fruits we also have small amounts of 'plant-like astrality' (in comparison with astrality present in animal food). There is more of this plant-like astrality in plant seeds (e.g. beans, nuts, edible seeds, and grains) due to their greater quantity of protein.

What about the presence of ego forces in the animal and plant kingdoms? Whilst our ego enables us to be self-conscious, in the case of animals and plants ego forces work differently. They provide a specific form which fundamentally determinates the whole life of a single plant or animal species. The outer form also provides a quick way to distinguish one species from another (e.g., a sheep from a goat, barley from oats, etc.). This function of ego-organization is evident also in the case of human beings. Whilst we share the general form of the human being which enables us to distinguish a human being from a monkey, we have also developed individual features to such a degree that we can recognise each other by the outward appearance. Therefore we can recognize the activities of ego organization in the animal and plant kingdoms in the emergence of a multitude of species, each with its own typical outward form.

Now we can look at one example of the fourfold nature of food – an apple:

The mineral part (grey) provides its inner structure, the texture of food. Then we have etheric forces (green), permeating all fluids with the energy of life. [12] Astral forces (yellow) are outwardly manifested in the food's taste, colour, and aroma. Its individual aspect (violet) is manifested in its outer form which enables us to distinguish an apple from a pear even if we see just a simple child's drawing of them. Thus we can recognise the fourfold nature of foods coming from the plant and animal kingdom which are the two main sources of our food.

For complementary perspectives see:

NUTRITION FOR BODY & SOUL

NUTRITION - HEALING - EDUCATION

DIETARY CONCLUSIONS & PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS

The great significance of nutrition can be recognised merely by observing the relationships to the other kingdoms of nature presented in this text. For many people it is an obvious fact that nutrition plays an important part in human life, but the significance of nutrition is much greater than is usually thought. Nutrition has many purposes and is related to various activities performed by human beings. For that very reason it is sensible to take the question of nutrition very seriously – much more seriously than is common nowadays even among more educated and enlightened people.

One needs to be aware that food has short-term effects, medium-term effects, and long-term effects. While we can investigate some short-term and medium-term effects, it is much harder to investigate long-term effects which sometimes manifest only after three or four decades, or even after longer time span. [13] These long-term effects can be investigated by statistical comparison of the health impacts on two groups of people eating different type of diets. However, this can be done only to a limited extent; there are simply too many influences on the state of human health for such investigations to be conclusive. Besides the length of statistical observation which needs a few decades to get one or two useful dietary guidelines put great limits to such research.

For that reason it is sensible to take a preventative approach and invest more time and money into what we put into our bodies on a daily basis. This is even more in need when we understand that the quality of what we eat depends on the more hidden quality of life forces in the food, and on the quality of forces which manifest in the taste and aroma of food. For that reason it is more than urgent to overcome materialistic simplification which states that we are affected only by physical substances present in our food and their chemical composition.

For the sake of this we need to develop a new understanding of the true nature of the human being and the role of nutrition – that is, a holistic understanding of our constitution and fundamental nutritional principles. Otherwise we can fall into all kinds of self-deceptions and illusions. But with the help of a new understanding of nutrition we can arrange our lives in such a way that "the food we eat will not hinder us from achieving the full potential of what we, as human beings, ought to be." [14]

WARNING: You always have to put the above practical dietary instructions inside the framework of GENERAL NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES with the aim to know their limits when looking for a solution of a specific nutritional problem. You also need to be familiar with THE ROLE OF NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES with the aim to avoid any one-sided conclusions.

NOTES

  1. Rudolf Steiner, London, 30.08.1922; Planetary Spheres and Their Influence on Man's Life on Earth and in Spiritual Worlds, Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982
  2. Karl König, Earth and Man, Bio-Dynamic Literature, 1982
  3. See also COSMIC ORIGIN OF LIVING SUBSTANCES.
  4. See note 2
  5. See note 2
  6. Wikipedia, Gastrulation, June 2015
  7. Wikipedia, Gastrulation, November 2008
  8. Within the body exists several levels of structural complexity: systems, organs, tissues, cells and chemical substances. The physical body is a kind of summary of all these inner structures, the outwardly visible aspect of overall human structure.
  9. Besides the four kingdoms of nature we have above the realm of planets and stars, and below the interior of the Earth, but for the aim of this principle we can leave these two realms aside.
  10. This statement is true only from a physical perspective, but to explain the fourfold nature of minerals from a spiritual-scientific perspective would be very hard to understand for those who have not been studying spiritual science for many years. But if you just look at the mysterious processes of TRANSUBSTANTIATION OF MINERALS you will get some hints about the riddles which are posed to us by these 'simple' minerals.
  11. Rudolf Steiner, Koberwitz, 11.06.1924; Agriculture, Bio-dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, 1993
  12. There is an obvious difference between a growing plant or living animal and its parts which serve for human nutrition after the plant has been cut or uprooted, or after the animal has been killed. However, this doesn't mean that parts of plants and animals don't have etheric or astral forces in them; it is well known that we need to put a lot of effort into properly preserving the food. The reason behind this is that methods of storage need to minimize the loss of etheric and astral forces. For an expanded explanation see THE SPIRITUAL BACKGROUND OF FOOD STORAGE.
  13. This is one of the main reasons why people do not take the question of nutrition seriously enough. The notion that something eaten today can have an effect in a few decades is just too abstract and therefore is not a good enough reason for many people to change what they like to eat – especially when a person is young. Of course, much depends on individual understanding of the meaning of life. There is a great difference whether or not a person believes we are insignificant players in purposeless cosmic development or, according to spiritual science, one is aware that each human being plays an important part in meaningful cosmic evolution.
  14. Rudolf Steiner, Munich, 8.01.1909; Nutrition, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2008