How to Nurture Healthy Eating 'Instincts'
The reasons for the loss of the healthy eating instincts can be summarized in
the following way:
[1]We have separated from nature to a specific degree with the aim to
develop the ability of thinking which is the basic precondition for human
freedom. Now we can by the help of thinking understand the material world, the
structure of our body and even the physical activities involved in the processes
of nutrition, but the price for this is the loss of healthy eating and drinking
instincts. While animals are still guided by instincts, we need to use our
thinking if we want to properly nourish ourselves.
If we want to transform our inherited instincts we will for sure
encounter many challenges and obstacles on this path towards healthy
eating and drinking 'instincts'. On this path we need to make various
changes in our attitude towards food and in our eating and drinking
preferences as well. We can arrange activities which enable us to make
appropriate changes in the four groups which reflect the four parts of
the central nervous system with their specific functions.
1. Acquiring a Holistic Understanding of the Role of Nutrition
The huge amount of literature on nutrition available today demonstrates that
we are striving to understand how food affects our body, to know what has
positive or negative effects on our health. Such striving is a necessity of our times because there are
many one-sided 'truths' about food. If we want to overcome the widespread
confusion which exists in the realm of nutrition, then we need to develop a real
understanding of how food affects every aspect of the human being – that is, we
need to understand the fundamental principles of nutrition. Only by their help
can we acquire a proper holistic understanding of the role of nutrition, which
will enable us to make appropriate choices of foods and diets that are being
offered to us. Otherwise we might – with the best intentions – choose things
which can do more harm than good to us.
2. Providing the Body with the Good Quality Food
Even before we acquire more comprehensive understanding of
nutrition, we can start to provide our bodies with the best food we can
buy or produce. Our bodies are marvellous organisms, immensely complex,
with a variety of systems and organs in constant mutual interactions. By
eating good quality food we can ensure that our bodies get the essential
nutrients they need, and that they are not burdened with substances they
do not need. [2]
We can consider the transition from low quality to high quality food
as a means of slow detoxification of the body. It does not require
giving up our favourite dishes, because we can prepare them with better
quality ingredients. Of course, for this we have to actually cook –
without this ability (or, at least, the willingness to learn cooking) we
cannot expect that we can make real positive changes in the realm of
nutrition.
3. Establishing Healthy Eating Habits and Meal Rhythms
Our eating habits have to a large extent been influenced by the
eating habits of those who surrounded us in our childhood. We cannot say
they are really our own eating habits until we consciously decide which
we want to keep and which we want to transform to fit our individual needs. Adults have
the ability to educate themselves and change their eating habits if they
decide to do so. It is hard work to overcome old habits, but if we are
properly motivated and we persist in trying – in spite of often falling
back into old habits – it is possible to change. The positive outcome is
well worth all the effort.
In fact, the biggest change in eating habits can be the transition
from bad quality food to good quality food. This is because junk food is
really addictive! People may in this transition experience similar
withdrawal symptoms as when someone stops taking the drugs.
[3] The final aim of our striving is the
establishment of a balanced diet with a great variety of grains, fruits,
vegetables, legumes, etc. If there is a tendency towards a one-sided
diet of potato and meat – or any other extremely one-sided diet – the
problematic foods can be slowly reduced until they become part of an
overall more balanced diet. [4]
4. Developing New Sensitivity for the Effects of Food on Our Organism
If we practice the above approach for some time, we will start to
become more sensitive to the effects of the food we eat. We might find
ourselves in circumstances which 'force' us to eat food we have enjoyed
in the past, but now find it really unpleasant. Or, we will become able
to perceive the difference in the quality of food which we were not able
to do in the past, for example, the difference between freshly milled
flour and old flour. Or, our stomach becomes much more sensitive to the
quality of the food it receives, thus becoming an additional 'organ of
taste'. Such experiences will be proof that we are on the right path,
for "good digestion is founded on the capacity to
taste with the whole alimentary tract, and bad digestion results
from an incapacity of the whole tract to carry out this function of
tasting." [5]
These four different kinds of activities which are necessary for the
development of new eating 'instincts' are, of
course, spread over periods of time which can often overlap. But there
is a sensible succession of New understanding
– Good quality –
New eating habits – New sensitivity
which creates fruitful ground for the nurturing of healthier eating
'instincts'. These instincts are not the same
as animal instincts because they involve a learning process and the
conscious acquisition of new eating habits. The final outcome is the
development of the ability which enables us to sense what is healthy for
our organism in a similar way as it works in the case of animal
instincts. For that reason we can still call them 'instincts'.
Instincts as an Expression of the Wisdom of the Astral Body in Action
If we observe the activities of animals in nature, we can recognise great
wisdom behind animal instincts which guide and supervise all aspects of
their lives. The instincts are the most important manifestation of the
activity of the astral body in the animal kingdom. We could even say that
the animal kingdom is an outward manifestation of the essence of the astral
body itself. For example, in the domain of feelings – which are one of the
basic expressions of the nature of the astral body – we can recognise two
groups of responses: in one is the dominant feeling of sympathy and in
another the feeling of antipathy. If we observe the animal world we can
recognise how animals are guided by sympathy and antipathy towards anything
that approaches them from outside. Their reactions are instant and capable
of recognizing whether what they are confronted with is either beneficial or
harmful for them. This is true also for food they eat. This is a
manifestation of an active wisdom of the astral body all animals possess in
the intact natural environment.
Where in the human being can we find similar wisdom of the astral body in
action? For this we need to look at the nervous system which is the physical
expression of the astral body. Of course, the functions of the astral body
are diverse as is the case with the function of the various parts of the
nervous system. If we look at the autonomic or involuntary nervous system,
we can see its nerves branching from the spinal cord and reaching inner
organs like heart, lungs, and digestive organs. The task of this system is
to automatically control the functions of the body below the level of our
consciousness. The responses of these nerves are faster, while the responses
of the endocrine system
are slower; however the involvement of both systems is essential for the
proper maintenance of homeostasis
and consequently for the preservation of our health.
Another important activity of the astral body "that is executed
internally consists of disintegrating food substances. What is
useful is transmitted into the blood vessels, and the rest is eliminated
through urine or
faeces. This is the healthy, normal and regular activity of
the human being in which the astral body works properly to dissolve the food
substances. It absorbs into the body what is useful and discharges what is
not. We must assume that this activity of man is no ordinary activity;
rather, it contains something immensely wise. Now, dissolved and
transformed food substances are constantly being transmitted through blood
vessels to the inner organs, and the nourishment that goes into the lungs
is completely different from what goes to the spleen. The astral body is
much smarter than the human being. Man can only stuff the provisions into
his mouth, but the astral body can distinguish them. It is like sorting two
substances, throwing one in one direction to be used there and the other in
another direction. This is what the astral body accomplishes. It selects
certain substances to dispatch to the lungs, spleen, larynx and other
organs. A wise distribution of foodstuffs is at work within the human
organism. The astral body is immensely
wise, much wiser than we. The most educated person today would not know how
to send the proper substances into the lungs, larynx or spleen; he would not
even know what to say about it. But internally man can do this through his
astral body." [6]
Thus we can see how marvellous is the coordination of complex metabolic
processes – stimulated by intake of food and drink – directed by instinctual
wisdom of the astral body. Of course, this is an unconscious activity of our
astral body, whilst we are more or less aware of the sense impressions which
are caused by intake of different foods and drinks. In this case the astral
body enables us to sense the various degrees of sympathy or antipathy
towards what we consume. The astral body is also the seat of our wishes,
desires, urges and cravings for a particular food or drink, or of the
opposite feelings which can lead to the rejection of a specific food or
drink. From all this we see the significant role of the astral body – called
also the sentient body or soul body – in the domain of our nutrition.
Instincts which are a manifestation of the wisdom of the astral body are
still working in the maintenance of the homeostatic balance of our body. But
there are other parts of our astral body which work against it when we
develop and practise such eating and drinking preferences which are
detrimental to our health. But, through the power of insight we can also
transform them in such a manner that our eating preferences will support the
striving of the instinctual part of our astral body to maintain a healthy
inner environment.
If we add to all this also the role of the astral body in the occurrence
of an internal disease presented in
DIET AS A CAUSE OF ILLNESS, we can
better understand why "it is important to realise that in eating one should
develop a well-developed instinct for taste, a vivid relationship to the
various kinds of food; it should not be a matter of indifference whether one
eats a lettuce or spinach, but that one should be fully alive to the
differentiations in the plant world, as apparent in the effects of lettuce
and spinach on the human organism. For what one experiences in tasting them
is the live relation of the macrocosm to the microcosm, an interrelation
carried on subconsciously in the astral body which penetrates all organs.
That is one thing. When modern research of nutrition has attained a true
understanding of the astral body and its functions, a sound
hygiene of
eating will result, and this we shall need because what
is an unconscious, instinctive way of life will gradually be lost to
humanity and will have to be replaced by a conscious relationship to cosmic
surroundings," [7] including to the fruits of the
nature.
An important part of a conscious relationship to cosmic surroundings can
be established through the development of the new capacity of tasting food
which will surpass that which we are capable with the physical senses only.
Then we will immediately know which part of our organism is affected by food
and if this effect is positive or not. These will be future 'instincts' – in
outward form similar to animal, but achieved through the conscious work of
transformation of our sympathies and antipathies in regard to food and
drink. Then we will no longer need nutritionists to advise us what to eat
and drink, for we will be capable of recognising the effects of whatever we
will consume on the state of our body, soul and spirit.
For a complementary perspective see:
♦ PATH TOWARDS NEW FOOD CULTURE
DIETARY CONCLUSIONS & PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS
Two of the above How to Nurture Healthy Eating '‘Instincts' already
contain practical instructions for improvement of our diet. They present two
basic conditions for the development of new eating 'instincts'. The first
condition is to provide our body with good quality food. Only good quality food
can refine our body to such a degree to be capable to sense what is healthy to eat and what is not.
♣ See HOLISTIC FOOD
'PYRAMID' to find out which food is regarded as good quality food.
The second condition is to establish overall
healthier eating habits and rhythms. This may vary from person to
person or from one eating community to another. But without an effort to improve
our existing eating habits we cannot hope to make any progress in regard to the
capacity to feel which foods do us good and which harm us.
In this task they play a special role the seven grains. In comparison to
potato, [8] grains have a balancing effect on the
cerebral hemispheres, for they equally simulate both frontal lobe (coloured
blue on the picture) and sensory lobes (coloured green). Grains are
therefore a good source of nourishing substances for our thinking and
perceiving by means of various senses – but only if they are consumed whole,
unrefined. Thus the grains have an extremely important role if we aim to
regain healthy eating 'instincts' in the co-operation of our activities of
thinking and perceiving.
[9]
But if a person uses just one or two most popular grains, then he or she
is more prone to develop one-sided eating habits. The consumption of a great
variety of grains makes everyone's diet much more balanced.
♣ For the list of grains see
WHOLE GRAINS
There is also a difference if we eat only one or a few most favoured
grains or if we have on our menu all seven grains. The consumption of
various grains improves our menu and at the same time contributes to more
balanced diet. Even better results can be achieved if we develop the habit
of consuming grains in accordance with the rhythm of the week. If you wonder
about the reasons for doing this, then you can read (if you are registered)
the explanation given in BALANCING WITH SEVEN GRAINS.
♣ For practical instructions see
WEEKLY RHYTMHM OF SEVEN GRAINS
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.
