Instinctivorism

In France, there's this group of raw foodies that call themselves "Instinctos" and that adhere to a philosophy known as "Instinctivorism".

As well as all the stuff you'd expect to find in their kitchens, they habitually eat raw butchered animal flesh too.. The flesh is not just raw, but also left to lie around fermenting for a few days before consumption..

Their theory and reasoning is that primitive Homo Sapiens were never themselves hunters, but belonged primarily to the collection of species classified as scavengers..

Me and my niece Amelia, 2006

Carnivorous animals they basically divide into 3 distinct groups.. Those that hunt and kill, those that hang around and wait for the killers to have their fill, so's they can move in and feast on the leftovers - (lacking the correct sharp appendages, this is where they hypothesize we humans fit snuggly).. The last lot are the rodents and worms and maggots that eventually help to clean the carcass from sight..

Fun on the beach in Campello, Spain

Now, I'm not going to argue one way or the other about how humans may or may not have eaten in the distant past.. My personal view is that we all once ate fruit, and that the garden of Eden diet allowed us to all live long and prosperous lives of many hundreds of years or more.. I also admit very openly to extreme skepticism concerning the whole Darwinian evolution theory.. But, hey, what do I know??

But.. Even if it could be proved categorically that we did once upon a time hang around with grumbling tummies waiting for the wolves to finish their dinners first, it still would make no difference to how I feel today.. No theory will persuade me to feast upon the flesh of others as the Instinctos habitually do..

Resting on the park bench

No amount of intellectually persuasive argumentation could ever convince me that I must eat another, or die prematurely of malnutrition. I know that this is not the way the universe runs.. Flesh eating is the grossest of all diets.

The universe is built on love.. Love is what makes it all go around. Even the most cold blooded murdering individuals would not survive in their present corporal forms without love.. Love is the driving force.. Taking the life of another, and feasting on it's dismembered flesh, is, the greatest of atrocities.. - Totally out of sync with our true natures, which are nothing less than Divine hugfilled lovelynesses..

My sister Helena, with her daughter Amelia

To give them credit, the Instinctos are generally of above average health, but this does not in the least surprise me, as the average is far lower than it could or should (or will) be.. And to give them even more credit where credit is due, the main principle on how they eat is otherwise quite inspirational..

Generally speaking, they let their noses have first choice. Whatever on their raw tables smells most appealing is given highest priority to the mouth.. They will eat a particular food, whether it be oranges, carrots, durian (a food they have a particular fondness toward), dead sentient being flesh, birds eggs or plates of wriggling insects, and they will continue feeding on that one particular foodstuff until the body, through subtle messages, indicates that it has eaten enough.. This may be signaled by a slight tingling on the lips or tongue, a change in taste, or another message from deeper within the body. This they call "l'arrêt instinctif" - the instinctive stop - and once it has been reached, they will push their food aside, and if they still feel their appetites have not been satiated, they will return to their tables, and once more smell each item, and choose the one with the most appealing odour.. The pattern will continue, such that one meal may consist of 2 or 3 different types of food, until their hungers are satiated.

Playing on the beach..

I can see where the sense is in doing this.

Instinctive eating only works provided your choice is of foods in their natural states. As said, the Instinctos eat live insects, rotting fleshful morcels, fish in decomposition and birds eggs, and consider it important that these be included regularly whenever the nose doth choose.

Their philosophy does not accept milk nor any dairy stuff to be valid table options, as these were clearly, to them, never a part of our original diet. It is a very well structured method of eating, but lacks compassion. The founder of the movement (Guy-Claude Burger) based his thoughts on how he believed primitive man once ate, (and lived - their philosophy covers far more than diet alone).

Summer of 2006

Instinctive eating can only be practiced with a valid selection of foodstuffs.. Given also the choice of mixed conglomerations - combination abominations, and cooked monstrosities, the nose will generally lie to ones body about what it needs.. These types of smell were generally never around at the dawn of time, so the human body does not know how to analyze correctly their value as food..

Our sense of smell is a highly powerful organ rarely given its full credit..

My overall feeling is that there is much to be learnt from the Instinctos, but that they themselves have a lot to learn about the true nature of life....

Nuts in a fruitarian diet??

Let me tell you why I don't do them..

For starters, they are not fruit.. Much as many might classify them as such..

And as a fruitarian, I try to avoid eating the seed of a plant, unless it is so intricately entwined with the fruit itself, that eating it together with the fruit is pretty unavoidable. (as is the case with pomegranate, tomato, passion fruit, kiwi, etc etc). In these cases, I see the seed as ultimately benefiting from or profiting through being swallowed unavoidably whole, as the digestion process will actually help kick start whatever enzymes are in the seed needed to get it germinating. Thus the deal is symbiotic for both us, and the plant.

However, there are other reasons too..

You may not be aware of this, but I believe all natural fresh ripe and ready foods eaten mono on an empty stomach, have what a group in France have christened an "instinctive stop"..

I've studied their philosophy somewhat (more on that in another blog entry), and certainly can't say that I am in agreement with it in it's entirety, but certainly there are aspects of it that are worthy of consideration.. The instinctive stop being one such item..

The instinctive stop is recognisable through a change in flavour.. It can bring on tingling sensations, or burning sensations, or just subtle changes in flavour of the fruit, rendering the fruit in question no longer as appealing as it was at the beginning of the (mono) meal..

An easy example of this, that you are probably already familiar with, is the burning sensation you might get if you eat too much pineapple.. That is your body telling you "Stop!.. Don't eat anymore.. that is enough now.."..

But the "stop" may be more subtle.. it may just be that whatever it is you are eating, suddenly becomes less appealing to you. Listen to these signs, as your body is telling you in it's own way, that it is finished with that now..

Compare this with any cooked food, - there is no instinctive stop with cooked or processed foods.. Eat chocolate, and your body will scream out insatiably "more more!".. It is easy to push things over the limit, overdo things, and consequently render yourself sick.. In fact, the intellect has to kick in and say "That's enough now! Break it up", because if it doesn't, the intellect knows the consequences..

But that's not how it should be.. The body should always be the one that decides..

On a fruit diet (keeping things simple and not over mixing as many raw fooders habitually do), you are safe to keep eating until the foods appeals no more.. There is no chance of putting on weight, or making yourself sick through over eating (provided the fruit is truly fresh, ripe and ready to eat without bruises or mold).

So.. Back to the nuts.. Did you know that pretty much ALL commercially available nuts are heat treated. I can think of no exception...

As such, there is no "instinctive stop" with nuts.. And your body will crave the addictiveness of them, thus be unable to truthfully tell you that enough is enough..

There have been times that I have found and eaten freshly fallen nuts directly from under the tree. These are commonly called "wet nuts" (due to them still being fresh and moist and soft), and they differ tremendously from the commercially available "dry nuts".. I can honestly report, that after eating 2 or 3 "wet" walnuts, I got a clear recognisable feeling of taste change, and the food became unappealing, just as it is supposed to.

Drawing from another experience, I think it was Christmas 2001, I was working night shift at the post office sorting department. Throughout much of the day I slept, and late afternoon, evening, with it being too cold outside (this is back in the UK, snow on the ground etc.etc.) I minimized my shopping and thought I'd sustain myself on predominantly nuts. I think I must have devoured about half a kilo of nuts (weight with the shells) every day for 2 weeks..

The consequence, I made myself sick sick sick.. My body struggled to cleanse itself, and basically knocked me out for about 3 weeks.

Fruit would never do that!

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Thanks to Fruktoed for a small russian translation:
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Перевод:
Что касается другого прошлого моего опыта, я думаю это было рождество 2001 года, я работал в ночную смену на почте, занимался сортировкой. На протяжении всего дня я спал, и после обеда вечером, становилось слишком холодно на улице (это происходило в Англии, снежная погода и т.п.) Я решил сэкономить и думал продержусь преимущественно на орехах. Я думаю что поглощал около пол кило орехов (вес вместе с скорлупой) каждый день в течении 2 недель.

В следствии чего я заболевал все сильнее и сильнее. Мое тело боролось с очисткой самого себя и в сущности я вырубился на 3 недели.

С фруктами никогда ничего подобного не могло бы случиться!
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Make no bones.. Commercially available nuts, or any dried nuts, are cooked food, they are as moreish as some cooked foods, and the consequences are the same... Intoxication!!

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