One of the things that really strikes me about every wild
creature on this planet is their beautiful instinctive eating.
A Sheep on the moor, a Parrot in a tree, a Lion on the
Savannah or a Whale in the ocean; they all feed instinctively.
For Humans, instinctive eating exists, but it may be buried
deep beneath the layers of emotional eating, comfort eating, eating for the
stimulating effects, and eating for any other reason than we are purely hungry
and need good quality food to sustain us.
We look at food as our Best Friend in times of distress but
also as our Deadly Enemy, as our bodies gain unwanted weight or their functions
are compromised as a result of our diet.
There is the difficult dichotomy; food :friend or foe??!!
But there is another way, a rational and balanced
relationship that we can find; whereby food is not our downfall nor our support
but purely and simply as the other animals experience, our life bringer without
being our life shortener.
If we peel away the layers and deep mental connections that
associate food with comfort, sex, reward and social acceptance; something much
'rawer' is revealed.
The instinct 'to eat to live' and not 'live to eat'.
To watch a Cow graze, gives me a sense of peace and
well-being: it just seems to be the most natural act in the World.
The Cow does not think 'Will this grass make me fat?' or 'I
have just had a run in with Daisy, so I will eat' or 'If I give this grass to
my calf, it will make me a good mother!'.
She merely eats in a natural way because that is what is in
her genes and her pure and unsullied instinct leads her to eat only what she
needs.
That is not to say
that other animals are immune to the dietary pitfalls that befall us Humans.
In North America, Bears who have become addicted to Human
junk food have to be airlifted away to areas where Humans do not roam.
Then there are the disturbing images of vastly overweight
domestic Cats and Dogs.
With no access to Humans' cooked and mixed foodstuffs Bears,
Cats and Dogs do not have unhealthy issues with foods and they live in harmony
with their environment and their natural diet.
So how do Humans regain a natural and instinctive
relationship with food?
In my experience, eating raw mono meals; where the food is
not processed ( that is not mixed, dried, cooked or blended) brings with it a
special and more instinctive nature to eating.
If we are allowed to be guided by totally unprocessed foods
that appeal to our appetites; then I believe that we will instinctively choose
the foods that we need.
How many people on being presented with a whole live Cow or
Rabbit would start to drool and want to munch into it?
For the vast majority of Humans, the only way they ever are
able to eat flesh foods is if they are processed. Even raw meat has still
undergone massive processing; unless you start with the whole live animal.
Compare our lack of interest in live animals with the smell
and sight of a perfectly ripe Mango or fresh picked juicy Peach.
I believe that if we eat mono meals of totally unprocessed
foods, then it is almost impossible to overeat.
There is a natural 'stop' point that is reached. The food
stops tasting delicious and the body knows that it has had its fill.
I feel that this 'stop' point is much less defined or disappears
completely if the food is mixed, cooked, dried or processed.
There are many issues with Human's relationships to food,
and I do not profess to know them all- far from it.
All I can relate is my own experience. Which is; that the
more simple and the less processed a food is, then the easier it is to eat it
in an instinctive manner.
However, emotional and social issues are also such a huge
part of our relationship with food. In many cases even if we 'know' that a
certain food makes us feel less than our best, we may be drawn to it for
comfort or emotional reasons.
Mental conditioning, from childhood, to associate food with
comfort and support is often very hard to overcome.
Sometimes it is only when we have undergone some healing and
we feel strong and secure that we are ready to move away from cooked and
processed food 'props'.
I believe that 'gourmet' raw food meals, so replicate cooked
foods that even though they may be a somewhat healthier option; they do not
really get us into instinctive eating, in the way that simple mono meals do.
All other animals basically eat mono. The Cow may take a
mixture of grasses when she eats, but generally one food is taken at a time by
our fellow creatures. The Parrot eats one flower, the Monkey eats one fruit,
the carnivore one animal.
Personally, I have felt the best mentally, physically and
spiritually, when I eat mono meals or one food at a time.
Maybe it is because I feel more in-tune with my instincts and
I am eating in accord with my fellow creatures, who do not mix their food.
I also feel that mono eating is the least taxing on our
digestive systems- so more energy for everything else!
-A poor food can be masked with spices.
-Under ripe and less than delicious fruit (fruit that we
would not want to eat by itself) can be made palatable by blending it with
sweeter fruits.
-Bitter greens that make your toes curl, can be relished if
they are covered with elaborate dressings.
But with mono eating a food has to STAND ALONE. It has to be
absolutely delicious AS IS!
Therefore, as mono eaters we only eat the BEST!
If a Monkey in the jungle puts a piece of fruit into her
mouth that tastes sour or not so good , she will spit it out. She would never
try to mix it with other fruit, so she could eat it.
Similarly, a herbivore only eats greens that taste good to
him or her in their natural and unprocessed state. No raw food dressings or
smoothies are needed in order for Mr.
Sheep to eat up (and enjoy) his greens!
Instinct and instinctive eating may be buried quite deep
down in many of us; but I strongly believe that it can be unearthed simply by
eating raw mono meals.
