What is Instinctive Eating?

Instinctive Eating is a philosophy of nutrition developed by Guy-Claude Burger. After being diagnosed with cancer, he refused to accept that it was incurable and set out to develop an eating plan that would cure him. After some research into the history of the human diet, he decided that raw food was preferable to cooked and that it was possible for humans to instinctively know what to eat and when to stop eating. When his cancer went into a spontaneous remission, he concluded that it must have been the result of his diet change and promoted instinctive eating as a way to live healthier, longer lives.

What exactly do instinctive eaters eat? Well, anything that appeals to them that is not processed or cooked in anyway. In general, dairy products are excluded because Burger did not feel that milk was part of ancient man's diet. Typically an instinctive eater will look over a wide variety of foods searching for something that appeals to him by smell. Whatever smells the best he will start eating until it doesn't taste quite right anymore. This is usually referred to as the "stop". The "stop" is described differently by individual instinctos as the followers of instinctive eating are often referred to. Some say that the food doesn't taste good anymore. Some describe a tingling in the lips, tongue, or nose area. Some say it is just a feeling deep inside themselves that they have had enough of that particular food for the moment.

It is common for instinctive eaters to eat in groups enabling them to present a variety of foods even though most people will only actually eat one, two, or three things. A typical instincto spread would include a variety of fruits and vegetables, raw meats and seafood, insects, eggs, honey, nuts, and seeds. Each participant in the meal would select his food by smell and then eat only that item until he experienced a "stop". Then if he was still hungry, he would search for another food that smelled right.

There are also individual instinctive eaters, and families who choose to eat this way. In this case, instead of putting out an array of food, the individual or family will wait until they experience hunger and then choose a food that seems most appealing that is available and eat that food until the "stop" is experienced.

Instinctos feel that it is important that foods be in their most wild and unprocessed state in order for our bodies to recognize which foods we need by instinctly. Not only do instinctive eaters eat only raw foods, they also, whenever possible, choose wild foods. If cultivated foods are the only foods available, they are acceptable, but it is essential that they were grown organically without any chemical involvement.

Although there are people who state that they have improved their health by instinctive eating, there are many who criticize the philosophy. There is a very real chance of contracting illnesses from ingesting raw meat and seafood. Vegetarian raw foodists argue that eating any animal flesh is wrong. Others in opposition to instinctive eating point out that humans have been eating cooked food for a long time and therefore might be better adapted to handling cooked food at this point.