The Art and Science of Healthful Living
by: Curtis Griffing
Our instincts are the body’s natural w
ay to protect us from harm inside and out. If we get too close to a fire we pull away because our instincts kick in to protect us. When we are cold in our sleep we will reach for the covers without thinking. If we were to climb a tall tree we would not let go due to our life saving instincts. Even with every day tasks like driving a car our instincts are constantly at work. Daily our instincts are protecting us from harm, yet when it comes to our food choices our instincts have left us. Why?
It all started from when we were infants. From our earliest years we were fed from jarred and boxed foods that had the life processed out of them, essentially they were cooked to death. Through clever advertising a majority of parents were sold on foods that have been further adulterated to the point where the body instinctively rejected them.
The first line of defense for rejection used by Infants is simply spitting it out.
Nothing will be as pure as a baby’s taste buds and their basic instincts are at work here.
What you may think tastes good may taste terrible to them. As the well-meaning parent lovingly coaxes more food in, and as the baby gives up resisting, other body instincts are expressed to warn the parents these foods are causing harm and should be stopped; Stomach ache, ear ache, runny nose, rashes, colic diarrhea, vomiting just to mention a few.
To add insult to injury thes
e foods were probably sweetened, this is where addiction begins. As we grow up our bodies get use to these food assaults and in an effort to protect itself from the symptoms of rejection ones body actually begins to tolerate them. The Instincts that decided what foods are best for us become dulled. This begins the process for more serious health issues at a later time.
Unfortunately giant food processors have done their best to convince loving parents that these foods are nourishing and that they are smarter and know better. Eventually we believe what we are told and then we believe we are smarter than our instincts. It’s a clever concept and advertisers know just how to use it.
Clever advertising continues to fool us throughout adulthood. Manufactures have done their best to make us want their foods using flavor enhancers, preservatives and a host of other chemicals that are laced in foods.
We have become a nation of food addicts and our instincts fell by the wayside. Which is just where the food manufactures want us. Our societal addiction to food was by no accident; most all packaged and fast foods are engineered to cause addiction for profit.
If you were to study the diet and lifestyles of every living mammal in nature on our planet, you would find that none of them give a thought as to what they eat. Instinctively they just know, never giving a thought to using additives or to build a fire to cook before eating.
When hungry all mammals (except the human mammal) instinctively know what to eat and how much is enough. They don’t weigh, measure or count how much protein, calories or nutrients they need. They just eat enough of what they instinctually like and their body takes care of appropriating where, when and how all the nutrients get used or stored. All this is done without a thought and with no heat applied instinctively.
Us human mammals should follow their example, but first we have to get back to what is instinctively right for us to eat. When you eat unfired, unadulterated foods long enough to clear the body of its toxic past, then and only then will the body’s instincts turn back on, you will naturally be in tune with its needs and know how much of what to eat, including how much sleep, work and play you need. Real instincts will return and great health will be the result.
To answer the question; Can we out smart our Instincts? The short answer is Yes, if you want to be “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.”