Fundamental Principles of an

Anthroposophic Approach to Nutrition

By Brane Žilavec

40 Star & Furrow Issue 119 Summer 2013

 !"#"$"%&'&()&(*+",&-.&"/01(2#&(#-!%.0.- come of the processes of nutrition, including soul-spiritual
*.0!23&#4-%2-2.#&&)5&6%*-&%"015&2*&-.&31(%275& ones. Then we can recognize that we are dealing here with
that there exists an anthroposophic approach cumulative effects of many inputs, each contributing to the
-.&#4-%2-2.#8&94-&-!(-&-!"%"&2*&#.&(#-!%.0.- final outcome. This is evident in the picture of Nine Aspects
*.0!23&,2"-&(*&(&*"-&.7&6/",&,2"-(%5&%41"*8&(*&2*& of a Healthy Meal which shows all influences1 which need
usually the case with other nutritional ap- to be taken into account before one can claim that the meal
proaches. The reason is that the anthropo- or particular food is healthy. From this survey alone it is
sophic approach starts with the recognition evident, for example, that we cannot claim that consump-
of the human individuality – as the expression tion of organic food is healthy, but only that it is one of very
.7&!4)(#&:';&<&=!23!&)(+"*&"(3!&!4)(#&9"2#>& important aspects of food quality.
into their own species. For that very reason The Nine Aspects of a Healthy Meal (see opposite, top)
one cannot create a single diet for all human are the result of Goetheanistic observation of the facts of life.
9"2#>*&<&=!23!&2*&-!"&4*4(1&0%(3-23"&2#&-!"&,.- They are not invented, but they reflect the reality of the hu-
main of nutrition. man organization as a microcosm, and its relationships to the
But this does not mean that we do not have anything in macrocosm – that is, the various kingdoms of nature and the
common. Even from a physical perspective we can see in the cosmic influences.2 On the human side we see two aspects
human form the interplay of common and unique features. which are more or less unique: personal attitude and indi-
From a spiritual scientific perspective we recognise this po- vidual needs. Personal attitude encompasses what we think
larity in the fourfold structure of the human being with his about food, what we like and dislike, and our eating habits.
physical, etheric, and astral body on one side, and ego or ‘I’ Individual needs include something more, the objective
on the other side. What makes us into individuals is only one needs of all four bodies: physical, etheric, astral, and ‘I’. This
‘body’ among four. The other three bodies connect us with is something above our one-sided opinions, and personal
the family group (or tribe), with the nation, and with the sympathies or antipathies.
whole humanity. This means that we have also something in From this observation it is clear that any general nu-
common with other human beings. It is evident that we have tritional guidelines cannot include specific diets – for these
here two polar tendencies – universal and individual – which can be designed only for specific groups or for individual
both need to be taken into account if we want to nourish needs – but they can include the aspects of quality, quantity
ourselves properly. and the choice of main food groups. The guidelines for these
For that very reason we need to ask: What are the three macrocosmic aspects are given in the holistic food
general nutritional guidelines which are valid for all hu- ‘pyramid’3.
man beings, and what apply only to specific groups or to The food ‘pyramid’ (see opposite, bottom) can improve
individuals? When one embarks on the exploration of this the quality of what we eat, but we are still confronted by the
answer, one immediately encounters several obstacles and riddle: How one can find what his or her individual needs
difficulties when surveying the existing nutritional advice. are? For that purpose we need to know ourselves better than
The most widespread problem is the existence of one-sided is common nowadays. The call echoing from the old mystery
truths which are proclaimed as absolute truths for all people. centres – “O Man, know thyself!” – is one of the most dif-
For example, scientists carry an experiment with several ficult challenges for modern human beings. This is the case
groups of people eating specific foods and then, on the basis also in the domain of nutrition as the number and extent of
of objective observations of measurable facts, conclude problems related to nutrition testify. People prefer easy solu-
that this or that food is good or bad for human nutrition. tions, ready-made rules in the form of one book, which is
Nevertheless, their conclusion is wrong, for the research is either called the Bible of the ‘Right Nutrition’, or it contains
done by a concrete group of people with specific character- ‘Ten Commandments’ of a healthy diet. But this does not
istics, not with an archetype of human being. For that reason solve the challenge of individual needs.
the outcome is correct only for those people who are of the There is a way out of this difficult situation, but it is
same constitution in regard to the physical, etheric and astral not so comfortable for it is based on the understanding of
body. And even this needs to be modified with the fact that the fundamental principles of an anthroposophic approach
there are always possible exceptions from the general obser- to nutrition. In the past this could be done only by those
vation, because of the existence of human individuality. who were doing their own research. From now onwards you
A similar problem exists also among members of the have another possibility: the website created by me with the
anthroposophic movement, but they tend more towards main aim to help those who want to know the essentials of an
recognition of the individual aspect and overlook the com- anthroposophic approach to nutrition.
mon aspects. For example, I came across the opinion that we
are not what we eat, because we are transforming our food The website is divided into three parts:
with the spiritual core of our being. There is no objection to 1. Holistic Approach to Nutrition gives the
this statement, except that, if it were absolutely true, then we introductory descriptions of the main characteristics of the
would not need biodynamic farming at all: we could eat junk spiritual-scientific approach which will help to understand
food and transform it into something that would serve our the explanations of the nutritional principles.
higher being. 2. Fundamental Principles of Nutrition gives
Both examples demonstrate the problem of one-sided explanations of the basic laws of nutrition which enable one
truth applied to serve personal preferences. The other way is to gain a proper understanding of the complex relationships
to try to see all the influences which affect the final out- between various kingdoms of nature and the human being.

Star & Furrow Issue 119 Summer 2013 41

 3. General Nutritional Guidelines gives basic Fourfold Human Being from the Holistic Approach
guidelines for the practical implementation of new nutri- to Nutrition serves as an introductory text to this principle.
tional insights In it are given basic anthroposophic characterizations of the
The explanations of the fundamental principles of nu- physical body, etheric body, astral body and ‘I’. In Nutrition
trition are the central part of the website. Each principle is as a Bridge to the World we can see the polarity between
introduced with the summary in the form of the picture and activities in the upper and lower part of man. In the upper
short text, and then followed with more detailed explanation, man is active perception, which archetypal task is that it
including extracts from Steiner’s works whenever possible. receives objective sense impressions of the things, beings
These archetypes enable people to gradually comprehend and phenomena of the world. In the lower man we have the
the complex field of nutrition. Those who study spiritual activity of nutrition which archetypal task is that it trans-
science are aware of the immense complexity of Steiner’s forms everything what we consume. From this observation
explanations of spiritual realities behind the physical world. alone we can recognise the primary relation of nutrition to
My great challenge was to decide what to extract out of this the forces of will. This relationship is then further explored
immense complexity. In this task I was guided by the ques- in other nutritional principles from different perspectives.
tion: What should everyone know about nutrition? The advanced level of this principle5 also presents
My answer to this question can be found in Funda- the fourfold nature of foods we consume. If we take as an
mental Principles of Nutrition – Advanced Level4. This example an apple, we can distinguish:
level offers a wealth of nutritional insights, but even with ■ The physical aspect in the inner structure and the texture
their help one cannot expect to gain proper understanding of the apple
overnight. My website is for those who really want to invest ■ The etheric aspect in the life forces present in the apple
some time and money into the study of this complex field of ■ The astral aspect in taste, colour, and smell of the apple
nutritional relationships available to us in the collected works ■ The individual aspect of the apple manifested in its shape
of Rudolf Steiner. which enables us to distinguish it from other fruits and
The fundamental principles of nutrition offer wide foods.
pictures which enable us to put numerous details in their In this way we can differentiate the fourfold nature of
proper places. Besides this, we need to be aware that they all foods coming from the plant and animal kingdom. This
present various perspectives on the specific nutritional top- insight is important for the understanding of further nu-
ics. For example, the topic of Nutrition & Health is looked tritional principles. Among them is the following principle
upon from six standpoints: three are dealing with nutrition from the group Mystery of Inner Alchemy, ‘Individualiza-
as a cause of illness, and three with nutrition as a therapy. In tion of human substances’:
this way we can gradually gain ever better understanding
of this complicated issue and avoid the traps of one-sided
perspectives. But the most challenging task is to reconcile
the numerous contradictions which are due to the existence
of multiple polarities in the human organism – including
the diverse manifestations of the most important polarity
between the physical and spiritual realms of existence.
Now we will look at one example of how the three
parts of the website work together. The very first nutritional
principle is theone below, ‘Nutrition as a bridge to the world’:
The human physical organism is connected to the
outside world in three different ways: through sense impres-
sion, through breathing, and through nutrition. Through
the intake of food we are on one side in an active relationship
with the various kingdoms of nature, and on the other we
radically transform consumed food and thus stimulate our
forces of will.

Through breaking-down processes we remove from

food substances foreign individuality, astrality and life. The
final outcome is ‘dead’ mineral substance which is then
absorbed into our blood and lymph and permeated with our
own etheric body, astral body and ego organization. Through
destructive activities in the digestive tract human beings
receive powers which enable them to create their own living,
sentient and individualized substances.
With the help of this principle one obtains insight into
hidden aspects behind the occurrence of food intolerances
and allergies. Here we have one example of how anthropo-

42 Star & Furrow Issue 119 Summer 2013

sophic understanding of the human being and the role of tionships between various parts of the human being and the
nutrition enable one to comprehend the reasons behind one varied kingdoms of nature and the diverse spiritual beings
of the great problems of nutrition, about which scientists working behind them. The good side of the archetypes is
openly admit that they do not know why our immune sys- that they are relatively simple, but at the same time they en-
tem suddenly, without any detectable reason, starts to attack able one to penetrate into ever deeper layers of understand-
food substances as if they were foreign bodies. ing until one reaches the most profound esoteric questions
This is not all that spiritual science offers, for true of human existence.6 Thus we are capable of moving from
understanding must be also fruitful for everyday life. In our the widest spiritual horizons to the very practical everyday
example we can see how Nutrition as a Bridge to the World matters and vice versa with the help of spiritual scientific
metamorphoses into Nine Aspects of a Healthy Meal which insights into the riddles of human nutrition. ■
then serves as practical help when we need to decide what
we will cook. Besides, our whole attitude towards food can NOTES
1 7KHm&KRLFHRI,QJUHGLHQWVnUHIHUVWRWKHDYDLODELOLW\RIIRRGVLQDVSHFLILF
be raised to the higher level when we are aware that each sin- SODFHQRWWRWKHSHUVRQDOSUHIHUHQFHVZKLFKDUHSDUWRIm,QGLYLGXDO1HHGVn
gle meal or even a snack is the bridge to the mineral, plant, 2#7KHILUVWLQVSLUDWLRQIRUWKLVSLFWXUHFDPHIURP5RQ-DUPDQZKRSUHVHQWHGLQ
KLVOHFWXUHLQ/MXEOMDQDWKHSLFWXUHRIKRZWKHORDIRIEUHDGFRPHLQWRH[LVWHQFH
animal and human kingdoms, and the cosmos – how the DVWKHUHVXOWRIZKROHZRUOG
whole universe is participating in the coming into existence 3#)RUWKHFODULILFDWLRQRIWKHTXDQWLW\JXLGHOLQHVJRWRWKHZHEVLWH*HQHUDO
of what we consume on the daily basis. With such broad 1XWULWLRQDO*XLGHOLQHV
4 7KLVOLVWSUHVHQWVDOOSULQFLSOHVZKLFKDUHSODQQHGIRUWKHDGYDQFHGOHYHOEXW
perspective the question of food quality becomes much WKH\DUHQRW\HWDOOILQLVKHG)RUWKHOLVWRIDOUHDG\DYDLODEOHSULQFLSOHVFKHFN
more significant than is usually the case. And such thoughts WKH:HEVLWH,QWURGXFWLRQ&RQWHQWRIWKH$GYDQFHG/HYHO
5 7KLVSULQFLSOHDQGDIHZRWKHUVDUHSUHVHQWHGRQERWKWKHEDVLFDQGDGYDQFHG
and feelings have the power to affect our decisions in regard OHYHO
to our everyday food choices. 6 7KURXJKRXWWKHSUHVHQWZHEVLWH,GRQRWHQWHULQWRWKLVGHHSHUHVRWHULF
All this works because the explanations given to us by EDFNJURXQGEHFDXVH,DPSODQQLQJWRH[SDQGWKHZHEVLWHZLWKWKHHVRWHULFOHYHO
VRPHWLPHLQWKHIXWXUH
Rudolf Steiner – which form the central core of the funda-
mental principles of nutrition – are based on archetypal rela-

FUNDAMENTAL 4. POLARITIES OF 7. NUTRITION &

PRINCIPLES HUMAN SPIRITUAL
OF NUTRITION NUTRITION DEVELOPMENT
/HYHO$GYDQFHG/HYHO ,QGLYLGXDOYV*HQHUDO'LHW 1XWULWLRQDQG6HOI&RQVFLRXVQHVV
1XWULWLRQYV0RYHPHQW 1XWULWLRQDQG/HDUQLQJ
1. THE PURPOSE )RRGYV6WLPXODQWV 1XWULWLRQDQG)RUFHVRI0HPRU\
OF NUTRITION 5DZYV&RRNHG)RRG 1XWULWLRQDQG0HQWDO'LVRUGHUV
3ODQWYV$QLPDO)RRG 1XWULWLRQDQG:LOOIRU&KDQJH
1XWULWLRQDVD%ULGJHWRWKH:RUOG
1XWULWLRQDQG0RUDOLW\
1XWULWLRQIRU%RG\ 6RXO 5. NUTRITION & HEALTH
1XWULWLRQr+HDOLQJr(GXFDWLRQ )RRGDVm3RLVRQn 8. SOCIAL ASPECT
,QQHU0HWDEROLF3DWLHQW OF NUTRITION
2. THREE BASIC LAWS 'LHWDVD&DXVHRI,OOQHVV 7KH5LWHRID&RPPRQ0HDO
OF NUTRITION )RRGDV5HPHG\IRU+XQJHU
/RVVRI+HDOWK\(DWLQJ,QVWLQFWV
(DUWKO\1XWULWLRQDO6WUHDP 1XWULWLRQDQG,QQHU+HDOHU
'LHWDVD7KHUDS\ +RZWR5HJDLQ(DWLQJm,QVWLQFWVn
&RVPLF1XWULWLRQDO6WUHDP 3DWKWRZDUGV1HZ)RRG&XOWXUH
)RRGDV6RXUFHRI(QHUJ\
6. MYSTERY OF 9. ALCHEMY & ART
3. UNDERSTANDING INNER ALCHEMY OF COOKING
FOOD QUALITY &RVPLF2ULJLQVRI/LIH $OFKHP\RI&RRNLQJ
/RFDOYV*OREDO)RRG (VVHQFHRI)RRG6XEVWDQFHV 7KUHHIROG3ODQWDQG7KUHHIROG0DQ
2UJDQLFYV&RQYHQWLRQDO)RRG &UHDWLRQRI+XPDQ3URWHLQ 6HYHQ*UDLQVDQG6HYHQ2UJDQV
7UDGLWLRQDOYV0RGHUQ)RRG3URFHVVLQJ /LYLQJ3URFHVVRIm&RPEXVWLRQn $UWRI&UHDWLYH&RRNLQJ
:KROHIRRGYV5HILQHG)RRG 6HFUHW/LIHRI)DWV
*RRGYV%DG6ZHHWHQHUV ,QGLYLGXDOL]DWLRQRI+XPDQ6XEVWDQFHV
7UDQVXEVWDQWLDWLRQRI0LQHUDOV Star & Furrow Issue 119 Summer 2013 43