The Rudolf Steiner Archive

7. Nutritional Issues in the Light of Spiritual Science

[ 1 ] It may seem strange to some when spiritual science speaks of what is, with some justification, regarded by many as the most material, the least spiritual of all things: nutrition. There are people who seek to imply their particular idealism—indeed, their particular spirituality—by saying: “Oh, we concern ourselves only with that which is elevated above the questions connected with material life.” — Such people then also believe—and in a certain sense they may be right—that, fundamentally speaking, it is irrelevant to development in the ideal and spiritual realms how a person satisfies their physical needs. The materialistic way of thinking judges the matter differently. A great philosopher of the nineteenth century made a statement that has been repeated many times and that evokes shudders and horror in many people of an idealistic, spiritual disposition—the statement made by Feuerbach: “Man is what he eats.” Most people interpret this to mean—and the materialist perspective would certainly agree—that a person is a sum of the matter he takes into his body, and that this gives rise not only to the interplay of his organic life but also to what manifests itself in his mind.

[ 2 ] When outsiders occasionally hear this or that—more or less superficially—about anthroposophy or spiritual science, they believe that its followers are far too preoccupied with food and nutrition. An outsider cannot understand why anthroposophists place so much importance on whether someone eats this or that. It cannot be denied that in some anthroposophical circles—among those who wish to delve quite deeply into spiritual life in a rather simplistic way—there is a great deal of confusion. After all, some believe that they need only avoid this or that, or refrain from eating or drinking certain things, in order to reach certain higher levels of knowledge through that alone! This is just as much a mistake as the interpretation of Feuerbach’s statement just described: “Man is what he eats.” At the very least, it is a one-sided view.

[ 3 ] But in a certain sense, spiritual science in particular can lay claim to this statement—only in a somewhat different way than the materialists intend, and indeed in two distinct ways. First of all, we have already emphasized on several occasions that, for spiritual science, everything around us is the expression of something spiritual. A mineral, a plant, or anything in our environment is material only on the surface. Like a human limb, it is the expression, the gesture of the spirit. Behind everything material lies the spiritual—even behind food. Through food, we take in not only what is materially spread out before our eyes, but we also eat the spiritual that lies behind it. Through nutrition—through this or that material substrate—we enter into a relationship with this or that spiritual reality that lies behind it. This is a very superficial characterization. But anyone who grasps this will, in a certain sense, be able to concede the materialistic statement: “You are what you eat.” Only, alongside the material process, a spiritual one must also be understood.

[ 4 ] But that is only one way in which we can approach these questions from a humanities perspective. When the humanities place a certain value on and conduct research into the nature of food, it is because this reveals a very unique perspective regarding the relationship between human beings and nature. Human beings, however, are related to nature in that they take in the surrounding natural world in a certain way, becoming one with what is within it. And the question arises: By appropriating what is outside in this way, are human beings not subject to the forces at work outside, and can they free themselves from these forces? Is there a possibility that a person might free themselves from their environment through their diet, so that they gain a certain power and influence over that environment? Could it not be the case that a person could indeed become what they eat through a certain type of diet—and could it not be the case that, through a different type of diet, a person frees themselves from the compulsion exerted upon them by their diet? Thus, the question arises for spiritual science: How must a person’s diet be structured so that they become free from the constraints of diet, so that they increasingly become master and ruler over what takes place within them?

[ 5 ] As we address this question today, it is necessary to say a few words about the overall stance of spiritual science on these issues. This question—as well as those concerning health—must be understood in such a way that spiritual science is in no way accused of agitating in one direction or another. Anyone who believes, for example, that what is to be said today constitutes agitation for or against this or that food or stimulant is holding a view that is utterly mistaken. No one should leave here today with the impression that we are advocating for or against abstinence, vegetarianism, or a meat-based diet. All these questions about dogmas, about something that alone leads to salvation, have absolutely nothing to do with the innermost sensibility of spiritual science. We do not wish to agitate, nor to command people in this or that way; we merely wish to state how things really are. Then everyone may organize their life as they wish, in accordance with these great laws of existence. So today’s lecture aims solely to state what is truly the case in this area. On the other hand, I would ask you to bear in mind that I am not speaking on behalf of anthroposophical circles in the narrower sense, which seek to undergo a certain process of development and must adhere to specific conditions. Today, the question will be discussed in a generally human sense. Given the vast scope of the topic, only individual aspects can be addressed, and above all, we must avoid anything related to the health aspects of life. We will hear about that in the next lecture.

[ 6 ] Today we will focus on nutrition in the narrower sense. Therefore, the respiratory process will not be considered here. In order to sustain the life processes of the human organism, a person must consume: protein, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals. You know that humans satisfy their organism’s nutritional needs in this regard through what is known as a mixed diet. They obtain these main components of their diet partly from the animal kingdom and partly from the plant kingdom. Among our contemporaries today, there are far more advocates of a mixed diet than of a one-sided diet—such as one consisting solely of animal or plant-based foods. We must ask ourselves: How do the laws of our environment—from which humans derive their food—relate to the true forces and needs of the human organism? Today we are speaking only of humans here, not of animals.

[ 7 ] Human beings are easily inclined to view their own organism in a rather materialistic way, based on the so-called scientific findings of their time. Spiritual science must replace this with the laws of spiritual interrelationships. Even if not always theoretically, the approach that is taken is, in practice and more or less unconsciously, based on the idea that the ‘human organism consists, more or less, solely of the physical body and the chemical substances interacting with one another.’ These substances are traced back to their chemical elements, and once their effects have been identified, an attempt is made to form a picture of how they might continue to interact chemically within the “great retort” that is regarded as the human being. It is not to be claimed that many have not already moved beyond the view that the human being is merely a great retort. It is not the theories that matter, but the habits of thought. For the true practitioner, what matters is not what a person thinks, but what effects their thoughts have. That is what matters. Whether someone is an idealist or not is irrelevant; what is important for life is whether a person has fruitful thoughts that enable life to flourish and progress. It is precisely this that must not be overlooked: that spiritual science, even in this regard, has nothing to do with dogma or any kind of belief. No matter how strongly one may advocate the most spiritual theories, that is not what matters; what matters is that these thoughts are fruitful when put into practice. So if someone says they are not a materialist, that they believe in the life force, or even in a spirit, but always approaches the question of nutrition as if the human being were a giant test tube, then their worldview cannot bear fruit. Spiritual science has something to say about these concrete questions only if it is able to shed light on the individual case, and it can do so both with regard to nutrition and with regard to health issues.

[ 8 ] We must once again gain a clear understanding of the multi-faceted human being. For the spiritual researcher, the human being is not merely the physical entity that can be seen with the eyes and touched with the hands; rather, this physical body is only one part of the human being. This physical body does, however, consist of the same chemical substances that are found throughout nature. But human nature has higher aspects. Even the next part of the human being is supersensible; it possesses a higher reality than the physical body. It underlies the physical body and, throughout life, acts as a force combating the decay of the physical body. The moment a person passes through the gate of death, the physical body is subject only to its own laws and decays. In life, the life body fights against decay. It gives the substances and forces different directions and different relationships than they would have if they followed only their own course. To the clairvoyant consciousness, this body is just as visible as the physical body is to the eye. Human beings share this life body, or etheric body, with plants.

[ 9 ] We know from other lectures that human beings have a third aspect of their being: the astral body. What is it like? It is the vehicle of pleasure and pain, desires, instincts, and passions—of everything we call our inner spiritual life. All of this is located in the astral body. It is perceptible to the spirit, just as the physical body is to physical consciousness. Human beings share this astral body with animals.

[ 10 ] The fourth member is the bearer of the “I,” of self-consciousness. This is what makes human beings the crown of creation; this is what elevates them above the earthly things that surround them. Thus, human beings stand before us with three invisible members and one visible member. These members are always interacting with one another and with each other. All of them act upon each individual one, and each individual one acts upon all the others. Thus it is that the physical body—I will say once more, in parentheses, that all this applies only to human beings—as it stands before us, is in all its parts also an expression of the invisible members of human nature. This physical body could not, in and of itself, possess the organs that serve nutrition, reproduction, and life in general if it did not have the etheric body. All organs that serve nutrition and reproduction—the glands and so on—are the outward expression of the etheric body. They are what the etheric body builds upon the physical body. Among other things, the nervous system in the physical body is the expression of the astral body. Here, the astral body is the agent, the builder. We can imagine that, just as a clock or a machine is constructed by a clockmaker or a mechanical engineer, so too are the nerves constructed by the astral body. And the distinctive nature of human blood circulation—the activity of the blood—is the outer physical expression of the bearer of the “I,” the bearer of self-consciousness. Thus, the human physical body is also, in a certain sense, fourfold. It is an expression of the physical members—that is, of itself—and of the three higher, invisible members. The sense organs are purely physical; the glands are the expression of the etheric body, the nervous system of the astral body, and the blood of the “I.”

[ 11 ] When we consider the human being in contrast to the plant, the plant appears to us as a two-part entity. The plant has a physical body and an etheric body. We now compare the human being with the plant by approaching the subject from all angles and taking the inner, spiritual aspects into account. We relate the human four-part organism to the two-part organism of plants. To support this, we can start from well-known physical facts. We can point out how the plant builds up its organism. It assembles inorganic substances to form its body. It has the power to assemble its body in the most marvelous way from individual, inanimate components. We need only observe how the plant is involved in a remarkable interaction with the process of respiration. Human beings inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The plant can absorb this carbon dioxide, which is useless to humans. It retains the carbon to build its organism and returns most of the oxygen. But it needs something else for this—something that many people might not consider special: it needs sunlight. Without sunlight, it could not build its organism. The light that streams toward us to our delight—and that can also so enliven us spiritually—is at the same time the magnificent helper in the building of the plant organism. We see a miracle unfolding here, as sunlight helps to build an organic being. What makes our eyes function is precisely what helps the plant in its development.

[ 12 ] In addition to the physical and etheric bodies, human beings also have an astral body. Plants do not have this. What helps sunlight to build up plants in such a marvelous way is the etheric body. On the one hand, this body is oriented toward matter. Human beings could not develop their physical organism if they did not do something that is, in a certain sense, the opposite of what plants do. Even in the process of breathing, human beings do something opposite. Here, human beings already undergo the opposite process. We can say the same with regard to all human nutrition. We can say: Nutrition must proceed in such a way that everything that is built up in the plant is broken down again in the human being. The process in the human being is a very peculiar one. If only the etheric body were to build up a physical body, consciousness and soul feeling would never arise. What the etheric body has built up must be repeatedly destroyed and broken down internally. Thus, although the etheric body fights against decay, a gradual decay nevertheless always occurs. And that which causes this decay—that which always prevents the human being from being a plant—is the astral body.

[ 13 ] Sunlight and the human astral body are, in a certain sense, two opposites. For those who come to know the human astral body through clairvoyant awareness, the astral body is an inner light of a spiritual nature, invisible to the physical eye. This astral body is a spiritual body of light. It is the opposite of the external, outwardly shining light. Imagine sunlight growing ever fainter until it goes out, and then let it go even further in the opposite direction—let it become negative—and you have inner light. And this inner light has the opposite function of the outer light, which is intended to build up the plant body from inorganic substances. The inner light, which initiates the partial destruction through which consciousness alone is possible, elevates the human being to a higher level than that occupied by the plant, by transforming the process of the plant into its opposite. Thus, through his inner light, the human being stands in a certain contrast to the plant. This is the spiritual perspective, and upon further consideration we would see how the destruction brought about by the astral body is continued by the “I.” But we need not concern ourselves with that further today.

[ 14 ] Let us now consider the relationship between human beings and plants when it becomes so real that human beings derive their nutrients from plants. Within themselves, they form a continuation of the plant for the entire cosmic process. What is built up by sunlight is indeed repeatedly destroyed by the astral body, but in doing so it integrates the nervous system into the human being and thereby elevates life to a conscious state. Thus, by virtue of being a negative body of light, the astral body is the other pole, opposite to the plant pole. This process of building up the plant organism is based on a spiritual reality, for spiritual science shows us more and more how what appears to us as light is merely the outer expression of something spiritual. Through the light, the spiritual continually flows toward us; the light of the spirits flows toward us. What lies hidden behind this physical light is what also appears, divided into parts, in the astral body. Externally, in sunlight, it appears in its physical form; in the astral body, it appears in an astral manner. The spiritual essence of light works within us to build up our nervous system. Thus, plant and human life interact in a most wondrous way.

[ 15 ] Let us now assume that human beings enter into a relationship with the animal world through food. Then the situation is different. In the being from which he then derives his food, the process has, in a certain sense, already been completed. What he would otherwise take from the plant in a pristine and fresh state has already been partially transformed and prepared within the animal. For the animal, too, has already incorporated an astral body and a nervous system. Thus, human beings consume something that does not come to them in its pristine state, but rather has already undergone the process and has already absorbed astral forces. What lives within the animal already possesses developed astral forces. Now one might think that this would save human beings some work. But this idea is not entirely correct. Consider the following: I am building a house out of various materials. I take the original materials. In that case, I can construct the house entirely according to my original intentions. But let’s suppose that three or four other people have already worked on it piece by piece, and now I am supposed to turn it into a whole. Will that make my work easier? No, certainly not. You will read in a great deal of literature that a person’s work is made easier precisely by taking on something that has already been worked on. But it is precisely by taking on the original that a person becomes a more flexible, independent being.

[ 16 ] Here’s another image: Someone has a scale with two pans. Equal weights keep the scale balanced. There might be fifty pounds on each side. But that’s not always the case. I can use a scale where the weight can be shifted. At twice the distance, we then need only half the weight. Here, the weight is determined by the distance. Likewise, it is not only the quantity of forces that matters, but especially the subtlety of the substances. The animal processes these substances in a more imperfect way. What is taken in by the human being continues to have an effect through what has happened to it in the animal’s astral body, and the human being must then first overcome this. But because an astral body has acted in such a way that a process has already taken place within a conscious being, the human being receives something into his organism that affects his nervous system.

[ 17 ] This is the fundamental difference between food from the plant kingdom and food from the animal kingdom. Food from the animal kingdom affects the nervous system—and thus the astral body—in a very specific way. But with plant-based food, the nervous system remains unaffected by any external influence. However, this means that a person must rely entirely on themselves when it comes to the nervous system. As a result, the effects of their nerves do not flow through foreign substances, but only through what originates within themselves. Anyone who knows how much in the human organism depends on the nervous system will understand what this means. When a person builds up their own nervous system, it is fully receptive to whatever the person intends to ask of it in relation to the spiritual world. It is thanks to their plant-based diet that a person can look up to the great interconnections of things, which elevate them above the prejudices that arise from the narrow confines of personal existence. Wherever a person freely and uninhibitedly organizes their life and thinking from these broad perspectives, they owe this rapid overview to their nutritional connection to the plant world. Where a person allows themselves to be carried away by anger, antipathy, or prejudice, they owe this to their nutrition derived from the animal world.

[ 18 ] However, the intention here is not to advocate for a plant-based diet. On the contrary: Animal-based food was necessary for human beings and, in many cases, remains necessary today because human beings are meant to be firmly rooted on Earth, anchored in the personal realm. Everything that has led human beings to their personal interests is connected to animal-based food. The fact that there have been people who waged wars, who felt sympathy and antipathy toward one another, and who experienced sensual passions—all of this stems from animal-based nutrition. But the fact that human beings did not become absorbed in narrow interests, that they are capable of embracing broader interests, is due to their relationship with the plant world in terms of nutrition. Thus, among certain peoples who prefer a plant-based diet, the inclinations tend more toward the spiritual, while other peoples develop greater bravery, courage, and boldness—qualities that are also necessary for life. These things are inconceivable without a personal element, and this is not possible without animal-based food.

[ 19 ] Today we are discussing these questions from a very general human perspective. But this makes it clear to us that human beings can veer in one direction or another—that is, they can become absorbed in their personal interests as a result of eating animal-based food. This clouds their sense of the broader perspective of existence. People usually do not realize how this is rooted in their diet when they say: “Now I don’t know again how I should do this or that—how did he do it?” — This inability to grasp the bigger picture stems from one’s diet. Compare this with someone who can grasp the bigger picture. You can then look back at the diet of such people and perhaps also at the diet of their ancestors. A person who already possesses a pristine nervous system in their ancestral line is entirely different. This person has a different sense of the broader connections. Sometimes, a single lifetime cannot destroy what the ancestors have established. Even if a person—who, for example, descends from farmers—stirs up what lies within them, it has simply come out through the flesh because they were more sensitive.

[ 20 ] Progress will consist in the fact that, since the body’s need for protein is not met within human nature itself, humans will limit their animal-based diet to foods that have not yet been inflamed by passions, such as milk. Plant-based foods will occupy an ever-greater share of the human diet.

[ 21 ] With regard to individual foods, we can highlight certain benefits of a plant-based diet. When people obtain their protein from plant-based foods—which, admittedly, requires more effort—they develop strength that revitalizes their nervous system. Many of the problems humanity would face if a meat-based diet were to become predominant can be avoided by giving preference to a plant-based diet. We can see how contrasting the effects of vegetarian and animal-based diets are. To illustrate this, consider the following: Let us examine the physical processes that occur under the influence of a meat-based diet. The red blood cells become heavier and darker, and the blood is more prone to clotting. Deposits of salts and phosphates form more readily. With a predominantly plant-based diet, the sedimentation rate of the blood cells is much lower. This enables a person to prevent the blood from darkening to its deepest shade. Consequently, however, they are precisely capable of mastering the coherence of their thoughts from the perspective of the “I,” whereas heavy blood is an expression of their slavish devotion to what has been incorporated into their astral body through animal-based food. This image clearly illustrates, as an outward expression of truth, what we intended to convey. Through their relationship with the plant world, people become stronger inwardly. Through a meat-based diet, they incorporate into themselves something that gradually becomes truly foreign substances that go their own way within them. This is avoided when the diet consists primarily of plants. When these substances go their own way within us, they exert forces that induce hysterical and epileptic states. Because the nervous system receives these external influences, it succumbs to various nervous disorders. Thus we see how, in a certain sense, “you are what you eat.”

[ 22 ] Much more could be demonstrated in detail, but these two examples show us that we must not be one-sided. A one-sided vegetarian might say, “We must not enjoy milk, butter, and cheese.” But milk is a product in whose production the animal’s etheric body plays a primary role. The astral body plays the smallest role in this process. After all, in the early stages of life, as an infant, a human being can live on milk alone. It contains everything the person needs. In the production of milk, the astral body is involved only to a limited extent. If, in later life, one consumes mainly milk—or even exclusively milk—one achieves a very special effect. Because the person then consumes nothing that has already been processed externally and that could influence their astral body, and because, on the other hand, they consume in the milk something that is already prepared, they are able to develop within themselves special powers of their etheric body that can exert healing effects on their fellow human beings. Healers who wish to have a healing effect on their fellow human beings find a special aid in consuming milk exclusively.

[ 23 ] On the other hand, we want to describe the influence of a stimulant derived from the plant kingdom: the influence of alcohol. This has a very special significance. It arises only when the actual plant process—that which occurs through the wondrous influence of light, of which the astral body is the opposite—has ceased. Then a process begins that takes place on a lower level and affects human beings even more than animal food. Human beings bring these substances up to the astral body and, through the astral body, organize them into a specific structure. But when what is to be brought up to the astral body breaks down in the way that alcohol does, then what would otherwise take place through the astral body occurs without it—namely, the effect on the ego and the blood. The effect of alcohol is that what would otherwise occur through the free will of the ego is instead brought about by the alcohol. In a certain sense, it is true that a person who consumes alcohol requires less food. They allow the forces of alcohol to permeate their blood; they surrender to the foreign substance what they themselves should be doing. In a certain sense, one could say that in such a person, the alcohol thinks, feels, and senses. By surrendering to the alcohol what ought to be subject to his ego, the person places himself under the compulsion of an external force. He creates a material ego for himself. The person might say: “Through this, I actually feel a revitalization of the ego.” — Certainly, but it is not the person himself; rather, it is something else to which he has subjected his “I.” We could demonstrate in many other ways how a person can come to be, more and more, what he eats. But spiritual science also shows us how a person can free himself from the forces of food.

[ 24 ] So today I simply wanted to describe to you, in broad strokes, the human being’s relationship to his surroundings—how he stands in relation to the realms that surround him. Those who continue to attend this or that lecture here will see that individual questions can also be addressed on other occasions. This lecture, too, will have shown you that spiritual science is something that has an effect even on the most material needs of life. Spiritual science is something that can serve as an ideal for the future of humanity. Today, when people see how substances combine and separate within the human being, they will likely still often say: “It’s like in a retort,” and they will believe that something beneficial for humanity can be found there. But a time will come when what has been said about the light and the astral body will also become evident to those conducting research in the laboratory. Can’t someone also make ordinary observations of a chemical nature if they tell themselves that here, down to the smallest scale, the greatest force is at work—the force that permeates the outer physical sunlight and shines into the spiritual realm of human consciousness? In this way, these things will be investigated in the light that gives us an overview of the whole.

[ 25 ] Everything in our surroundings is born of the spirit. The spirit is the source of all things. If we wish to arrive at the truth, the spirit must also guide us in our search. Then we will recognize the truth that is necessary for humanity, both in the grand scheme of things and in the details.