Kirt:
>Also, FWIW, jean-claude's advertisment for instincto might've mentioned the
>caveat that many instincto theorists consider pregnancy a dangerous time to
>start instincto, since the fetus would be subject to lots of "bad detoxed
>molecules" via the shared bloodstream. FWIW.


Jean-Claude:
I observed many times that when i follow the instinctive appeals as close as
possible,the body's detoxification is happening in the mildest forms
possible,often viral manifestations are going almost unnoticed (like a cold
with just a slight higher mucous secretion than normal).
The trick is precisely to be able to really eat by instinct. And Kirt is
right to precise that in the real world,  the process of detoxification can
get out of hand ( it is exactly what is happening too  when eating cooked ,
making medical intervention necessary, so there is no reason to be more
scared because one is eating raw).
Eating raw undenatured foods by itself  doesn't guarantee that one is eating
instinctively, and get protected from diseases.( tho there is lot of living
proofs that diseases doesn't get as necessary than when eating cooked)
That is the strength that i got from eating instinctively : there is no
theorists out there to prescribe what one should eat , your own nose is the
guidance , once you accept the idea ( that is the basic theory) to stay away
from "denatured foods".
All what i am advertizing is the possibility of each one of us to be in
charge of our own health , by using the body's given ability to maintain
homeostasis and using  the tools that have been designed to regulate the
miraculous balance between the inner ecology and the outer ecology (senses
of smell and taste). I am afraid there is nothing to sell in that one.
About changing while pregnant , if it was myself i will without question do
that change anytime but will have an higher incentive to stick to it than i
had when i did the change ( i was relaxed in my willingness to follow my
nose wanting still to be in control with my intellect) Only the feed back of
my body have been able to oblige me to be more disciplined.
My wife did the 100% change, over one year before pregnancy (conception),
initially as a vegan. I'll let her write about it.

Hi, it's Ingrid ("the wife" :-)):
Kirt makes a good point that one should be careful when making any major
changes during pregnancy, dietary or otherwise. I would also suggest being
particularily aware and informed before adding raw meat for the first time,
due to the possibility of contracting toxoplasmosis (read on...).

At the same time, since the child is sharing in whatever the mother eats,
why not feed it the very best food available? Is continuing to eat (and feed
the baby) lesser quality foods and "toxins" for fear of detoxing better?
Each individual must decide for themselves.

I personally found that during pregnancy my "instinctive responses" were
markedly heightened, and I've always found that when I respect these
responses, I never have any strong detox reactions, at the most mild fatigue
or slight body odour.

I also miscarried a child while "instincto" but I must add that my eating
was quite likely not the cause. It's true that I *was* at the time eating a
very limited diet, primarily fruit of low non-organic quality and *very*
limited variety and quantity because I was living in difficult circumstances
in India. No animal products and no greens, both things we have found to be
*vital* for maintaining a longterm healthy instinctive balance. I am also
not sure as to the exact cause of the miscarriage since despite being quite
thin and missing nutrients, I felt very healthy and energetic. I lost the
baby immediately after witnessing a traumatic drowning and then driving for
an hour on *severely* potholed roads on a motorcylcle, and I actually
believe the cause was not nutritional, at least not primarily. The
miscarriage itself, while emotionally very painful and draining, was
physically easy with no complications. Since then I've discovered that
miscarriage is actually surprisingly common.

Months after this miscarriage I conceived again, this time in Canada, and
added raw animal products to my diet after 16 years as a vegetarian. During
this pregnancy, I contracted toxoplasmosis, a protozoa that is benign in
adults, but potentially toxic to the fetus. Although there were other risk
factors (getting a cat, drinking from a stream, travel in France), I believe
I contracted it from some raw lamb that I did not really enjoy eating, but
ate because "it's good for me". My only symptoms were two days of
(comfortable) fever and painless swollen lymph nodes in my armpits for about
2 weeks.

At 8 1/2 months pregnant, I was told that my toxo. titres were among the
highest ever found, way off the charts. Experts were faxing them all over
North America and were discussing them in specially called meetings in
California! I was told that I would most likely have a severely
retarded/deformed/ damaged child that could quite possibly also be deaf and
blind. When we asked whether my titres could be so unusually high because my
immune system was so strong rather than because I was so "infected" the
"experts" looked startled, and mumbled "well, it's possible..." but that it
was so unlikely that in fact it wasn't possible!

I was prescribed several intense drugs, which after researching them, I
refused to take, because of side effects on the baby. I was called
"irresponsible" and even threatened with possible legal repercussions for
not following doctor's orders. My midwife refused to attend our planned
homebirth, even my local hospital refused to accept me, and I was expected
to go to the city, 4 to 6 hours away including two ferry rides, to give
birth with a neonatal emergency unit on standby, and needles, tests and
drugs to greet my newborn.

I freaked out and grieved for 2 days, and then centered myself (just days
before birth!). We spent 12 hours in libraries pouring over medical texts,
spent hours interviewing specialists and researchers, and did some deep soul
searching and meditating. In the end we trusted ourselves, our intuition,
and the instinctive path we have experienced as so life-changing. We knew
what we must do.

Our baby was born at home "unassisted" after two hours of the most blissful
labour I could ever have imagined. He was, and is, radiantly healthy and
beautiful. The only "defect" that is evident from my illness is the enamel
on 6 of his teeth which is very porous due to my fever at the time the teeth
were develping in utero. He has never been tested for toxoplasmosis, because
he would have immediately been entered in a research test program including
daily intense drugs for one year and weekly blood
sampling---"non-compliance" might have meant losing our child to the system.
(Ironically, however, they can't force us to test him.) It's possible, even
likely that he is "infected" and though symptoms can appear for 2 or more
years after birth, he remains completely healthy on a 100% raw instinctive
regime, including breastmilk.

Toxoplasmosis can result from any eating of raw meat (as well as handling
cat litter etc), but is benign to most non-pregnant people (abut 90% of
people in France have had it and are therefore immune, for example).
Severely immune-deficient people are also at risk. I believe that although I
contracted it during pregnancy, my body knew how to respond due to my
optimum health (hence the high titres---immune response), and it knew how to
protect my baby.

Would I make the change during pregnancy? Yes. Would I eat raw meat? Yes.
But in both cases I would be very aware of respecting my instinctive
responses, I would not limit the variety of foods, I would take great care
with the quality of the meat, and I would *not* eat it (or a anything
else)unless it tasted great.

Wow! This unexpectedly turned into a big long story! Hope it's helpful.
Warmly,
ingrid