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Instinctive Raw

Raw animal foods, high fat, enzyme-rich. Cream, eggs, meat, honey, juiced veg.

The core idea

Raw animal foods, by rhythm and pairing

Instinctive Raw is a raw, animal-based way of eating built entirely on uncooked foods: raw meat, raw dairy, raw eggs, raw fat, and honey. The framework's claim is that heat destroys enzymes and damages nutrients, so eating these foods raw, and well-sourced, is what lets the body fully use and rebuild from them.

Raw is everything

This approach treats cooking as fractionating nutrients and killing enzymes. The whole framework centers on eating animal foods uncooked so the body can fully use and rebuild from them.

Raw fat is the cornerstone

Raw butter, cream, raw cheese, coconut cream, marrow, avocado, and egg yolk are foundational, eaten generously alongside meat. Fat can range from a large minority up to the majority of intake.

Abundance, never fasting

Eat to satisfaction in cycles through the day, with at least every few hours covered. Fasting is avoided, especially because the approach is seen as cleansing and going too long without food is considered harmful during that process.

Combining and timing define it

Raw fat with meat. Fruit always with fat. Nuts only with honey and eggs. Raw meat and raw vegetable juice separated by about an hour. Eggs often eaten alone, one at a time. No water with meals.

Quality sourcing is non-negotiable

Grass-fed, pasture-raised, known and trusted suppliers. Treated as essential, not optional, because of the risks involved with raw animal foods.

Unsalted, unprocessed, unfrozen

No salt, no cooked food, no seed or vegetable oils, no grains, no supplements, no frozen food. The food shows up as close to its living state as possible.

Ferments and high meat

Fermented raw foods and aged raw meat (high meat) are emphasized for beneficial bacteria, a deliberate part of the rhythm rather than a curiosity.

Minimal fruit, small juice

Fruit is kept minimal and always paired with fat. Small amounts of raw vegetable juice (celery-forward) come in for minerals, separated from meat.

Signature foods

What ends up on the plate

Raw milk
Sipped through the day. A daily staple.
Raw fatty meat
Beef, lamb, fish, fowl. Eaten in cycles, with raw fat.
Unheated honey
Daily. The honey-and-raw-butter pairing is a signature.
Raw eggs
Through the day, often one at a time, on their own.
Raw butter & cream
Foundational raw fats; eaten generously alongside meat.
Raw unsalted cheese
Often paired with honey, called a strong mineral combination in this view.
Coconut cream
Another raw fat source folded into the rhythm.
Marrow
Raw fat plus minerals. A nose-to-tail staple.
The milkshake
Raw eggs, raw milk, raw cream, a spoon of unheated honey. A recurring meal.
Raw vegetable juice
Celery, parsley, lemon. Small amounts, taken away from meat.
A little raw fruit
Kept minimal, always eaten with fat.
Organ meats & high meat
Liver, heart, and aged raw meat for nutrients and beneficial bacteria.

Nothing is salted, nothing is heated, nothing is from a bag. The whole staple list reads like a working farm rather than a grocery aisle.

A day in the life

Cycles, not three meals

The rhythm isn't breakfast, lunch, dinner. It's a steady cycle of small raw intakes, with the milkshake and a portion of fatty meat anchoring the day.

  1. On waking

    A few ounces of raw milk, sipped slowly. Some start instead with a little fruit eaten with cream.

  2. Mid-morning

    The signature milkshake: raw eggs, raw milk, raw cream, a spoon of unheated honey. Not a one-off; this recurs through the day.

  3. Midday

    A portion of raw fatty meat, a few ounces, eaten with raw fat like raw butter or marrow. Eaten to satisfaction rather than a fixed amount.

  4. Afternoon

    Raw vegetable juice, celery-forward, taken about an hour away from the meat. More raw milk sipped. Raw cheese with honey, called the best mineral pairing in this view.

  5. Evening

    Another portion of raw meat with fat, or raw eggs. A little fruit with cream if you want something sweet.

  6. Before a long sleep

    About a cup of raw milk to calm the body before bed.

  7. Throughout the day

    Eating every few hours, never fasting; raw fat present at meals; combinations followed; no water with food.

You'll love this if

  • ·You're drawn to the most ancestral, unprocessed way of eating, and the idea of raw foods makes sense to you.
  • ·You've explored animal-based eating and want to push further into raw.
  • ·You have access to trusted, high-quality raw sources: raw dairy, well-sourced raw meat, real honey.
  • ·You prefer eating to abundance and rhythm over counting or restriction.

Skip it if

  • ·You can't safely source raw animal foods. The approach depends on trusted suppliers, and raw dairy is restricted or illegal in some places.
  • ·You're pregnant or breastfeeding, feeding young children, elderly, or immunocompromised. This approach is generally not appropriate in those situations without medical guidance.
  • ·You're not prepared to take responsibility for food-safety risk. Raw meat, raw dairy, and raw eggs can carry Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and parasites; the framework's answer is sourcing, but the risk doesn't go to zero.
  • ·You want mainstream-backed nutrition. This is a fringe approach built from one person's framework and writings; it isn't supported by mainstream nutrition science. Best read as a framework with strong adherents and real open questions, not established fact.
  • ·You want low-effort eating. Combining rules, cycle-based rhythm, sourcing demands, and the unsalted/uncooked nature make it a significant commitment.
  • ·You're under 18. In BasedCal, this approach is gated; you'll need to confirm 18+ and acknowledge the risks before selecting it.
The thinking behind it

Where this comes from

Show

Instinctive Raw, as taught here, is the raw, animal-based approach developed by Aajonus Vonderplanitz (1947 to 2013). He laid it out in his books and on his site; the people who follow it today still work from those texts. BasedCal credits him factually as the originator and is not affiliated with him or his estate.

BasedCal presents this as a framework, not medical advice. Claims here are attributed to Aajonus Vonderplanitz and the raw-animal-food community, not the app. Choosing this approach in BasedCal requires confirming you're 18 or older and acknowledging the food-safety risks.