Instincto and Budget

Balance Without Breaking the Bank

Eating fruit instead of bread, pasta, and processed sugar is undoubtedly more expensive for the same number of calories. Eating organic products increases the budget even further. But these calculations are meaningless, as many additional expenses stem from a conventional diet.

It’s true that, for example, the French are allocating a smaller portion of their budget to food than ever before. From x% in the 1960s, they’ve gone down to y%, thanks to supermarket prices, industrial production, the laws of competition, and a whole host of other factors that have helped reduce family budgets. In absolute terms, you should expect to spend between … and … per person per month, depending on the quality of the food.

What is the cost of an instincto diet? It depends on the range of foods you choose. The spontaneous pursuit of maximum pleasure can lead to an ever-diminished daily diet. If you want to regularly have a whole range of the rarest exotic fruits on your table, your budget can skyrocket. And it’s not necessarily better for your health. Let’s leave that to the billionaires.

It’s better to stick to a sufficient selection that remains within the bounds of your personal taste. Remember that in nature, our ancestors didn’t find the most succulent produce every day either. A certain degree of limitation is therefore part of the natural order and is actually more conducive to nutritional balance.

Practical Tips

First rule: you shouldn’t try to have the entire year’s selection on your table every day and in every season. It’s better to alternate different types of fruits, vegetables, and nuts according to the seasons and your own taste preferences. When the body has a significant need, the foods that satisfy it are particularly appealing: we can speak of a “luminous phase,” so delightful are they to the senses. Therefore, we should let ourselves be guided by these allesthetic variations to choose the most beneficial products, while also taking seasonal prices into account.
Second rule: it’s best to put regional products on the table. We now talk about locavores, and it is indeed a wise rule to limit ourselves to local products. This avoids transportation costs, preservation problems, pollution, and ensures that we follow the seasons. From a budgetary point of view, it’s obviously the best solution.
Third rule: unfortunately, not all the products necessary for a satisfactory nutritional balance grow in our latitudes. To ensure we don’t lack certain foods important for our health, the most economical solution is to include them on the table week after week, in reasonable quantities. A strong alliesthetic appeal will lead to the acquisition of a larger quantity of the product. Once the need is met, the attraction will diminish (less light phase). It would then be pointless to spend money on a non-essential intake; it’s better to switch to other, less expensive products, provided there is sufficient attraction.
Fourth rule: avoid any tendency towards overeating. Eating too much of a product reduces the quality of digestion, leading to a feeling of deprivation afterward and a tendency to force-feed again. To avoid this vicious cycle, which is bad for both health and the wallet, one must scrupulously respect the sensations of alliesthetic depletion, and especially of fullness. Any bite swallowed when it is no longer pleasant to the taste, or when one can even slightly feel the stomach, is a wasted bite, harmful to health and to the budget. The fear of unnecessary spending can also help you respect the signs of fullness. Be careful not to eat too many different foods in a single meal, and avoid unfavorable food combinations.
Fifth rule: learn how to store food properly. Different fruits and vegetables have different ideal storage temperatures; they should be stored on different shelves in the refrigerator, allowed to ripen sufficiently before refrigerating, and ventilated to varying degrees depending on the type. It’s also important to monitor your stock to prevent spoilage, as rot spreads quickly. Good storage techniques can lead to substantial savings.
Sixth rule: as soon as a product threatens to spoil, for example if small spots of rot or mold are visible, they must be removed with a clean knife and the product placed in a draft to allow the product to dry. A thin film then forms on the surface, which ensures preservation just as well as the peel itself. Some fruits actually have a longer shelf life if they are peeled completely as soon as they are ripe, for example papaya, jackfruit, cempedak, etc. In some cases, the peel can indeed become a breeding ground for spoilage bacteria, while the flesh, exposed to the air, resists much better. A refrigerator with an internal fan facilitates this type of operation.
Seventh rule: when the appeal of a product is no longer sufficient, it can be dried, as is, sliced, peeled or unpeeled depending on the circumstances. The dried product no longer has the same vital value as the fresh product, but it can still serve as a supplement, a travel reserve, a treat for children, a stockpile for lean days, in case of supply difficulties, etc.

To these seven rules, others can be added: 8. Don’t imagine you’re saving money by eating cut fruit beyond the “stop” signs. This would be a double loss: the product would be unnecessarily destroyed, and digestion would be disrupted, resulting in a loss of both money and health. It’s even a triple loss, because the flavor of other products consumed afterward or in a subsequent meal won’t be as appealing, leading to a loss of enjoyment and indicating digestive upset. The correct technique is to stop at the first “stop” sign, dry the cut surface in a draft, for example, under a fan, and then refrigerate the cut fruit; it will keep just as well as a whole fruit.

The same principle applies to uneaten produce at the end of the week: don’t force yourself to eat it under the pretext of saving money. Take the opportunity to dry it and replenish your supply of dried products.

Organic products are more expensive, but you consume less of them. The overall result is quite positive from a budgetary standpoint, and very positive from a health perspective. Agrochemical products can cause digestive problems, are less palatable, and lead to overeating or even snacking on cooked food. The price of organic products varies considerably on the market, so it’s important to find a range of producers offering reasonable prices.

Choose products by smell at the market: this way, you can be sure they meet your needs and that you’re not buying them unnecessarily. If you’re feeding a family, your sense of smell obviously won’t be sufficient for everyone else, but an olfactory check will guarantee you higher quality and riper products.

If you have land, don’t hesitate to create a small garden, making sure to follow organic or biodynamic farming principles, and plant fruit trees and bushes. The pleasure of free products will be added to that of homemade products: the flavors of produce from one’s own garden, freshly picked and perfectly ripe, is a source of inimitable pleasure…