Dr. Weston A. Price is considered to be one of the greatest nutrition researchers of the modern era.
He was a Cleveland dentist and dental researcher who crossed the globe investigating native populations in the early 20th century. He noticed that these native peoples who ate traditional foods all maintained perfect health well into old age.
He studied the Swiss, Indians of North America, Polynesians, Africans, New Zealand Maori, and others. He found that when these native peoples switched from their life giving traditional diets to one made up of mostly processed foods, previously unknown degenerative illnesses began to develop. This was a pioneering discovery at the time.
Being a dentist he noticed that the natives on their traditional diet had robust, straight and non-crowded teeth and when modern diets with processed food were introduced the teeth showed signs of early decay with cavities developing and many more examples of crowded teeth in the young
It is well known that dental health is a strong predictor of overall health.
Watch the video below to learn more about Dr. Weston A. Price
Why Are Native Diets Healthy?
Dr. Weston A. Price’s work stands up to the test of time – which is quite remarkable considering the ever changing nature of diets. What he said in 1907 is acknowledged by the experts as still true today.
Of all the different cultures that Dr. Price studied he noticed a common link in all their diets, that allowed these traditional people to live healthy, disease free lives:
- The foods they ate were locally grown and in season.
- The foods were natural, unprocessed, organic and contained almost no sugar.
- Many of the cultures ate unpasteurized dairy products, and all of them ate fermented foods.
- A significant part of their food was eaten raw.
- All of the cultures ate animal products, including animal fat and, often, full-fat butter and organ meats.
The native diets contained ten times the number of fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E & K) and at least four times the amount of calcium, other minerals and water-soluble vitamins (B & C) as that of Western diets at that time.
Raw milk is white gold! (Tweet Me)
Their diets were also rich in enzymes because they ate fermented and raw foods (enzymes help you to digest cooked foods).
Their intake of omega-3 fats was at least ten times higher than in today’s diet. The proper ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats (vegetable oils) is about 1:1 but today it’s about 1:30 due to our heavy intake of vegetable oils.
Highlights of the Weston A. Price Diet
- Saturated fat including animal sources is GOOD for you as long as the animal is wild or pasture fed, or in the case of fish and seafood, that it is not farmed.
- Unfermented soy foods need to be avoided and only consume fermented soy, like miso, natto, etc.
- Vegetable oils (except olive) need to be avoided as they are high in omega-6 fat.
- Raw dairy is healthy and even some lactose intolerant folks can do fine on it.
- Fermented foods, like sauerkraut, kefir and yogurt, regulate your gut and keep it in top condition.
- They advocate bread made from sprouted grains and then cooked at a low temperature (not recommended for diabetics).
- Eat at least one third of your food raw.
- Eat locally grown, organic foods that are in season. Avoid processed foods and all artificial flavorings, colorings and artificial sweeteners.
Further Information On Dr. Weston A. Price
For those interested in reading Dr. Weston A. Price’s classic book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration you can read it online here for free or support this great man and buy it at Amazon.
You can also get more information at the Weston A. Price Foundation and watch the welcome video below by one of the founders, Sally F. Morell.
This amazing woman along with Mary Enig co-wrote a groundbreaking book in 1999 titled Nourishing Traditions. It is an incredibly popular book and it has over 650 reviews on Amazon that you can view here.
