The heavy price to pay for ignoring Weston A. Price

"IF PRIMITIVE races have been more efficient than modernized groups in the matter of preventing degenerative processes, physical, mental and moral, it is only because they have been more efficient in complying with Nature's laws." (Weston A. Price, Ch. 15 of "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration")

Dr. Weston Price (1870-1948) was a  dentist of repute and was chairman of the National Dental Association in the U.S.A. for many years.  He studied the diets and physical well-being of communities around the globe (all continents besides Antarctica) which were isolated geographically from "modern civilization" and compared them to those of nearby communities of the same racial groups whose diets had been corrupted by modern sugary foods, white flour, polished rice etc. His findings shocked me the first time I read them, and will likely have the same effect on you the first time you hear them.

In his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, a classic available for free online, he describes the food habits and physiques of communities in Switzerland and Scotland, the Eskimos, Native American tribes, groups descended from the Incas in South America, Masai and other tribes in Africa, Polynesians in Asia, Aborigines and Maoris in Australia-New Zealand and other groups.

His main findings about groups which stuck to their ancestral diets are as follows.

1. Superb physiques: Robust bodies, tremendous stamina, ability to withstand adverse weather conditions. Price mentions the case of a 60 year old grandmother carrying heavy loads up a hill in Alpine territory.
2. Perfect dental arches: Crooked teeth were a rarity. The skeletons of their ancestors too showed perfect dental arches. The lower half of the face was broad, leaving enough space for the teeth to be well-formed.
3. Absence of tooth decay: Almost no tooth was affected by dental caries.
4. High degree of immunity from disease: Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases were a rarity.
5. Broad nostrils: These allowed individuals to breathe easily through their noses even in frigid weather conditions.
6. Absence of mental problems and criminal behavior: Individuals lived upright moral lives, and petty criminal behavior was not to be found. There was no need for mental asylums. These people were aware that if they didn't eat properly, they would manifest mental and criminal behavior.

In contrast, those groups of the same racial stock who lived nearby and whose diets had been contaminated by modern civilization displayed the following characteristics. It took only one generation for these characteristics to show up.

1.  Weak physiques: A classic comparison of two brothers, one who stuck to his ancestral diet and the other who loved sugary foods is shown here. The latter struggled to get out of bed each day unlike his brother.
2. Crooked teeth: The lower half of the face was in general narrower. Hence the permanent teeth were out-of-place and crooked.
3. Plenty of tooth decay: The same figure mentioned above captures this fact. Many Polynesians with tooth decay were driven to suicide by the pain because there was no dentist nearby to attend to them.
4. Weak immune systems: Tuberculosis took a heavy toll on these populations.
5. Pinched noses: Their nostrils were narrower. As a result in colder climates several were "mouth breathers".

Now, quite unfortunately, most of us "moderns" have characteristics of the latter groups of people. We have paid a heavy price for ignoring Price. We have crooked teeth and need braces to get them in place.  Pinched noses are not considered abnormal. Carrying heavy loads up a tall mountain is unthinkable at any age, forget age 60+. Our immune systems are very weak. We would probably be dead without antibiotics. Mental disease and criminal behavior abound.

So what has gone wrong and what can be done about it? Here are some key points I have gleaned so far.

Characteristics of the "primitive" diet:

1. High vitamin diet: The "primitive" diet was universally high in vitamin content. Price reports that the fat-soluble vitamins were at least 10 times higher than the minimum requirement specified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. Moreover, by eating whole grains their diets were rich in water-soluble vitamins. 
2. High in fiber: Whole grains are high in their fiber content.
3. High in minerals: Mineral content ranged from 1 to 50 times that specified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
4. Absence of sugar and processed food: Their food was whole and fresh, with none of the shortcomings of the processed food of modern diets.

 Characteristics of the "modern" diet:

1. Low vitamin content
2. Low fiber
3. Low minerals
4. High in sugar and processed food

Why are we okay with such a poor diet? According to Price, humans do not have the ability to feel hunger for various nutrients and instead only feel hunger for "energy". Hence we are satisfied as long as our food provides the energy our bodies need.

How did the groups studied discover what was best to eat then? Price does not discuss this, but we can speculate how. In a world without modern dentistry and medicine, the price to pay for a poor diet was death, because of infections, adverse weather, wild animals, stronger human enemies etc. Their ancestors probably learned what best to eat the hard way: by finding foods that gave strength, vitality, immunity, longevity, mental health, and intelligence.

The dangers of Sugar:  We leave the importance of vitamins, fiber, and minerals for another discussion, but it is pertinent that we discuss sugar here. Interestingly Price mentions "sugary foods" as one of the culprits. Although Price correctly identified sugary foods as a problem, he probably had no idea how bad sugar really was.
Recent research has revealed that sugar in large quantities is so bad that some think it should be bracketed with tobacco. There was a time when people happily puffed on their cigars and cigarettes without knowing the dangers of tobacco. Now, people are wiser, and aware of its addictiveness and its being a leading cause for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer. However, most people are still clueless about how dangerous sugar is. In the long term, sugar causes diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. In the short term too sugar causes serious harm, altering the brain's chemistry thereby causing behavior changes and even other addictions (including alcohol and sexual addictions). Noted health expert, Dr. Mercola lists 76 ways sugar can ruin your health.


How should we change our diets? Obviously, we need to correct our diets to make them similar to those of the primitive groups studied by Weston Price. This is exactly what an Orthomolecular Diet refers to, which we discuss in another blog: "The orthomolecular diet: eating like our  ancestors did".

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