What Native Traditional Cultures and Our Cave Man Ancestors Tell Us

The growing interest of the public about diet and nutrition indicates people are now beginning to see a connection between what one eats and their health. However, most individuals still belittle and fail to recognize the relationship that everyday food choices have in causing the majority of diseases that now devastate society.

Just one observation of a few of the 18,000 incredible pictures taken by Dr. Weston Price during his research studies among 14 races of modern time primitives clearly demonstrates the role nutrition plays as the principal cause of most degenerative illnesses.

Price’s study of the traditional and cultural diets of primitives and of their kinsmen who adopted civilized foods leave a never to be forgotten lesson of the dramatic and disastrous effect diet can have on health status. Modern fabricated foods prove to be the important detrimental link in the creation of abnormal disease changes that take place in bones, body tissues, and teeth.

While their tribal foods varied as to source and kind, they were highly nutritious. Laboratory analysis of their diets showed them to be exceedingly high in proteins, minerals, vitamins and healthy fat soluble factors.

Although the Price research covered a nine year period during the 1930’s, the message it brings to us today is more important and realistic than when it was first published. This is easy to understand when you consider the vast acceptance of nutrient-deficient convenience foods that has taken place during the past 50 to 75 years.

These revelatory studies were undertaken because Dr. Price, a leading scientific, became tormented and distressed at his profession’s failure to find the cause of dental caries and periodontal (gum) disease. While it had been known for a long time that primitives had excellent teeth and civilized man terrible ones, Dr. Price felt it was extraordinarily stupid that so much effort was spent on why our teeth are so poor without first trying to find out why primitives’ teeth were so good.

It was these thoughts that led him to spend nine years of his life in some 150,000 miles of travel to remote, difficult, out of the way places.

In spite of the skin color and genetic variables of the natives involved in this extensive pursuit, the research clearly demonstrates that not only was freedom from dental diseases common on their traditional diets, but they had exceptional vibrant health as well. No matter where located, the natives were successful in maintaining their tribal pattern from one generation to another on a wide assortment of natural foods.

The shocking discovery was the extent of physical degeneration that began within six months of the adoption of modern foods, but even more startling were the severe skeletal and body maldevelopment and deterioration that took place.

Keep in mind that while the primitive parents genetic inheritance was unprecedented in its excellence, their children promptly fell heir to a large number of our typical diseases when introduced to but a few modern foods (such as jams and jellies, sugar, white flour, polished rice, etc).

All of Price’s arduous investigations were assembled in his volume Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. This epic 526 page book is now in its 12th reprinting. It has 140 representative and symbolic photographs of the 18,000 he made during his world travels. Please don’t allow its $39.95 price to throw you–its startling photographs alone make it easy to accept why certain types of foods that confront us must be eliminated from our diets and how, by so doing, medical expenses can be reduced far and above the book’s cost.

In its reading you will quickly become aware that finding the causes of dental caries and other oral diseases, while a great achievement, its accomplishment was small compared to the myriad of other health benefits that are involved. In addition, as the pages unfold, one surprising revelation after another excitingly dispels most of the nutritional conflicts that are so prevalent today.

Heading the list as the most obvious were the severe skull and skeletal malformations and deformities that became commonplace when the primitives adopted modern foods. Secondly, Price’s natives proved way ahead of us in their practice of mother-to-be preconception and pregnancy food selections. In some instances, even fathers-to-be were given special foods to enhance the coming pregnancy. This will dispel any thoughts that these people were unintelligent.

In that light it should be mentioned that Price was the first to observe and disclose that certain nutrient deficient foods were responsible for criminal and delinquency behavior. In addition, he reviewed the absence of vegetarianism in their diets and its implications.

The kinds of afflictions that occur to us and did so to the primitives, are usually blamed on heredity. We must now realize these illnesses, for the most part, are really due to environmentally chosen food selections, not to inheritance.

The fact that this book is filled with such up-to-date matters is testimony to the reason for its continued popularity. Its greatest reward is often overlooked. That is, when you think of all the variety and different foods consumed by these twelve races of people and the excellent health each of their diets produces, we must conclude that the real message of Dr. Price’s work is that we are not locked into anyone person’s idea of what a diet should be but instead, have an infinite choice of all kinds of natural foods to select in establishing our own diet plan.

Through the pages of this profoundly significant book you will derive pleasure in traveling with Price to far away places and you will be especially pleased at the easy way in which you have become appraised of the basic principles involved in understanding optimum nutrition.

 

Editor’s note: Since the era in which this article was written, society’s understanding of respectful terminology when referring to ethnic and cultural groups has evolved, and some readers may be offended by references to “primitive” people and other out-of-date terminology. However, this article has been archived as a historical document, and so we have chosen to use Meinig’s exact words in the interest of authenticity.  No disrespect to any cultural or ethnic group is intended.