Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

In 2005, I read a book that changed everything I thought I knew about nutrition - for all time; it is THE book of causative factors. This past week, 9 years later, I decided, prompted by some discussions online and here, to re-read it: "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," by Weston A. Price. It's even more timely and prescient than ever. I was just as compelled then as now - more so, perhaps, after 10 years of reading and research of my own. I easily read 500 pages in 4 nights. Price was a dentist who graduated from the University of Michigan dental school in 1893. As he got into the first two decades of his practice in the 20th century, he became increasingly alarmed at people with bad teeth, poorly formed palates, cavities, and deformations of the jaw - and with that, serious health problems. He and his wife, beginning in 1929-30, traveled around the world to 14 different countries to find how the health, elsewhere, corresponded with mainly modern Americans. He visited isolated and respectively more modernized cultures in a Swiss village, Gaelics in the Islands of the Outer Hebrides, Eskimos, North American Indians, Melanesians, Polynesians, numerous African tribes, Australian Aborigines, Torres Strait Islanders, New Zealand Maori, and the Peruvian Indians. As well as studying the kept skulls of ancient Peruvians - nearly perfect palates and teeth. Bottom line: he investigated these peoples, who subsisted of their native "wild" foods - variably, meat, blood, butter, organ meats, milk, fish, rye, oats, some vegetables - and observed in them perfect dental arches, very rare tooth decay and cavities, and most of all, immunity to tuberculosis; their health, as well as their physiques, was found to be outstanding. However, in those groups, where certain segments obtained "modern foods of commerce" - white flour, sugar, jams, vegetable fats, canned goods - their health suffered, tuberculosis became rampant, as well as serious birth defects, cavities, deformed jaws, crooked teeth, and a host of other degenerative conditions. There are hundreds of photos throughout, and the difference between those who ate their native foods, and those who had manufactured foods, is truly, jaw-dropping shocking. Price documented his findings rigorously, thoroughly, with percentages and averages noted throughout. He also conducted numerous tests, curing several people of their health problems just by a change in food. The tests on vitamin A, D, butter, and minerals reveal some crucial findings and results. Animals with no vitamin A were born blind, or disfigured. There are several X-rays and photos that show the outcome of his tests. He notes conditions of soils, contents and values of whole grains, grasses and how they affect the final outcome - results of the consumption of the food in humans and animals. What it all boils down to is chemistry. The closer a food is to its natural origins and source, the better the health. The further away from its origins it is, processing, poor nutrients in growth cycles, denaturing, the worse the effect. In some of these cultures, no two young people were allowed to procreate unless they had undergone 6 months of concentrated nutrition to maximize the health of the conceived child. Price makes constant note of the "native wisdom" that had been passed down from generation to generation. He presents not just a few token cases but hundreds of them, across several thousands of miles - and it is startling how consistent the findings are from place to place. Though it was written in the 1930s, it is nonetheless eerily prophetic of the ominous trends that punctuate modern technology, namely the changing nature of how humans and animals eat. There is a "Twilight Zone" sense of foreboding as Dr. Price's research and findings unfold, chapter after chapter. What this book amounts to is a convincing, virtual warning on what is happening to the planet, to its food in all forms, and the humans and animals that inhabit it. I have no reservations about saying that this may be the most crucial piece of work on nutrition to ever have been written. This book is a spectacular read; I can't even begin to cover the astonishing breadth and scope of it. It is also controversial: a lot of quacks and grain and vegetarian fanatics have attacked this book, but, as it turns out, every one of Price's early findings are increasingly gaining merit as a lot of myths are being refuted. Though it does deal primarily with Dr. Price's research, findings and discoveries on nutrition and physical degeneration, there are so many rewards otherwise. This is a first-rate travelogue, superb cultural anthropological study, and an impressively thorough analysis of human behaviors. Moreover, Price is a wonderful writer, matter-of-factly genteel, dispassionate and duly concerned all at once. There is a compassionate, keen kindness in his own being, and the generosity of spirit in wanting to do for the common good is evident throughout.

This is an updated edition of Price's seminal work. Below is my review of that earlier book: This book distills the research of Weston A. Price, a dentist and independent nutrition researcher. In a decade of travel around the world, Price and his wife studied the health, dietary habits, and chemical composition of food of dozens of traditional peoples of various racial backgrounds. His research was done at a time when many such groups still lived free of the influence of Western civilization and what he called "foods of commerce," i.e. heavily refined and denatured foods. One could question whether 60 plus year old research is relevant today, but I found his work powerful and persuasive for a very simple reason. Health problems sent me on a quest to find the best dietary information, but I soon found myself mired in contradictory claims, opposing research and special interest groups, as well as outright deceit. First I would read about how one vitamin or mineral was good for this. Then I would read that the very same item was bad for that. You shouldn't combine X with Y, or needed to add tons of Z or W, except on Sundays when the moon was almost 3/4 full. I became very disillusioned with the incredible complexity of nutrition. As I read more and more deeply, I also became annoyed at all the disinformation and profiteering behind much of the so-called research. I reached this bottom line: While we understand proteins, carbs, and fats reasonably well, and have a pretty good handle on most vitamins and about a dozen minerals, there is simply an immense amount we just don't know. We are researching minerals at about 5 per decade (around 50 to go - a hundred more years at our current rate). There are around 5000 enzymes in bee pollen alone, and few of them have been researched. There are an unknown number of phytochemicals and other things we have yet to discover that have been constituents of our food for perhaps millions of years. Science moves very slowly, and it could easily be several hundred or 1000 years before we get it all sorted out. And that doesn't take into consideration the power groups who insist on muddying the waters for profit's sake. Modern science is quite obviously incapable of giving us complete answers to our nutritional questions. It just plain doesn't have them to give, nor will it for a long, long time. Then I found Price's work. Basically, he was the Tony Robbins of diet - he sought out the healthiest people on Earth and studied what they had done for hundreds and thousands of years to stay healthy. He looked at their Traditional diets as well as what happened when they adopted Western diets. The results are in this book, and it is well worth your taking the time to read. While others have followed his work, the changing nature of the world now make it impossible to duplicate his research today. His work stands as a pivotal piece in science and health as well as in history. This represents the cumulative knowledge of millions of people over thousands of years in a laboratory that includes the entire world. Definitely non-trivial. There are also books by Ronald Schmid and Sally Fallon that introduce and give overviews of Price's work. I recommend them also. Today, when we must all become advocates for our own health, arming yourself with the best information is vital. update December 2008 A recent article published by the Weston A. Price Organization not only validates Price's X-Factor research, it also clearly illustrates the point I make above about modern scientific method and nutritional research failing to provide adequate information. Vitamin K2 has been identified as the X-Factor, and recent research into K2 shows that it is an extremely essential nutrient, not the throw-away that it has long been considered. It is a vital factor in bone and tooth health, heart health, nerve health, and so on. It turns out to be a critical part of so many body processes that physiology texts will have to be rewritten in major ways. Here is a vitamin discovered nearly 100 years ago, and yet science is just beginning to understand how terribly important it is. The main reasons for this serious error are; a lack of understanding of the chemical tests involved, lack of reading research in other countries, and a lack of interest on the part of researchers. (No money in vitamin research, you can't patent vitamins.) The article is available from the Weston A. Price Organization and is a very interesting read. UPDATE August 2009: The figure of 5000 enzymes has been bothering me, as the source of that info was not well cited. I have been looking around for a hard figure on the number of enzymes, and guess what? There is no such hard number. All the sources I have found vary widely (1,000 to 80,000), and do not cite references. Some sources say that there are 5,000 named enzymes, and up to 20,000 possible. This is yet another reason why current nutritional research is such a poor source of decision making data - they just don't have enough hard data to trust.

Fascinating information in this book. Unfortunately a lot of our food is toxic with chemicals, plastics, GMO, and more. The people that are written about have had some of the healthiest foods. You really have to either make your own food with the healthiest ingredients and grow your own food organically or get it from reputable farms or companies. Stay away from fast foods!! Love the book!

A unique perspective for an observational study done at a unique time in history. Can be a tough read, as the notes are very detailed and reads more like a textbook at times. Highly recommend as it’s truly a one of a kind glimpse into the past.

I am not a zealot in any area of my life, but frankly, this is 80 year old wisdom that is stunningly obvious once you let go of some modern beliefs. Weston A. Price did an amazing set of studies on the impact of diet on physical well-being, the likes of which have never been undertaken by anyone else (to my knowledge) . To be sure, modern technology (meaning the last 300-400 years) has brought many improvements to our lives, including medical technology/knowledge. However, it has also brought profound dietary changes that have introduced chronic disease on a scale not known previously. You don't have to be a health nut to acknowledge that what we consume today does not resemble what we ate 150 years ago, and that even the diet during the Civil War era was substantially changed from earlier times (e.g. the introduction of refined sugar). It should be easy to accept that if you change the input (food) you change the output (health). Humans don't evolve quickly enough to thrive (vs. survive) on a profound change in food. Price, a dentist, set about to understand why the US had such a high rate of dental caries. After all, rotting teeth wouldn't be likely to be nature's way. Just the opposite, one would assume that the gene pool with the best teeth "would win." Price's studies meticulously document and demonstrate not only the impact of diet on dental health, but also on chronic disease. He even addresses topics such as cholesterol levels, writing in the 1920's and 1930's! If you have any interest in developing chronic health rather than chronic disease, buy this book and digest it. ;-) When you're ready to recover your health by making dietary changes, consider also buying "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. And when reading both, bear in mind that dietary improvements are not an "all or nothing proposition" when it comes to improving your health. Some concepts (such as eating organ meats) may be unappealing, but don't let that discourage you from embracing the truth of these concepts and the many other ideas presented- just adopt what works for you as a meaningful step toward improved health. Follow the 80/20 rule, and make the 20% of the changes that produces 80% of the results! If you have any interest in the impact of "civilized diets" on health, and would enjoy reading about "primitive" cultures that enjoy significantly better health and vitality owing to their diets, this is a MUST READ.

This book is a classic work and deserves a place in the library of every health conscious reader. Worthwhile to read from cover-to-cover but it is also worth keeping permanently as a reference. My doctor recommends that all his patients get and read this book and is so committed that he will lend out his personal copy to people who don't want to buy it. This is the basic foundation for the Traditional Foods Movement and also the Paleo Movement. Weston Price is the father of solid, broad-spectrum nutrition and along with Adele Davis deserves attention from everyone who cares about good, functional health and longevity. However, I do not think this is the kind of book that should have been published in paperback format. It is good quality, but something this long and heavy is better off in a stitched in hardback as it needs to last a lifetime. I received this book and it came out of the box with a crumpled up cover and so there was damage from the start. I sent it back and sprung for the hardback. It was well worth the price to get a copy that will last as long as I live. So, three stars for the paperback version and 5 stars for the content. If you check out my review of this same book in the hardbound version, you will note that it is a 5 star winner!

This should be taught in high school. Important Nutritional information. The timing and fierce desire for the truth sent this dentist and his wife around the globe at a very pivotal time. People, children have a right to know. It's a huge book with lots of photographs , so anyone can pick up this book and get something out of it.

This is an astounding book. Doubly so since it was written three quarters of a century ago. Triply so since we seem to ignore the conclusions and implications. Price uses superb deductive reasoning and great energy and persistence to explore numerous "primitive" cultures on every inhabited continent where the traditional ways of life existed and were just being touched by modernity. Thus he was able to compare the before and after of lifestyle and of physical health. Basically humans have become less physically active, are out of the sun most of the time, eat food designed to be "efficient" to grow and transport and produced on ever more depleted land. We appear to have lost the ability that exists in animals and "primitive" people to sense specific foods which are needed for proper nourishment at different phases of our lives. It appears that most disease is a result and may even include antisocial and criminal behavior propensities. I have read "Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Miracle" which lead me to read this book. I have communicated the information from both books to friends and family and we have had some interactions with medical doctors and other professionals and find it common that they have never heard of vitamin K2. I personally had open heart surgery for defective aortic valve replacement and artery blockages were discovered at that time. I was an avid ( 6-day-a-week) cyclist at that time and I began a strict low fat vegan diet. After 5 years I was found to have an advancement of the artery blockages. That is when I decided the medical advice on prevention of heart disease is absolutely worthless. After recent readings I have concluded that the positions of the medical community are exactly opposite to the proper course for heart health. While they search for something "bad" as the cause of disease, the real cause is lack of some things "good". It appears that sunlight penetrates the body and converts cholesterol into vitamin 'D', magnesium in the body makes calcium soluble and Vitamin K2 directs the calcium to the proper locations --- bones and teeth. Any one of the chain missing means calcium goes to arteries, kidney stones, bone spurs. With all elements in place the calcium deposits in the bones and teeth. It would appear that research on heart disease and cancer should be shifted to research on diet and health, hopefully before another 75 years elapses. Jim Benefiel I had read most of the book when I wrote this review and am now completing the end sections. Weston Price was a genius on the order of Charles Darwin. I read his thoughts and realize the time he wrote constituted a period before much of modern genetics was developed. Dr. Price makes no inaccurate statements that I can detect since he employees his perceptive deductive reasoning. I remain astounded that most of what he has written seems to have been ignored. I recently read "The Miraculous Results of Extremely High Doses of Vitamin D3" in which the author describes the effective use of 100,000 IU of D3 to improve his health. He disavows being a conspiracy theorist yet expresses suspicion of the reasons the mainstream medical profession warns against more than very low dosages of D3. I too am adverse to conspiracy theories and yet find it strange that such a tepid embrace of vitamin and mineral supplements is made my the medical profession. It appears that any of the major vitamin and mineral nutritional supplements have virtually no adverse risks at levels of 10 or 20 times the "official" RDA. Perhaps it is just that there is no money behind advocacy of proper nutrition and supplements and huge finances behind the sale of drugs. Jim B.

Incredible book!! And there is a lot to learn in here. 100% recommend.

Firstly. Thanks to the reviewer of the other edition of this book, which is cheaper but has about 5 missing chapters, which influenced me to buy this more expensive but fuller edition. It is written in a really easy to read non-scientific style, which is good for me. It has a chapter devoted to each of the 14 primitive people groups, comparing the health of those on the primitive diet to those on the western style diet. Followed by chapters on general dietary principles (5 of which are missing in the other edition). I already hold to the theory he puts forth, through reading more modern alternative diet books, so he has nothing to sell me there but I am glad I finally got round to getting this great grandady of such research. It is invaluable because the world of such people living purely on their primitive diet has all but vanished and the will to pursue such studies is distinctly non PC. The China Study, for example, did not include native groups living on traditional diets. They would have skewed the data too much, I guess. This is a bit dated as you will see when you see young Africans with nutritionally caused, facial abnormalities compared to chimpanzees and a picture of 2 children running round on all fours like monkeys. There is no malice however. Merely an observation. Obviously it's not completely scientific, but when you see every group living off traditional high fat/protein/cholesteral food with less than 1% tooth decay and low related physical degeneration (of which tooth decay is merely an outward indicator) and the same people and surrounding people living on typical western high sugar/refined carbs diet having around 30% tooth decay and high related physical degeneration; it should make at least some of the china study devotees think. People have been moving further from Weston Prices ideal, on the advice of the medical industry and food manufacturers and getting less healthy. Perhaps it's time for a return to the basic old fashioned traditional nutrition set forth in this book. God blessee. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

Great and informative book. Constantly referencing it.

Ce livre exceptionnel fait partie de ceux qui ouvrent les yeux de son lecteur sur une idée fondamentale et jusqu'alors invisible. Il a été écrit dans les années 1930 par un scientifique américain, dentiste de profession mais aussi nutritionniste. Il voulait comprendre pourquoi ses contemporains avaient des dents en si mauvais état (entre 30% et 60% de dents cariées selon les États) tandis que des peuples que l'on appelait alors primitifs avaient une excellente dentition. À l'époque, on trouvait encore des populations vivant à la manière de leurs ancêtres, très proche de la nature. En outre, on trouvait également des populations de même souche qui avaient adopté la technologie occidentale depuis quelques années seulement, ce qui permettait une comparaison. L'auteur est allé à la rencontre de ces populations en de nombreux points du globe: Canada (Indiens), Groenland (Eskimos), Australie (Aborigènes), Polynésie, Mélanésie, Nouvelle Zélande (Maoris), Hébrides, Suisse (dans une vallée isolée), Pérou, Afrique (Massaï notamment)... La première partie de l'ouvrage présente les voyages du Dr Price. La lecture en est aisée, dépaysante, et agréable grâce aux centaines de photos qui illustrent ces pages. Il a observé que les populations qui vivaient comme leurs ancêtres avaient bien une dentition quasi parfaite: moins d'une dent sur cent cariée (et même moins d'une sur mille chez certains peuples) et aucune malformation de l'arc dentaire (dents qui sortent, etc.). En outre, leurs physiques étaient splendides, ils avaient très peu de maladies, étaient doués d'une grande force et possédaient un caractère doux. A contrario, les populations de même souche qui avaient adopté la technologie occidentale avaient des dents épouvantablement cariées, c'est-à-dire autant qu'en Amérique mais sans dentiste accessible. Ces gens avaient aussi une santé bien plus fragile qu'avant leur occidentalisation, des déformations physiques (notamment faciales) étaient apparues chez leurs enfants, et ils ne résistaient plus aux virus comme leurs voisins « primitifs » (la tuberculose y faisait des ravages). On constate dès lors que les caries ne sont qu'un signe, un symptôme d'un mal plus profond. Chez les « primitifs », non seulement très peu de caries apparaissaient, mais en outre tout carie déclarée était auto-réparée, via la salive, avec le dépôt d'une nouvelle couche de dentine. L'analyse de terrain a montré que la seule différence pertinente entre les deux groupes (primitifs et occidentalisés) résidait dans l'alimentation. Celle des occidentalisés faisait partout grand usage de farine blanche et de conserves. Celle des traditionnalistes n'était pas partout la même, car elle était adaptée à chaque lieu: vivre comme ses ancêtres, c'est bénéficier de la sagesse accumulée par des dizaines de générations. La deuxième partie du livre, plus technique, fournit une analyse critique des données recueillies. Quand on pense à l'achat d'aliments, on pense au goût, à la consistance, à l'apparence, au prix, aux calories, aux risques sanitaires, à la rapidité de préparation et aux vitamines. Des analyses chimiques d'innombrables échantillons ont permis à Price d'identifier que ce qui rend l'alimentation des « primitifs » -- qui s'avèrent être les plus « sages » -- tellement supérieure réside dans sa teneur exceptionnellement élevée en minéraux (phosphore, calcium, etc.) et en vitamines (qui sont des précuseurs d'enzymes, c'est-à-dire de catalyseurs biologiques). Les doses que nous absorbons aujourd'hui comme hier en Occident sont tout à fait insuffisantes. Par exemple, la farine blanche fournit principalement au corps de l'amidon, qui sera absorbé par l'organisme sous forme de glucose (sucre), ainsi que quelques protéines. La farine blanche est donc utile pour nous donner de l'énergie. Mais sa teneur en minéraux est très faible (c'est l'enveloppe de la graine qui les contenait) et les vitamines sont quasi absentes. La farine blanche ne fournit pas les matériaux de construction dont le corps a besoin. À l'inverse, certains aliments sont particulièrement riches en ces matériaux, comme les foies, les oeufs de poisson, les crabes, les oeufs de poule, le sang... Certaines des populations visitées par le Dr Price, notamment en Afrique, imposaient aux femmes un délai d'au moins trois ans entre deux naissances (pour laisser le temps à leur corps de reconstituer des réserves de minéraux) et leur fournissaient des aliments spécialement riches quelques mois avant leur grossesse. Ce qui a mis le Dr Price sur la piste suivante, corroborée par d'autres observations: l'alimentation des (deux) parents avant la conception de leur enfant a une influence sur la santé de ce dernier, et ceci de manière permanente car d'éventuels défauts perdureront tout au long de sa vie. (Serait-ce lié à l'épigénétique ?) Aujourd'hui, que faire pour tenter d'améliorer notre nutrition ? On ne peut pas vraiment absorber les minéraux et les vitamines par des compléments alimentaires car ils sont faiblement métabolisés, c'est-à-dire qu'ils passent à travers le tube digestif sans entrer, ou presque, dans l'organisme. On ne peut guère séparer non plus les minéraux et les vitamines, qui doivent figurer ensemble dans le bol alimentaire, notamment parce que certaines vitamines sont indispensables pour que l'organisme utilise les minéraux en cours de digestion. Par exemple, dans le lait, c'est la partie maigre (le lait écrémé) qui contient tout le calcium, mais celui-ci n'est pas absorbé par l'organisme sans le concours de vitamines (lipo-solubles) qui ne sont présentes que dans la partie grasse du lait. L'aliment forme un tout dans son état naturel. Acheter de la farine complète n'est pas intéressant du point de vue des vitamines car celles-ci s'oxydent et perdent leurs propriétés en quelques jours (Price suggère un jour ou deux). En revanche, c'est utile pour les minéraux, s'ils peuvent être métabolisés. Pour parvenir à une alimentation qui tienne compte des besoins massifs en minéraux et en vitamines, il faut privilégier les aliments qui en sont riches et en faire le coeur des repas. Le surdosage de minéraux et de vitamines n'est pas possible s'ils ne proviennent que d'aliments non transformés, le danger n'existe qu'avec les aliments raffinés. La manière de préparer les aliments influe également sur la biodisponibilité des minéraux et des vitamines. Lorsqu'il n'est pas possible de se nourrir de manière vraiment saine, le Dr Price recommande de compléter les repas avec de l'huile de foie de morue à raison de 5 mL par jour pour un adulte. Il évoque également le beurre produit en juin avec le lait de vaches paissant dans des prés en altitude, mais l'industrialisation complète de la chaîne laitière ne nous permet plus d'isoler les beurres de ce type...

I've read a lot about this book and wanted to own a copy myself for reference. Some books on the market have a number of missing chapters, but this book is complete, no missing information. So if you are looking for the complete book, order this edition.