Following on from the last post that mentions primitive diets and the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, I thought I would add my two cents worth on the the subject.
From Amazon: “For nearly 10 years, Weston Price and his wife traveled around the world in search of the secret to health. Instead of looking at people afflicted with disease symptoms, this highly-respected dentist and dental researcher chose to focus on healthy individuals, and challenged himself to understand how they achieved such amazing health.
Dr. Price traveled to hundreds of cities in a total of 14 different countries in his search to find healthy people. He investigated some of the most remote areas in the world. He observed perfect dental arches, minimal tooth decay, high immunity to tuberculosis and overall excellent health in those groups of people who ate their indigenous foods. He found when these people were introduced to modernized foods, such as white flour, white sugar, refined vegetable oils and canned goods, signs of degeneration quickly became quite evident.
Dental caries, deformed jaw structures, crooked teeth, arthritis and a low immunity to tuberculosis became rampant amongst them. Dr. Price documented this ancestral wisdom including hundreds of photos in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.”
There is a strong movement that supports Dr. Price’s work and encourages the consumption of animal products, raw milk, butter, grass fed beef and a natural diet. Of course there is a lot of merit in this as any diet that takes us away from processed, packaged and artifical food is a positive step in people’s health.
However, what I have found with the few people I have treated as a Naturopath who are following this diet – is that they have incorporated huge amounts of meat and fat into their diet at the expensive of just about everything else.
Porridge with great dollops of cream, cream in the coffee, two eggs with butter and a lamb chop with the fat - and that is just breakfast!! Where is the living green food in that?
It is no wonder that the few people I have seen in clinic who are eating in this way, have become quite sick, all of them were overweight, had very high cholesterol (a marker of poor liver function and oxidation) and had developed type 2 diabetes. As I have mentioned before, type 2 diabetes is a problem with too much fat in the diet – not sugar.
So even though there are some positive messages in the Weston A. Price research – we also have to place the context of that information into today’s life. We are mainly sedentary and full of toxins, and it has been shown by other researchers such as T Colin Campbell that a diet that consists of 10% of less animal products is one that can prevent many degenerative diseases.
So from my experience – raw, living, whole plant foods need to make up the bulk of your diet to achieve excellent health!
Leisa
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Leisa,
The Weston A. Price “Diet” is not a diet. It is meant to be a lifestyle which is followed in a natural healthy way. These are the principles of Dr. Price and the amazing group of scientists, farmers, authors, teachers, volunteers and regular people who comprise the membership of the Weston A. Price Foundation . The clients you speak about are simply gluttons who are using these principles to excuse their radical behaviour. Obviously, if they are seeking you out as a doctor they are out of balance and unwell! You forgot to mention that vegetables both steamed and raw, salads, bone broths, and fermented foods are also part of the prescribed healthy eating schedule of this lifestyle. It is a pity if anything you have said in your column discourages people from learning about the truth of processed milk (ever wonder why so many people are lactose intolerant?) and feed lot animals. As a Holistic Nutritionist, I caution you against promoting any form of radical “diet” and this must include the “raw foodists”.
If you would really like to understand The Weston A. Price “Diet”, I am sure Sally Fallon et al.would be happy to send you any one of the many edifying books they have about the Foundation.
Dear Robin,
This short blog post was not meant to be an in-depth expose of the pro’s and con’s of the principles of the Weston A. Price lifestyle and program. What is was, was a caution to people who may misinterpret teachings that advocate animal products as a part of a healthy diet, and take on those teachings to the exclusion of fresh, living food.
Being a naturopath who has experimented with any and all types of diets and healing regimes over 20 years, I have studied the work of Weston A. Price and Sally Fallon in depth, and am very familiar with the principles of their work. However, my point was that in clinic I have had several patients who have read the books and been to the Weston A. Price foundation meetings and their interpretation of what they learned, led them to eat the way that I described. To call these people simply gluttons is incredibly judgemental and inappropriate. These people were searching for answers to their health problems and thought they were doing the right thing with the information they were exposed to. I was not at these meetings so I cannot comment on how or why they interpreted the information this particular way – but as it is not a singular occurence, it leads me to believe that certain parts of Dr. Weston A. Price’s teachings may be being promoted over other essential elements of his work.
If you read my tagline it says “Healing is a journey, not just a raw food diet” – so I would not class myself as promoting any form of “radical” diet – but holistic healing on all levels, and that includes a diet that excludes processed foods and embraces a diet largely based on whole, living foods as found in nature. There are many paths to healing, and I believe that as practitioners we need to show compassion and understanding of where our patients are at, and not use righteousness to promote only one way of eating.
Anyone familiar with my work knows that I don’t promote an exclusively 100% raw vegan diet, and that in my lectures I speak of many dietary considerations in healing. My own personal belief, and from the results I have seen in patients and in my own health, is that a high percentage of raw food is optimal for most people. Beyond that, it is very individual as to the amount of animal products incorporated into the diet and I encourage people to experiment with themselves and trust their own body to tell them when they have found the balance that gives them optimal health.
I trust this explanation of my post clears up those misunderstandings.
Warm regards,
Leisa
“Porridge with great dollops of cream, cream in the coffee, two eggs with butter and a lamb chop with the fat – and that is just breakfast!!”
Even Dr Price would be shocked by this breakfast. I am a nutritionist who has taught and priscribed Price’s style of diet. I”ve had really good results. People can misuse the diet but on the other hand people do also misuse the low fat diet where they fail to include foods such as nuts and avocados because they are “fatty”.
That’s why people need you and I to explain how to go about fixing their diet. You can’t blame Dr Price. Even your advice can be misinterpreted.
Dear Kaspa,
Yes, I’m sure Dr Price would be shocked by that breakfast! I agree. Unfortunately there are plenty of people out there who are misrepresting his style of diet and people do use this as an excuse to indulge themselves and justify it as being “healthy” because of some misconstrued advice. It really is about balance as you say – and eating whole foods as opposed to processed, getting enough good fats and being sensible about whatever program you choose to incorporate. I certainly don’t blame Dr. Price – and yes, my advice can and has been misinterpreted many a time!
Leis
People are so confused now about diets,the fact is that its the very people that should be finding”the truth”that’s causing confusion.so lets keep things simple and until we really know the answer ,lets keep to what we do know which is.
1.Its not currently proven yet that stuffing ourselves full of meat,cream ,Milk etc(which is always processed and has chemicals added)is a good idea.
what is a good idea though is to eat good leafy green vegetables,fruit(not too much)and some good oily fish.(wash the fruit and source wild salmon or wild fish)not fish fingers!.
Its also a good idea to stay away from bread,flour and all other unnatural oils and fats.(yes even olive oil)basically anything that goes through “a complex process” or is in a packet should be avoided.
(until science can agree) . I’m also not a big fan of soya ,as that too needs to go through a process to be edible.
Basically imagine yourself in a kind of jungle Amazonian type primal surviving scenario(but your really in Tesco,s or sainsburys)then look at all the lovely colours of fruit, vegetables, and lovely fresh fish.then look at the frozen meal section and the everything wrapped in a packet section!(Yuk) .Its not rocket science,its really not!.If someone came to me and said”I’ve got heart disease from eating fresh fish, vegetables and fruit and moderate exercise,I would say”Nuts!”and yes they are healthy too, without salt and in moderation.
My question is basic. Where are the replication studies? Has any follow up work focused on the many variables (in particular activity level) that appears to be ignored?
I, too, believe strongly in “real” food. However, I like a good portion of my food to be from the ground and as organic as possible.
Pam’s comment [2/5/10] is relevant
I i swtiched tomorrow to the original Masai diet of mainly milk, meat and blood (3 meals a day to 80% satiety), don’t know if it would be the best thing for me (or you).
Everything’s relative and specific – Masai diet worked fine for the Masai, Okinawan diet works fine for the Okinawans, vegan diet works fine for 60-year old vegan Ironman triathletes, and so on.
You have to learn about your own body and figure out what works. Also helps to be intellectually curious and intelligent enough to understand the science and potential flaws in scientific arguments made by people coming from all parts of the spectrum (i.e., not be dogmatic)
I like the writings and recommendations of:
1. Michael Pollan: “eat food. not too much. mostly plants”
2. Gary Taubes: author of “Good Calorie, Bad Calorie”
3. Dr (dentist) Weston Price
Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t – think about it.
Dear Ashok,
Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply. I agree wholeheartedly with you and in all my teachings I encourage people to get in touch with their own body wisdom as to the best diet that suits them. Which can change during different stages of life, different stresses etc. I agree with eating real foods as found in nature – but within that realm, finding the best combination of foods can be an exercise in learning, experimenting and observing. As Ashok says, read, learn, but be wary of dogmatic principles.
Leisa
Very crucial in this conversation to include is the source of meat and cream. The meat, butter and milk MUST begin with the soil and how an animal is raised. It completely changes the structure of the food and how it tastes and is metabolized.
The soil where food starts cannot be contaminated but must be teeming with the billions of microorganisms that sustain the chain of life. The meat must come from grass-fed cows and bison. The chickens should not be fed soy and they should be free to roam on healthy land where they can eat bugs and all the little things they enjoy.
I am one of those people who thought I was going to die until I discovered Weston A. Price and his principles. I regained my neurological system and I got body tone in my breasts and butt that I never had enjoyed before.
Also, don’t forget how important fermentation is in food preparation. That is where so many rich enzymes, vitamins and nutrients are generated. How we grow and prepare food is everything. You know when you are healthy. Finally, I feel satisfied eating food that has substance and protects my brain and nerve cells.
Don’t think Weston A. Price is some fad diet. It’s about observation and honoring the natural wisdom of nature–and that requires study and firsthand experience to understand.
Dear Gina,
Thanks very much for your comments – I agree, the principles of the Weston A. Price diet are certainly not a fad and incorporate some incredibly valuable insights and information about food, health and the environment we live in. The importance of the soil, the food that comes from it, the animals that eat that food etc is vital and going against the priniciples of nature does nothing but harm for us, the animals and the environment. I incorporate many of the Weston A. Price principles in with my food, yet I choose to eat a mainly raw vegan diet with some exceptions such as raw butter, which is serving me well. I personally happen to have quite severe allergies to both eggs and dairy (even raw cultured) and choose to have very little meat in my diet for many reasons. I believe that each person needs to find their own balance in eating whole foods – and understanding of course, what is meant by whole, real food as found in nature and not interfered with by humans.
Leisa