The forgotten secrets for a long life of health and vitality
What if the key to a healthy life and longevity were to leverage the wisdom of our ancestors rather than the latest technology or fad?
Dr. Weston A Price (https://www.westonaprice.org/) was a dentist who travelled around the world in the 1930's studying the health of native populations and the effect of modern lifestyle on their oral and overall health.
He travelled to remote regions in Switzerland, Scotland, North America, Africa, Fiji and Australia - tough to do today, near impossible in the the 1930s!
Dr. Price found that native populations whose diet was uncorrupted by Western refined and processed foods had an incredible bill of health!
Including a fully formed dental arch with all their teeth (wisdom teeth too), no cavities and impressive physiques.
These people nourished their bodies with the food found naturally in their environment including seafood, meat, organs, raw dairy products, root vegetables and berries.
They had no chronic disease like diabetes, heart disease and mental disease.
Plus, they were in incredible physical shape with well developed muscle and very little body fat.
Check out this photo taken on Dr. Price's travels through Australia of three indigenous men. The man in the centre must be in his 60s. These blokes have never stepped foot in a gym in their lives, amazing what proper nutrition and a hunter gatherer lifestyle can do!
Dr. Price also visited an isolated valley in Switzerland where he examined the local people who had good teeth, great physiques and immunity to disease.
They ate dairy products, whole rye bread whole plant foods. Meat was eaten once a week.
In contrast, Swiss children living in modern environments had widespread tooth decay, poorly formed dental arches and greater succeptibility to disease. Their diet included fewer dairy products with the addition of sugar and refined flour.
Dr. Price discovered a similar phenomenon in a Gaelic community off Scotland where the traditional diet was primarily seafood, meat, organs and root vegetables.
Checkout the photos below of two young men who are twins. The one on the left eats the 'food of commerce' and has rampant tooth decay, the one on the right eats a traditional diet and has a excellent teeth.
Lessons from the work of Dr. Weston A. Price:
Avoid what Dr. Price refers to as the 'foods of commerce' (high margin modern foods manufactured with profit in mind including:
- White flour including bread and pasta
- Refined sugar
- Alcohol
Eat more nutrient-rich foods that are high in vitamins and minerals including:
- Fish
- Meat
- Raw dairy
- Animal organs
Watch this 3 minute video for a quick summary of Dr. Price's findings:
And for a more detailed recount of Dr. Price's work, watch this video (it features some incredible footage which is now over 90 years old!):
Contrary to what we've been taught by school and the media, primitive people lived long healthy lives into their 80s, 90s, 100s and beyond without the use of modern medicine.
This is not reflected in the life expectancy data because rates of infant mortality distort the statistics.
If you made it past 10 years old in a primitive tribe, the odds of living a long healthy life were in your favour. 120 years plus was achievable. Seriously.
How many people today can say they're living a life of health and vitality past 50 years old?
Dr. Price made important discoveries into the world of nutrition by looking at the lives of native people living the way of our ancestors.
It seems today we are always looking to the future for some kind of innovative health miracle...
Would tapping into ancient wisdom, fine-tuned over thousands of years not be a more effective method of discovery?
I highly recommend reading the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, you can purchase a copy of his book Nutritional and Physical Degeneration from Amazon or Booktopia.
1 comment
Thank you for a very interesting article. I was brought up eating a mostly vegetarian diet and my mum used to send me to the butcher down the road from her health food shop occasionally to buy a ham hock to make pea and ham soup with. I loved the smell of the butcher shop and the butchers were lovely, friendly people. I had no idea then that they had the real health food shop. Our diet high in pasta, rice, tofu, soy milk, beans, fruit, veg and ‘tvp’ gave us all a mouth full of cavities. I think it also contributed to our mental health as I feel much more stable, happy and grateful now I eat mostly meat and dairy foods. They say your second brain is in your gut and we were designed to eat meat so that makes sense. Thanks :)