Proof that Modern Foods Cause Human Degeneration

Many of today’s most serious health problems were much less of a concern just a century ago, and even then, they were much more prevalent than they should have been. The amazing work of Dr. Weston Price shows in dramatic fashion how modern foods are a major cause of this rapid degeneration.

As a dentist, Dr. Price witnessed a high incidence of tooth decay and other degenerative conditions that were characteristic of poor health. He believed that these conditions were a result of factors that were missing from the typical modernized diet and was determined to identify what they were. To find the answers he wanted, he realized that he needed a control population that wasn’t effected by the influence of modernized civilization. As such, he spent several years traveling the world to study primitive cultures that were still isolated from the modern way of life, and by doing so, he made some remarkable discoveries.

Despite the fact that much of Dr. Price’s groundbreaking work was published in the 1930s, it hasn’t received even a fraction of the attention that it warrants, and as a result, we’re still suffering from many of the same problems that it so clearly provides a solution to.

Why We Have a Lot to Learn From Primitive Cultures

Dr. Price studied isolated populations of 14 different ethnicities, each of which typically consisted of a number of different sub cultures and hundreds if not thousands of people. The health of these isolated populations was so robust that they lived quite well without any assistance from modern medical professionals, and because of their admirable integrity and happiness, they had no need for prisons either. Their incidence of tooth decay and modern disease was practically non existent, and even childbirth was a simple process that didn’t involve hospitalization or the long and painful labor that’s so typical today.

As Dr. Price discovered, one of the primary factors that allowed these people to enjoy such an excellent level of health and wellbeing was the food that they ate.

Ancient Nutritional Wisdom

Although there’s a wide variation in the types of diets followed by the primitive cultures that Dr. Price studied, the one common and undeniable factor is that they were all based on natural whole foods. Some populations relied almost exclusively on animal foods while others relied more heavily on plant life. However, Dr. Price didn’t find any populations that subsisted entirely on a vegetarian diet. In fact, a number of groups regularly traveled great distances to obtain the animal food that they believed was essential to their health and wellbeing.

It was common for the most robust and physically impressive populations to rely heavily on fish and other types of seafood. Also interesting is the fact that many of the primitive populations recognized the benefits of organ meat and preferred it over muscle meat. The Native American Indians, for example, knew that they could prevent scurvy by consuming the adrenal glands of large animals which we now know contain a significant amount of vitamin C.

Although grain and dairy have become the two most common and problematic foods in the modern diet, some primitive cultures relied on them heavily. Some of the isolated Swiss populations relied exclusively on rye, milk, cheese, and only a weekly serving of meat. However, it’s critically important to realize that the grains were whole and were milled and consumed shortly after being cracked, and the milk and cheese were raw. This is a far cry from the highly processed forms of grain and dairy that we eat today.

The Catastrophic Introduction of Modernized Foods

Dr. Price had the unpleasant but tremendously valuable opportunity to observe many primitive populations transition to a modernized diet that included foods like white flour, sugar, polished rice, vegetable fats, and canned goods. In these populations, he noticed a very disturbing increase in a number of problems including tooth decay, incomplete development of the face and body, mental disability, deadly infections of tuberculosis, crippling cases of arthritis, and extreme difficulties with childbirth.

The following table shows the rise in tooth decay observed by Dr. Price among primitive cultures transitioning to modernized foods.

Percentage of Tooth Decay
	Primitive	Modernized
Swiss	4.6	29.8
Gaelics	1.2	30
Eskimos	0.09	13
Northern Indians	0.16	21.5
Seminole Indians	4.0	40
Melanesians	0.38	29
Polynesians	0.32	21.9
Africans	0.2	6.8
Australian Aboriginies	0	70.9
New Zealand Maori	0.01	55.3
Malays	0.09	20.6
Coastal Peruvians	0.04	40+
High Andes Indians	0	40+
Amazon Jungle Indians	0	40+

The first generation of offspring from the primitives who switched to modern foods often had uncharacteristically narrow faces, overcrowded teeth, narrow and restricted nasal passages, high susceptibility to illness and disease, and even mental and physical disabilities. These characteristics were practically non existent in those who were born and raised exclusively on native foods.

Such degeneration has also been observed through research on animals. When fed diets that were lacking in essential nutrients, these animals produced offspring that had significant abnormalities such as missing eyeballs, displaced organs, extra or missing limbs, and deformed bones. One animal even had two faces while another was born with it’s intestines outside of it’s body.

The Demise of Native Populations

Eskimos and Northern Indians were able to survive brutally cold winters that lasted 10 months, and Africans were able to survive lions, leopards, and even malaria, but both of these populations have had considerable trouble surviving modern foods. Other groups haven’t done much better. Throughout the Marquesans islands, the robust population of native Polynesians has dropped from about 100,000 to about 2,000 with the introduction of modern foods, and the 20 million natives of French Equitorial Africa dropped to about 2.5 million in just 20 years due to modernization.

In response to the similarity of ancient Peking skulls and those of more recent Australian natives in comparison to the skulls of modernized man, Dr. Price states the following:

It is a matter of concern that if a scale were extended a mile long and the decades represented by inches, there would apparently be more degeneration in the last few inches than in the preceding mile. This gives some idea of the virulence of the blight contributed by our modern civilization.

Although this statement was made 70 years ago, the current prevalence of poor health and disease gives me little reason to believe that we’ve made any progress in reversing this degeneration.

We Still Haven’t Learned Our Lesson

Considering the number of people today who have a mouthful of fillings, needed braces to straighten their crooked teeth, have had difficulty with childbirth, or have dealt with any of the other characteristics experienced by the primitive cultures who switched to modern foods, it’s clear that we unfortunately haven’t learned much from Dr. Price’s invaluable work.

In his day, Dr. Price wisely recognized that there wasn’t enough knowledge about vitamins and other important nutrients to invent a processed diet that could effectively support optimal health. Although we now know much more about nutrition, the health problems that continue to plague us today strongly suggest that we still have a lot to learn. In fact, it may very well be the case that processed food will never be able to effectively duplicate the nutritional quality of natural food, and it’s highly questionable to assume that science can outsmart nature.

Good Nutrition Originates from the Soil

Documentaries such as Food, Inc. and Fresh make it obvious that modern farming practices will eventually deplete enough land to cause a shortage of food. These farming practices fail to replenish the nutrients that crops pull from the soil year after year, and as a result, the food produced is much less nutritious.

Dr. Price analyzed the nutritional content of milk samples obtained from various parts of the United States and Canada and discovered a strong correlation between depleted soil, inferior nutritional quality, and the incidence of heart disease, pneumonia, and other health issues. He was also able to correlate the distribution of the most intelligent people with the quality of the local food and soil.

Most, if not all, primitive cultures understood the importance of soil fertility and used natural practices to maintain it. Modern society has neglected this need, and instead of trying to solve the problem, we’ve merely chosen to prolong it with the use of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers.

There’s Much More to Know

The work of Dr. Weston Price represents some of the most important and foundational principles of healthy nutrition. In his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price provides a thorough discussion of his research as well as it’s implication on health and wellbeing. With more than 100 pictures, the book also provides a striking visual representation of the physical degeneration caused by the introduction of modern foods. If you have a serious interest in nutrition and natural health, this book is a must read.

I also recommend that you check out the website of the Weston A. Price Foundation which is based on Dr. Price’s work and is an excellent source of nutritional information.

I’d like to leave you with Dr. Price’s closing quote which I think so eloquently and clearly represents the essence of natural health:

“Life in all its fullness is mother nature obeyed.”

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