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In the 1930's, a dentist by the name of Weston Price,
sought out the world's most traditional societies and recorded one of
the most famous epidemiological studies of all time. Price and his wife
traveled more than 100,000 miles to study the health of isolated
communities in Australia, Africa, South America, Polynesia, Europe and
northern Canada.
He noted the oral health of those on native diets by
counting cavities and examining tooth over-crowding and palate size. He
related these studies in comparison with those who were eating refined
and processed food manufactured from the western world settlers
bordering the villages.
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Photographs taken at the turn of the 20th century illustrating a
more simple time when people ate mostly home grown foods prepared without
refinement, additives, or chemicals.
Prior to the turn of the century (1887-1890),
the
average consumption of sugar was only 5 lbs. per person per year and
cardiovascular disease and cancer were virtually unknown. Now we
have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. to
a whopping 145
pounds of sugar per person per year!
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As to be expected those isolated individuals eating highly mineralized,
nutritious, whole, unprocessed foods faired better than any of the
people that had introduced refined foods into the diet. The total number
of cavities per person was almost zero in the traditional societies
compared to rampant decay in those eating refined foods. Also the number
of people with small palates resulting in over-crowded crooked teeth was
also non existent in the whole foods diet people.
Price observed that northern people (such as Inuit Eskimo) who dieted
predominantly on animal products fared as well physically as those who
lived in warmer equatorial countries and dieted on a primarily
plant-based diet. The traditional native diet for the environment being
lived in provided the proper amount of macro and micronutrients ensuring
good health and strong stature.
Price concluded that vegetarianism was not the answer for every
human, but rather the food that proved best for the individual was the
food found in its natural environment in the whole, unprocessed form.
The observations proved to be a historical breakthrough for advances in
human nutrition and the benefits of a traditional foods diet.
Using Price's study as a template of proper nutrition, one can infer
that a single diet for all humans would not be appropriate because
multiple factors determine the specific dietary needs for each
individual.
* Introduction
* History of Metabolic Typing *
How We Test
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