Weston A. Price – have you heard of him?

(NEW:  bite sized pieces of WISDOM from WESTON A. PRICE…)

Recently I wrote a post about my “food conversion” story. In it I mentioned finding a website that made so much sense, something inside me changed the day I discovered it. I spent hours reading the information there from the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF).

Who is Weston A. Price?

Weston A. Price was a dentist who did research years ago, comparing the health and eating habits of those in America to those in traditional cultures. (Meaning people in remote areas who still ate the way their ancestors did.) His findings and the information in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration,” are the basis for the teachings found on the website and in the quarterly publication called, “Wise Traditions.” (Note: I was surprised at the price of this book, but it’s this much everywhere I’ve seen it, you can get it cheaper here if you buy it used, or if you don’t write in your books like I do, just check it out at the library!) GREAT NEWS! I was just told in a comment (below) by “Cheeseslave” (another nutrition blogger) that this book is available for free online. I like to write in my books, though, so I’ll make good use of my copy.

In his research he found these comparisons:

• His Patients ate: high fructose corn syrup/white sugar, white flour, protein powders, canned condensed milk, canned foods, vegetable oils, skim or low-fat milk
• People in traditional cultures ate: no refined foods, nutrient dense foods, foods with a higher healthy fat content, high enzyme content foods, foods higher in vitamins and minerals, animal foods, eggs

• Health of his patients: weak immune systems/not resistant to disease, narrow bone structures (narrow jaw = call the orthodontist; narrow pelvis = difficult childbirths, narrow nasal passages and constricted ear canal = upper respiratory infections), digestive disorders, weak dispositions
• Health of people from traditional cultures: resistant to disease/strong immune systems, healthy digestive systems, no infections, wide bone structure, hardy & strong

• His Patients’ teeth: tooth decay, crooked teeth, narrow jaw, narrow palates, overcrowding, underbites, narrow faces
• Teeth in traditional cultures: no tooth decay, straight teeth, wide jaw, wide palates, room for all the teeth, no overbites or underbites, round faces

What does this mean for us?

The home page of their website says, “The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism.” And in a recent e-mail from Sally Fallon, President of the WAPF, she summarized the main principles of the WAPF diet:

• Use of organ meats
• Use of bone broths
• Use of good fats
• Use of properly prepared nuts, grains and legumes
• Use of lacto-fermented foods

Basically, they teach us how to cook foods the way our ancestors did. Since most of us are so unfamiliar with this (along with our mothers and even many of our grandmothers), this cookbook: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocratsis one I refer to often.

Chicken feet anyone?

One piece of information though: as much as I believe in the wisdom at the WAPF and its teachings, and I love most of the recipes in the cookbook, I have to admit that a few of the suggestions I’m just not sure I’ll ever do. For example, in the cookbook it talks about making bone broth (more about this superfood in future posts) and how a way to make it even more nutrient dense is by throwing in some chicken feet – ICK! I just don’t see me tracking down some chicken feet at a foreign food market, supposedly where those are found. HOWEVER, I’ll bet that if I, or someone I cooked for, had arthritis issues or a joint disease, I might just go after some of those, as they provide extra nutrients needed for healing joints! All the “odd” foods we might hear about in other cultures, now it makes you wonder if they aren’t traditions handed down through generations for their healing wisdom! (GET THIS: my friend Lyn just told me that she found some chicken feet in the freezer at the farm where she gets her meat and she bought them! I told her I’m so proud of her to try something that sounds so gross to most of us. She said they made good broth, but surprisingly not as good as the time when she threw some gizzards in.)

Credibility issues

One part of the WAPF information that bothered me at first was that the studies by Weston A. Price seemed out-dated, since they were done so long ago. However, through the years as I’ve done more of my own research, I’ve come to realize that when the findings in your studies aren’t showing results that will bring about a big profit for various food manufacturers, there isn’t going to be any funding for more studies to be done on the topic.

Also, if you take the time to read through the site (the link is below), you may wonder, “Why haven’t I heard any of this stuff before?” I wondered that too, yet at the same time everything made so much sense, so I stuck with it. Through the past few years, however, there has been an explosion of this same common sense information coming out.  I’ve seen much more WAP research quoted in various publications and websites, not to mention that other more recent researchers are coming up with similar results pointing to the same conclusions about whole, nutrient dense foods, healthy fats, etc. The word is finally getting out!  (Update:  here’s a post with new saturated fat research!)

Lastly, the main reasons this site has credibility in my eyes is because:

• The main people who benefit from their information are local farmers! They are a non-profit organization and do not sell anything, although they do give their stamp of approval on certain products. Also, a page on their site shows complete information regarding the money that comes in and out of the WAPF.
• The articles on their site and in their quarterly publication, “Wise Traditions”, are full of references, clearly showing where they get their solid information.
• As I mentioned before, I happen to think that the teachings from the WAPF just make sense. (Read more here about the criteria I use to find the truth on health & nutrition.) Why would foods that have nourished people for centuries become taboo in the last few decades? (Meat, butter, eggs, etc.) With the increase in refined and processed foods (and things like, “I can’t believe it’s not butter“), we’ve had MORE heart attacks and cancer, not less! That’s just the tip of the iceberg, there’s much more common sense nutrition at the site. (Read more about healthy fats.)
  

If you want to find farms in your area and other stores selling more nutritious foods, go to http://www.eatwellguide.org/. Also, you could request the “shopping guide” at the WAPF site. This little $1 booklet gives you information for each category of food, listing which are “better”, “best”, and which to “avoid”.

Just doing the best we can…

All this is why I often refer to the WAPF site and why many of my recipes are made using the healthy ingredients and traditional food preparation techniques recommended there. Sometimes this is simple to implement, other times much more time-consuming. As time goes on I see there are areas that I’m doing well in, but I also see many areas where I have a long way to go.

God has it right…again

The bottom line is that we don’t need to accept the road that would’ve been ahead for us and our children, had we continued on our processed and refined food diets. There is a better way, and as you would expect, it’s all about getting back to the way God intended us to nurture the bodies we’ve been given. I hope you’ll keep reading and sending your comments, so we can all learn together on this journey toward better health.

• ROOKIE TIPS
  
• Q & A with Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation
• Raw milk series – part #1
• The Weston A. Price Foundation website
• Find and get involved at your local WAP chapter (monthly meetings, etc.)
• My book suggestions, including a couple by Sally Fallon
• My Dark Secrets
• Information about this site
• Why everyone should take cod liver oil
• WAP shopping guides (print out the form here and mail in) – these $1 shopping guides are full of information to help you know which foods are better, best, and which to avoid
• A lengthy, but well-written article on the findings of Weston A. Price & dental health
• 12/08 Someone just sent me this article by an author who disagrees with the teachings of WAP. While I disagree with him, obviously, I’m including it so you can hear what others might be saying, and so you can decide for yourself. Also because the comments at the bottom were very interesting!

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