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theseasoul's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
4.5
|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||
Weston A. Price sure did leave a legacy. His research on primitive nutrition is the reason for the newfound health and vitality of myself and so many others. This extensive commentary is absolutely life-changing, even though the research was conducted close to a century ago. I’m sure some of the science is outdated, and a whole lot of development has gone on in this field. But the overarching theme of his life studies are timeless and ever relevant: real, traditional food is nothing less than necessary, and modern, processed food… well, it pretty much wrecks everything. Excellent health should be automatic, but modern food inhibits whole-body wellness on pretty much every level.
There’s a lot of repetition in Price’s presentation of his research. He was EXTREMELY thorough. The same basic conclusion is reached study after study after study. But, if you’re interested in the topic of ancestral nutrition as much as I am, you’ll find his research utterly fascinating and gripping regardless of the repetition. I knew a lot of the basics already, but it was so interesting to learn about how nutrition affects dental health and jaw formation. And heredity’s role in it all, or the absence of its role—I’m particularly curious where modern science is at with this, because I wonder if malnutrition is so engrained in everybody’s DNA at this point that it has become hereditary even though it wasn’t in the first few generations? Are the many health issues caused by lack of proper nourishment still theoretically reversible within a couple generations, or are we too far gone? Yeah… I’m so curious about how some of this science contrasts with new discoveries and such since the days of Weston A. Price. Somebody needs to write a new updated version, or an annotated version, or something.
This book ultimately impressed on me a renewed sense of awe for just how intentionally God designed the natural world and our place in it. I think it’s so cool that I get to live in this world and be a part of it. At the same time, the degree to which nature has degenerated (so much more since this book was written) is sad and frustrating to think about. I doubt modern society could ever reach full health again, but all we can do is keep nourishing our bodies to the best of our ability with what we still have. And in the end, as important and vital as good nutrition is, the body will still inevitably fade away and the soul is what matters most. There’s hope beyond this degenerating world!
|| Content warnings ||
Just thought I’d mention that Weston A. Price uses outdated/offensive language for both native groups and disabled individuals, terms that were typical of this time period.
Weston A. Price sure did leave a legacy. His research on primitive nutrition is the reason for the newfound health and vitality of myself and so many others. This extensive commentary is absolutely life-changing, even though the research was conducted close to a century ago. I’m sure some of the science is outdated, and a whole lot of development has gone on in this field. But the overarching theme of his life studies are timeless and ever relevant: real, traditional food is nothing less than necessary, and modern, processed food… well, it pretty much wrecks everything. Excellent health should be automatic, but modern food inhibits whole-body wellness on pretty much every level.
There’s a lot of repetition in Price’s presentation of his research. He was EXTREMELY thorough. The same basic conclusion is reached study after study after study. But, if you’re interested in the topic of ancestral nutrition as much as I am, you’ll find his research utterly fascinating and gripping regardless of the repetition. I knew a lot of the basics already, but it was so interesting to learn about how nutrition affects dental health and jaw formation. And heredity’s role in it all, or the absence of its role—I’m particularly curious where modern science is at with this, because I wonder if malnutrition is so engrained in everybody’s DNA at this point that it has become hereditary even though it wasn’t in the first few generations? Are the many health issues caused by lack of proper nourishment still theoretically reversible within a couple generations, or are we too far gone? Yeah… I’m so curious about how some of this science contrasts with new discoveries and such since the days of Weston A. Price. Somebody needs to write a new updated version, or an annotated version, or something.
This book ultimately impressed on me a renewed sense of awe for just how intentionally God designed the natural world and our place in it. I think it’s so cool that I get to live in this world and be a part of it. At the same time, the degree to which nature has degenerated (so much more since this book was written) is sad and frustrating to think about. I doubt modern society could ever reach full health again, but all we can do is keep nourishing our bodies to the best of our ability with what we still have. And in the end, as important and vital as good nutrition is, the body will still inevitably fade away and the soul is what matters most. There’s hope beyond this degenerating world!
|| Content warnings ||
Just thought I’d mention that Weston A. Price uses outdated/offensive language for both native groups and disabled individuals, terms that were typical of this time period.
skahn's review
4.0
Most people only hear about Price from the "raw milk" crowd. That topic is only a tiny part of his work, and he talks about healthy diets that include no dairy whatsoever.
This is probably one of the most significant works on nutrition and health I have read. Price claims NO PERFECT DIET, but seeks to articulate ideal common principles of the diets he examined.
The principles of health, extracted from fine specimens of "primitive" peoples, include:
1. excluding all white flour; only including freshly ground whole-grain flours.
2. excluding all added sugars.
3. including only fresh fruits, vegetables, and dark greens; if cooked, lightly steamed.
4. including sprouted beans and seeds.
5. excluding stale fats and reused oils.
The mere implementation of #1 & #2 will see hugely improved effects because flour is denatured wheat with the bran (fiber) and middlings (minerals) removed and the germ killed. #1 and #2 concern "empty" calories.
The unspoken formula for health in this book is:
HEALTH = NUTRIENTS / CALORIES
The trick is to acquire enough nutrients before our bodies feel like they have "enough" calories. The way to do this is to seek out nutrient-dense foods. The problem with looking for good food is that even the best soils in the USA are dying, and the soils of the humid South East are millions -- millions -- of years old with virtually all soluble minerals long gone.
So how do we find these foods anymore? Reading William Albrecht's "Soil Fertility and Animal Health" will get you going in the right direction. It is not the dogmatic J.I. Rodale path of more organic matter. We need that, but we don't merely need more carbon -- we are lacking soluble rock minerals.
Sea foods, greens, sprouts, whole grains, cold fermented foods, dried foods, organ meats, cod liver oil, mineral-dense butter oil (from fast growing grasses)....
One quibble I have with Weston Price is his (correct) claim that no native stock he examined that was virtually cavity-free was vegetarian. All, in some capacity, ate meat (or organs). Price (wrongly) indicates that the only practical external source of Vitamin D is meat; this is false: mushrooms are the only easy non-animal source of Vitamin D.
I would posit that a vegetarian diet is ALSO possible, and if Price had access to more information on mushrooms, which have more protein than meat AND zero calories, he too would gladly embrace that possibility.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
This is probably one of the most significant works on nutrition and health I have read. Price claims NO PERFECT DIET, but seeks to articulate ideal common principles of the diets he examined.
The principles of health, extracted from fine specimens of "primitive" peoples, include:
1. excluding all white flour; only including freshly ground whole-grain flours.
2. excluding all added sugars.
3. including only fresh fruits, vegetables, and dark greens; if cooked, lightly steamed.
4. including sprouted beans and seeds.
5. excluding stale fats and reused oils.
The mere implementation of #1 & #2 will see hugely improved effects because flour is denatured wheat with the bran (fiber) and middlings (minerals) removed and the germ killed. #1 and #2 concern "empty" calories.
The unspoken formula for health in this book is:
HEALTH = NUTRIENTS / CALORIES
The trick is to acquire enough nutrients before our bodies feel like they have "enough" calories. The way to do this is to seek out nutrient-dense foods. The problem with looking for good food is that even the best soils in the USA are dying, and the soils of the humid South East are millions -- millions -- of years old with virtually all soluble minerals long gone.
So how do we find these foods anymore? Reading William Albrecht's "Soil Fertility and Animal Health" will get you going in the right direction. It is not the dogmatic J.I. Rodale path of more organic matter. We need that, but we don't merely need more carbon -- we are lacking soluble rock minerals.
Sea foods, greens, sprouts, whole grains, cold fermented foods, dried foods, organ meats, cod liver oil, mineral-dense butter oil (from fast growing grasses)....
One quibble I have with Weston Price is his (correct) claim that no native stock he examined that was virtually cavity-free was vegetarian. All, in some capacity, ate meat (or organs). Price (wrongly) indicates that the only practical external source of Vitamin D is meat; this is false: mushrooms are the only easy non-animal source of Vitamin D.
I would posit that a vegetarian diet is ALSO possible, and if Price had access to more information on mushrooms, which have more protein than meat AND zero calories, he too would gladly embrace that possibility.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
laurafigueiredo's review
1.0
I had read many recommendations which suggested this book as a great nutritional reference.
While I do not doubt the value of the information here presented, the book itself is awfully tedious. After a while it becomes very repetitive, it just goes on and on and on with examples of exactly the same problems and situations.
It indeed reflects some interesting facts but at a certain point the text does not add anything at all - just looking at the different example pictures would suffice to most readers.
I would only recommend it to those readers who are deeply interested in the unhealthy effects of modern nutrition and would not mind a bit of a boring read just for the sake of finding more evidences that support their opinion.
While I do not doubt the value of the information here presented, the book itself is awfully tedious. After a while it becomes very repetitive, it just goes on and on and on with examples of exactly the same problems and situations.
It indeed reflects some interesting facts but at a certain point the text does not add anything at all - just looking at the different example pictures would suffice to most readers.
I would only recommend it to those readers who are deeply interested in the unhealthy effects of modern nutrition and would not mind a bit of a boring read just for the sake of finding more evidences that support their opinion.
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