Ancestral Nutrition 3/6

Weston Price was a dentist from the USA who in the 1930s traveled the world studying the health and diets of traditional people. None of the primitive cultures that he studied ate the same foods. They did, however, have common eating practices:

1. Not Processed

Food from traditional cultures didn’t contain any refined foods, such as white sugar, white flour, canned foods, pasteurized or low-fat milk, vegetable oils and protein powders.

2. Animal Food

All traditional cultures ate animal foods, such as fish, shellfish, poultry, meat, eggs, milk and insects. The whole animal was eaten with the organ meats and fats preferred.

3. Fats

Traditional diets used animal fats lard, tallow, egg yolks, cream and butter. They used also traditional vegetable oils: olive, sesame, flax, and tropical oils such as coconut.

4. Raw

All traditional cultures cooked some of their food but all consumed a portion of their animal foods raw.

5. Bones

All traditional cultures use animal bones, usually in the form of gelatin-rich bone broths.

6. Fermented Foods

Traditional diets have a high content of food enzymes and beneficial bacteria from fermented vegetables, fruits, drinks, dairy, meats and condiments.

7. Grains

Seeds, grains and nuts are soaked, sprouted, fermented to neutralize anti-nutrients such as enzyme inhibitors, tannins and phytic acid.

8. Salt

All traditional diets contain some unrefined salt and a variety of herbs and spices.

9. Fruit and Vegetables

No traditional cultures were vegetarian. They all ate fresh vegetables that were in season and locally grown

10. Sacred Foods

Traditional cultures gave special nutrient-rich animal foods to parents-to-be, pregnant women and growing children. Small whole fish, fish eggs, liver and organ meats, raw milk, eggs, animal fat, insects

11. Natural Utensils

They cooked with traditional methods using traditional utensils made from stainless steel, cast iron, glass or ceramics.

12.Enjoyable

Meals were important family gatherings where everyone had fun and enjoyed the food.

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