The Diet Dr. Weston A. Price Linked to Exceptional Dental Health and Strong Physical Vitality
Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist and researcher who began his unique investigations in the early 1930s. He became a pioneer in exploring why some people have naturally straight, cavity-free teeth while others suffer from tooth decay and broader inflammatory health issues.
For more than ten years, he traveled the world with his wife, who played a crucial role in documenting the important observations and conclusions he made during his research.
He is the author of the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, which I highly recommend for anyone interested in seeing how nutrition influences physical and dental health.
Price explored populations that lived isolated from modern society. His research included remote Swiss villages, Gaelic communities in the Outer Hebrides, Indigenous groups across the Americas, Melanesian and Polynesian islanders of the South Seas, various African tribes, Australian Aboriginal communities, and the Māori people of New Zealand.
The documentary is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRVBHatBuSY&t=625s
Wherever he traveled to these communitites, he observed well-developed jaws, cavity-free teeth, good physique and a strong sense of optimism among these populations.
Could diet have something to do with this optimism? Does diet influence how a person feels, perceives the world, and their overall state of relaxation?
Price repeatedly wrote that people in isolated communities were:
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relaxed and emotionally stable
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socially cohesive and cooperative
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confident and purposeful in daily life
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less anxious or neurotic (in his interpretation)
How do traditional diets differ from those of modern societies?
His analysis of the diets of isolated civilizations showed that their food contained four times more water-soluble vitamins, calcium, and other minerals, and ten times more fat-soluble vitamins — A, D, E, and K. These can be found in animal products like butter, red meat, eggs, and shellfish, which, by the way, are labeled as unhealthy by the American public.
Humans need fats, but the fats consumed should be saturated. They are crucial for brain health, the nervous system, and toxin elimination. Without enough fats, the body struggles to eliminate toxins.
One interesting finding by Dr. Weston Price was that 30–80% of caloric intake came from fat.
Fat is also crucial for mineral absorption. Vitamins A and E are only properly absorbed when consumed with fat. If you supplement with these vitamins, it is a good idea to take them with a source of fat, such as a piece of butter, cheese, or full-fat milk.
Dr. Price identified another fat-soluble nutrient, which he called Activator X. It is found in poultry fat and liver, aged cheeses, egg yolks, and butter from cows grazing on fast-growing green grass during spring and fall. Traditional populations all consumed a source of this nutrient in their diets, which is now believed to be vitamin K2.
Vitamin K2, often called the “calcium traffic controller,” works especially well with vitamin D. Vitamin D increases calcium absorption, while K2 helps ensure that calcium is properly utilized in the body.
Summary of the characteristics of traditional diets
- Nutrient-dense foods — high in vitamins, minerals, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K)
- Rich in animal fats — including butter, organ meats, eggs, seafood, and animal fat
- Whole, unprocessed foods — no refined sugar, white flour, or industrial oils
- Presence of fat-soluble activators — especially what he called Activator X (now believed to be vitamin K2)
- Use of organ meats and seafood — valued as sacred or fertility foods
- Proper preparation of grains and legumes — soaking, fermenting, or sprouting to improve digestion and mineral absorption
- Naturally fermented foods — supporting gut health and nutrient availability
- Seasonal and local eating — diets adapted to environment and food availability
- High mineral content — particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and trace minerals
The Truth About Saturated Fats
Saturated fatty acids terminate the stress reactions, polyunsaturated fatty acids amplify them.- Ray Peat
You’ve probably heard advice from doctors to eat more saturated fats, limit eggs, and use vegetable oils instead of butter, ghee, or coconut oil for cooking, with the idea that saturated fats cause heart disease.
However, during the period when heart disease rose rapidly in the U.S. (1920–1960), consumption of animal fats actually declined, while intake of hydrogenated and industrially processed vegetable fats increased dramatically (USDA‑HNIS).
You might be wondering why some people burn in the sun often while others don't. People who eat PUFAs (polyunsaturated fats) have these fats integrate into their cell membranes, oxidation occurs, and they get burned.
Your skin is made from the fat you eat. If you want to prevent getting burned, exclude PUFAs from your diet and focus on saturated fats, because saturated fats are stable under UV light. People used to work indoors all day long back in the 1950s and rarely got sunburned. This is because they did not have PUFAs in their diet and were eating butter, eggs, milk, and raw cream.......
Do the saturated fats in coconut oil help you lose weight?
Back in the 1940s, US farmers tried using cheap coconut oil to fatten livestock, but it didn’t work. The high MCT content sped up the animals’ metabolism, making them lean, active, and constantly hungry instead of fat. Since this pro-thyroid effect wasn’t good for production, farmers switched to soy and corn, which produced fatter, more sluggish animals. Coconut oil also raises body temperature and supports the thyroid, allowing people to go longer without food. And guess what? Coconut oil is made up of 80–90% saturated fats!
Raw foods: superior or dangerous?
In the traditional cultures studied by Weston A. Price, a significant portion of the diet included raw foods such as raw milk, raw butter and cheese from grass-fed animals, as well as raw fish and organ meats. According to his observations, these nutrient-dense foods appeared to support strong dental health and proper skeletal development.
Another researcher who paid close attention to the role of food in healing was Francis M. Pottenger Jr. At his sanatorium in Monrovia, California, recovering patients were provided with generous portions of nutrient-dense foods such as liver, butter, cream, and eggs. He also administered adrenal cortex extracts in an attempt to help patients suffering from exhaustion and chronic illness.
He initially attempted adrenalectomy experiments in cats and then administered adrenal cortex extract—the same preparation he used with patients—to evaluate its therapeutic value. Many animals did not survive the surgery.
This led him to design a dietary experiment in which one group of cats was fed a completely raw diet of raw milk and raw meat, while other groups received variations that included pasteurized milk or cooked meat.
Pottenger reported that the cats maintained on the entirely raw diet survived the adrenalectomy. As the experiment continued across generations, he observed that the all-raw group appeared to remain healthier, showing strong skeletal development, resistance to parasites, easier pregnancies, and calmer behavior.
In contrast, cats receiving partially cooked diets reportedly developed progressive health problems, including facial narrowing, dental crowding, weaker bone and ligament structure, increased susceptibility to parasites and disease, and more difficult reproduction.
Raw foods retain more of their natural nutrients, while cooking can destroy many enzymes. Of course, the effects vary depending on the food. For example, mushrooms need to be cooked to eliminate certain toxic compounds, whereas raw milk is considered superior to pasteurized milk, which is often associated with inflammation in the body.
This idea isn’t new — The Lancet was already writing about immune milk therapy for allergies back in the 1800s. Modern research shows similar patterns, with farm living often linked to lower allergy rates, and some studies pointing to raw milk as the strongest protective factor, whether children live on a farm or not.
For example, a study of 4,700 primary school children in Shropshire, England found that just a few glasses of raw milk per week reduced allergy-related conditions by half.
This is a great website for anyone who is looking to find a farmer for raw milk: https://www.realmilk.com/
Hope you enjoyed this article and that you’ll embrace eating more foods in their natural, unprocessed forms, incorporating plenty of raw fruits and vegetables for optimal health. Remember: food can be the most powerful healer, or it can be a source of harm—so choose wisely, nourish your body, and let every meal be a step toward vitality........
https://www.realmilk.com/
https://journalajarr.com/index.php/AJARR/article/view/1040
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/traditional-diets/ancient-dietary-wisdom-for-tomorrows-children/#gsc.tab=0
https://www.westonaprice.org/wp-content/uploads/MainBrochure.pdf
https://www.realmilk.com/good-news-for-allergies/
