Ancestral Nutrition & Properly Prepared Whole Foods Flashcards

Weston A. Price, a dentist, traveled the world in the 1930s primarily to study the relationship between:

Answer: Traditional diets and dental arch development and tooth decay

His book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration documented good dental health and broad facial structure in isolated populations eating native foods.

What did Price observe when isolated populations adopted refined flour, sugar, and canned foods?

Answer: Increased dental decay and narrowed dental arches in the next generation

Price documented crowded teeth, narrow faces, and cavities in children born after dietary westernization.

Which trait was common across the diverse traditional diets Price studied?

Answer: Inclusion of nutrient-dense animal foods or fats and no refined sugar or flour

Despite wide variation in macronutrient ratios, all healthy groups ate nutrient-dense whole foods rich in fat-soluble vitamins.

Why do traditional cultures often pair grains with fermented dairy or add fat when preparing them?

Answer: Fat and fermentation help release and absorb nutrients while improving digestibility

Fat-soluble vitamins need dietary fat for absorption and fermentation reduces antinutrients.

Which Japanese food is a traditional fermented soy product made with a koji mold culture?

Answer: Miso

Miso is made by fermenting soybeans with salt and Aspergillus oryzae (koji), unlike unfermented soy products.

Which is a concern with excessive consumption of unfermented soy as emphasized in the traditional foods view?

Answer: Goitrogens, phytates, and enzyme inhibitors that can interfere with thyroid function and mineral absorption

Unfermented soy contains compounds that may affect thyroid function and mineral uptake, which fermentation reduces.

Cod liver oil is highlighted in traditional nutrition primarily as a source of:

Answer: Vitamins A and D plus EPA and DHA

Fermented or properly processed cod liver oil supplies natural vitamins A and D and omega-3 fatty acids.