Circling the world in the 1920’s and 30’s, Dr. Weston A. Price and his wife found the same sinister pattern among “primitive” populations, whether isolated Irish fisherman, tribal Africans, Pacific Islanders, Eskimos, North and South American Indians or Australian Aborigines. Those groups that followed their traditional nature-based diets enjoyed good health and vigor, and those that turned to the “civilized” diet of processed, sugar-laden foods soon developed a variety of ills, including misshapen bones and teeth, and the situation worsened with each generation.

He visited 134 indigenous peoples around the world, including:

39 Eskimo groups in Alaska and Canada, 8 South Pacific Islands, 15 African tribes, 13 Australian Aboriginal tribes, 21 New Zealand Maori, 25 ancient civilizations in Peru, isolated Swiss and Gaelics.

Dr. Price found that the people on their traditional diets had far superior health than the people who ate foods of modern commerce. There was relatively no cancer, heart disease, cavities, arthritis, suicide, mental disorders or crime. The tribal members had robust health, perfectly aligned white teeth, thick bones and could endure harsh physical trauma with ease.

Weston Price’s studies convinced him that the best diet was one that combined nutrient dense whole grains with animal products, particularly fish. The healthiest African tribe he studied was the Dinkas. They were not as tall as the cattle-herding Neurs groups but they were physically better proportioned and had greater strength. Their diet consisted mainly of fish and cereal grains. This is one of the most important lessons of Price’s research. He learned that a mixed diet of whole foods, one that avoids the extremes of the carnivorous Masai and the largely vegetarian Bantu, ensures optimum physical development.

Here are some of Dr. Price's own quotes from his book called "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration"

“The reputation of the (New Zealand) Maori people for splendid physiques has placed them on a pedestal of perfection. Much of this has been lost in modernization. …great physical endurance and good mind.”

(Torres Strait Islanders) “In their native state they have exceedingly little disease. Dr. J. R. Nimmo, the government physician in charge of the supervision of this group, told me in his thirteen years with them he had not seen a single case of malignancy…among the entire four thousand native population. He stated that during that same period he had operated several dozen malignancies for the white population, which numbers about three hundred.”

“Several of the tribes neighboring Ethiopia are agriculturists and grow corn, beans, millet, sweet potatoes, bananas, Kafir corn, and other grains, as their chief articles of food. Physically they are not as well built as either the tribes using dairy products liberally or those using fish from the fresh water lakes and streams. They have been dominated because they possess less courage and resourcefulness.”

Native Hotel Staff at Goma, Belgian Congo. “An examination of 320 teeth of ten individuals revealed twenty teeth with caries, or 6.3 per cent. It is significant that all of these carious teeth were in the mouth of one individual, the cook. The cook used European foods. The others all boarded themselves and lived on native diets.”

"I have referred to the importance of a high-vitamin butter for providing the fat-soluble activators to make possible the utilization of the minerals in the foods. In this connection, it is of interest that butter constitutes the principle source of these essential factors for many primitive groups throughout the world. …It’s brilliant orange color testified to the splendid pasture for the dairy animals. The most physically perfect people in northern India are probably the Pathans who live on dairy products largely in the form of soured curd, together with wheat and vegetables."

One of Dr. Schmidt's favorite quotes from Dr. Price is regarding the Melanesians of the island of Viti Levu. “My guide told me that it had always been essential, as it is today, for the people of the interior to obtain some food from he sea…at least every three months. This was a matter of keen interest, and at the same time disappointment since one of the purposes of the expedition to the South Seas was to find, if possible, plants or fruits which together, without the use of animal products, were capable of providing all of the requirements of the body for growth and for maintenance of good health and a high state of physical efficiency.”

Sally Fallon has stated, “When Dr. Weston Price made his pioneering studies of primitive peoples around the world, he was struck by the fact that almost every group he visited ate a certain amount of their animal protein raw. The proportion of raw animal protein in the diet varied considerably. Among the Eskimo groups it verged on 100 percent; natives of the Polynesian islands consumed a good portion of the seafood they caught without cooking it; African tribes valued liver in its raw state (and blood) essential to good health and optimum growth and strength. Tribes whose eating habits were largely vegetarian nevertheless ingested raw animal protein in the form of grubs and insects. The principle source of raw animal protein for European communities was unpasteurized milk products."

--Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions

“Dr. Price was often called to the bedside of dying individuals, when last rites were administered. He brought with him two things: a bottle of cod liver oil and a bottle of high vitamin butter oil from cows eating growing grass. He put drops of both under the tongue of the patient. More often than not, the patient revived. He was puzzled by the fact that cod liver oil alone and butter alone seldom revived the dying patient, but the two together worked like magic.”

From the book: Tripping Lightly Down the Prostaglandin Pathways