What Did Our Ancestors Eat?

Foods based on season, location and availability
Food was grown, foraged or planted – there were no grocery stores!
What they ate helped to shape them (and us)

What Has Happened to Our Food?

We have moved from eating whole foods diets (fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, meat, poultry, eggs, etc.) to store-bought, processed and refined foods.
Even our fruits and vegetables have declined in nutrients in the last century. One study of 43 crops concluded that the amounts of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and ascorbic acid have declined ranging from 6% to 38% between 1950 and 1999 (1).
Soil contains fewer vitamins and minerals.
We eat more refined, sugary foods.
We tend to eat convenience foods or packaged foods as opposed to cooking from scratch.

Weston A. Price

Weston A. Price was a dentist who began investigating the connection between diet, dental health and overall health in the 1930s. He visited communities all over the world to observe their diets. Some of his key findings:

Those who ate traditional or native foods had beautiful teeth, wide dental arches, no degenerative disease.
Those who consumed a Western-style diet had dental decay, crooked teeth, narrow dental arches, arthritis, and all degenerative diseases.

According to Price, traditional diets include (2):

No refined or denatured food
Some kind of animal food – and the whole animal is consumed
Vitamin and mineral-rich foods
Fermented, probiotic-rich foods
Soaked and sprouted seeds, nuts and grains
Healthy fats, including an appropriate balance of omega 6:omega 3
A focus on nourishing children and teaching them fundamental dietary principles

Things to Think About

Where are your ancestors from, and what did they eat to thrive?
What are your ancestral foods?
What foods do you need to be eating today in order to thrive in today’s environment?

References

1. Davis, Donald R., et al. “Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 6, Dec. 2004, pp. 669–682., doi:10.1080/07315724.2004.10719409.

2. Weston A Price Foundation. “Principles of Healthy Diets.” The Weston A. Price Foundation, Weston A. Price Foundation, 1 Jan. 2000, www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/principles-of-healthy-diets-2/.

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