Primitive vs Western Diet

 
 The most important book on health is “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” which was published in 1939 by Doctor Weston Price. For 10 years he and his wife traveled the world in the 1930s documenting hundreds of primitive tribes in 14 different countries before and after influence of modern civilization.(1) 

 These primitives were very strong and healthy and, additionally, they all had straight teeth, white teeth, and no cavities. However, when introduced to the western diet they all got cavities and the next generation of children  were born with crowded jaw, crooked teeth, narrower nostrils, and narrower eye openings. Dr. Price documented this with hundreds of photographs. 

 Later, primitive people were found to have very low rates of nearsightedness. “While fewer than one per cent of the Inuit and Pacific islanders had myopia early in the last century, these rates have since skyrocketed to as high as 50 per cent. These 'overnight epidemics' have usually been blamed on the increase in reading following the sudden advent of literacy and compulsory schooling in these societies. 

 “But while reading may play a role, it does not explain why the incidence of myopia has remained low in societies that have adopted Western lifestyles but not Western diets.
 “In the (pacific) islands of Vanuatu they have eight hours of compulsory schooling a day, yet the rate of myopia in these children is only two per cent. The difference is that Vanuatuans eat fish, yam and coconut rather than white bread and cereals.” (2)   

 High rates of nearsightedness for primitive tribes with primitive lifestyles would greatly reduce their chance of survival. If nearsightedness was strictly a genetic anomaly, it would have disappeared from the gene-pool thousands of years ago.   

 Doctor Price attributed such changes to white flour, sugar, and vegetable oil. I can see how white flour and sugar could explain the cavities but how could any of those dietary factors explain genetic changes in one generation?   

 Doctor Price's intuition was incredible. It was mainly due to vegetable oil because vegetable oil is made from seeds. Plants provide fruit for animals to eat in exchange for helping to spread the seeds but most plants evolved with substances to discourage animals from eating the seeds. Most seeds are highly toxic with cyanide, strychnine,and arsenic being common chemical protections.Edible grains and legumes contain weaker toxins that can be destroyed by cooking.  However, another plant protection discovered recently is microRNA which is not destroyed by cooking.   

 It is true that the purpose of most plant microRNA is the growth and development of the seed into a plant but  plant microRNA has been shown to have a negative effect on human development and function.   

 An article published in Scientific American, December 1, 2011, states: “Although microRNAs do not code for proteins, they prevent specific genes from giving rise to the proteins they encode. A specific rice microRNA was shown to bind to and inhibit the activity of receptors controlling the removal of LDL—“bad” cholesterol—from the bloodstream.” (3)  Rice has 3999 other microRNA segments that may have negative effects yet to be identified. Wheat has a much lower 68 microRNA segments while Quinoa (an ancient grain) has only 3. The popular vegetable oils, Rapeseed (Canola) has 882, Soy has 600, Corn has 280, Olive has 135 microRNA segments.   

 Since microRNA can affect human growth and development at a genetic level, the genetic change observed by Doctor Price in one generation could be explained by a diet high in plant microRNA, some of which has likely evolved as plant defense mechanisms.   

 On the subject of rice, orientals have lower worldwide average levels of cholesterol.(4) How is that possible? Since rice has been consumed by orientals for over 2500 years, those that could not handle the diet died off over that time. If the crowed jaw, crooked teeth, narrower nostrils, and narrower eye openings that Dr. Price observed is taken to extreme, the result is oriental features. They are a genetically selected race. Europe and America have the highest rates of cholesterol maybe because genetic selection due to rice consumption is just beginning there. 

 At the same time, the rates of myopia for orientals is over 90%, much higher than world averages. Rice and soy are very likely major factors.   

 I recommend avocado oil for cooking and mayonnaise as it is the only vegetable oil not made with the seed because the seed is too toxic. Use strained tomato sauce for spaghetti sauce and ketchup because the seeds and the skin are removed. Cook beans and lentils in a pressure cooker. The higher temperatures destroy more of the toxins. Eat quinoa instead of rice. Peel vegetables and fruits if possible because the peal will have a higher level of plant pesticides than the fruit. If pregnant, consider a Paleo diet but do not eat pork. (5)   

 1) “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” was a 500 page book published in 1939, is well documented with hundreds of photographs, and is available as a free e-book on line at:   http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html (See chapter 9, African Tribesmen had perfect teeth in the 30s!)   
 2) https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2120-short-sightedness-may-be-tied-to-refined-diet/   Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2120-short-sightedness-may-be-tied-to-refined-diet/#ixzz6Oc363QbU   
 3): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vitamins-minerals-and-microrna/   
 4) https://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/cholesterol_mean_text/en/
 5) https://www.treehugger.com/pigs-and-humans-more-closely-related-thought-according-genetic-analysis-4863855   Pig DNA is much closer to human DNA than previously thought. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-pork-bad  If there is increased risk of one autoimmune disease then there is probably an increased risk of other autoimmune diseases.