Dr. Price noticed that his patients suffered increasingly more chronic and degenerative diseases over the duration of his practice. He noticed younger patients, the children of the parents he began treating 10-15 years before, had increasingly deformed dental arches, crooked teeth, and cavities.  He realized that the children were exhibiting poorer health and a greater disposition to illness than their parents.  He wanted to know “why?”  What could be the cause? He had heard word of native cultures, so-called primitive people, who lived happily and free of disease and he wanted to find out, one, do they exist? Two, what were they doing differently to prevent tooth decay, crooked teeth and chronic illness?
            Dr. Price sold his practice and both he and his wife travelled around the world to remote locations. Together, they specifically looked for healthy people who had not yet been adulterated by civilization and modern technologies. They traveled to every corner of the world, including the isolated villages in the Swiss Alps, the Andes mountains in Peru, the forests of northern Canada, the Polynesian islands, the Arctic Circle, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, and several locations in Africa. In total, Dr. Price and his wife visited with fourteen groups of native peoples.
            To his surprise he found less than 1% of tooth decay in all the people he visited. He also found that their teeth were perfectly straight and white, with well-formed facial features and high dental arches. Not one of them required orthodontic or dental braces to have perfectly straight teeth.  Dr. Price found no incidence of any degenerative diseases, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, hemorrhoids, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, chronic fatigue syndrome (it was called neurasthenia in Dr. Price’s day), etc.
            Dr. Price observed in great detail to study what these people ate. He found that each group of people ate very differently from the other. He also noted that all cultures consumed fermented foods each day. Foods such as cheese from RAW milk, cultured butter from RAW milk, (unpasteurized) yogurt, kefir, or fermented grain drinks like kaffir beer (made from millet) in Africa, or fermented fish, such that the Inuit ate as part of their native diet. The last major feature of native diets that Price found was that they were rich in fat, especially animal fat, including butter, cream, lard (from pork), and tallow (from beef), as well as organ meats. The primitive people knew that they would become sick if they did not consume enough fat because it contained specific nutrients, which we now know them to be the ‘fat-soluble’ nutrients, which includes vitamins A, E, D, K, F and many more. The traditional foods that the natives consumed contained a high food enzyme content from RAW dairy, RAW meat & fish, RAW honey, RAW fruits, cold-pressed oils, fermented & unpasteurized wines and beers, naturally preserved, fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages, dairy, meats & condiments.  Many of their diets included seeds, grains & nuts that were soaked, sprouted, germinated, fermented or naturally leavened to neutralize anti-nutrients (enzyme inhibitors, tannins, phytic acid, etc.)
            While, all cultures consumed vegetables, Dr. Weston Price never found a totally 100% vegetarian society that was free of disease and chronic illness. Furthermore, the foods of traditional diets were natural and unprocessed. Their foods did NOT contain preservatives, additives, or artificial colorings. They did not contain processed sweeteners such as sugar, cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup. They did not contain white flour or canned foods. Their milk products were NOT pasteurized, homogenized, or low fat. The traditional diets of the native peoples did NOT contain refined, dehydrogenated or hydrogenated vegetables oils. The animal and plant foods consumed were raised and grown on pesticide-free soil and were not given growth hormones or antibiotics. There were no fungicides, herbicides, pesticides sprayed onto their foods. In short, these people always ate organic.
            All of Dr. Price’s findings and photos are compiled in his masterly documented book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
            He documents  the link between poor nutrition and the negative consequences on health. He also demonstrates that if societies returned to their native foods as a source of nutrition, many of their poor  teeth and systemic health challenges ultimately dissapper. The images are key to look at. You can also view this book free online HERE.