A while ago a regular reader and
friend of this blog suggested I read “Pottenger’s Cats, a Study in Nutrition,” originally
published in 1983 and more recently republished in paperback by the
Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation. So, I did. Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., MD,
was a physician and researcher who, starting in 1932, conducted feeding
experiments on cats in which he observed that cats on “deficient diets”
developed changes in bone maturation that paralleled the degeneration that
Weston A. Price, DDS, found in people who abandoned traditional foods.
In feeding experiments on more than
900 cats over 10 years, “Dr. Pottenger found that only diets containing 100%
raw milk and raw meat produced optimal health. This was reflected in good bone
structure, wide palates with plenty of space for teeth, shiny fur, reproductive
ease, gentle disposition, and the absence of parasites or disease.” In his most
startling observation, he gathered extensive evidence that on a poor diet, this
physical degeneration “increased with each generation,” noting “the third
generation did not even live long enough to reproduce.” Wow!
The publisher of a related film,
“Pottenger’s Cats,” says: “If it is true with human beings, as it is with cats,
that nutritionally-caused degeneration is passed down to our children, [then] a
sobering challenge stands before us.” I think that this warning about nutrigenomics,
an aspect of epigenetics, is increasingly getting our attention. How our
individual genes express themselves depends on many environmental factors, the most important of which is what
we choose to eat. And, in case you haven’t noticed, we are getting fatter
and sicker on the highly processed carbs, sugars and vegetable oils in the
“eating pattern” recommended by the USDA’s “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”
Of course, Weston A. Price, himself a
dentist who studied the role of whole, real foods and saturated fats in the
diets of diverse cultures around the world that had not yet been exposed to the
Western Diet, made similar observations in his groundbreaking magnum opus, “Nutrition and Physical
Degeneration” (1939). Today, under founder Sally Fallon, the Weston A. Price Foundation
(WAPF) carries on his work. The work of this foundation is worthy of your support.
I previously dealt with this subject
in Retrospective #205 about “Deep Nutrition,” a book by Catherine Shanahan, MD.
subtitled, “Why Your Genes Need Traditional Foods.” Her dogmata, the Four
Pillars of Authentic Cuisine, are to “eat, as often as we can, preferably
daily”: 1) meat cooked on the bone; 2) organs and offal; 3) fresh (raw) plant
and animal products; and 4) better than fresh – fermented and sprouted. “These
categories,” she says, “have proved to be essential
by virtue of their ubiquitousness. In almost every country other than ours
people eat them every day.”
“Pottenger’s Prophesy,” by Gray
Graham, Deborah Kesten and Larry Scherwitz, is another good read. Subtitle: “How
Food Resets Genes for Wellness and Illness.” Note the recurrent theme of
Doctors Pottenger, Price and Shanahan.
In “Pottenger’s Prophesy” the authors
address “the foods that launch your genes on a path toward illness, as well as
the diet that can activate ‘healthy’ genes…to promote a longer, healthier
life.” Here we see again: “the emerging new science of epigenetics – how the
foods you eat switch genes on or off that can lead either to wellness or
illness. It’s fair to say, I think, for followers, this is a new paradigm. It
is ‘the medicine of the future.’ Personally, I believe it.
What these books and authors tell us
is that not only can we affect our own health, wellness and longevity by what
we eat now, but by changing the foods we eat, we will pass down to our children
and their children a healthier set of genes. These authors provide hundreds of
references in the more recent scientific literature related to both animals and
humans to show conclusively that our destiny is in the food choices we make.
A trenchant and pithy blurb on the
back cover says it well: “This book has again introduced us to concepts that we
should have listened to decades ago. Perhaps this generation will pay attention!
We will continue to die of obesity-related chronic illnesses until people begin
to reclaim their health by understanding what and how to eat.” I wonder, will
this generation pay attention? I hope so. We’re going to continue to do our
part to see that outcome realized.
What’s your
favorite meat-on-the-bone? Do you occasionally eat organ meat? Or a raw or
fermented food?
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