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Primal Nutrition: Paleolithic and Ancestral Diets for Optimal Health
Explores how the traditional foods of ancient cultures can naturally help prevent and treat degenerative disease and chronic conditions
• Examines the protective nutrients inherent in primal foods, such as wild seafood, grass-fed meat, and raw dairy, explaining how they differ from Western refined foods
• Explains how to create your own commonsense primal diet, tailored to your specific needs and conditions, such as allergies, eczema, arthritis, and even cancer
• Builds upon the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, Dr. Francis Pottenger, and other nutritional health pioneers
The human body’s innate mechanisms for healing and immunity extend beyond the mending of cuts and broken bones or recovery from colds and flu. Given the foods we evolved to thrive on, foods our ancestors knew well, the body can naturally prevent and overcome a host of degenerative conditions and chronic illnesses, from allergies, eczema, and arthritis to dental caries, heart attack, and even cancer.
Drawing on the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, Dr. Francis Pottenger, and other nutritional health pioneers, Dr. Ron Schmid demonstrates that the strongest and most disease-resistant indigenous cultures around the world lived on whole, natural foods--seafood, wild game, healthy grass-fed domestic animals, and, in some cases, whole grains and raw dairy. He explores how modern refined diets differ from ancestral ones, the dramatic declines in health seen in indigenous cultures that adopt modern diets, and the steps you can take to build health with traditional foods. He observes that the foods considered essential and “sacred” in native cultures--the foods around which rituals and ceremonies evolved and that were emphasized prior to and during pregnancy--were invariably animal-source foods such as seafood, liver, and raw milk products, thus underscoring the importance of these foods to overall health and immunity, a fact that modern nutritional science has overwhelmingly proved true.
Blending the wisdom of traditional eating patterns with modern scientific knowledge, Dr. Schmid explains how to apply these principles to create your own commonsense primal diet, tailored to your specific needs, to rebuild health and improve longevity.
• Examines the protective nutrients inherent in primal foods, such as wild seafood, grass-fed meat, and raw dairy, explaining how they differ from Western refined foods
• Explains how to create your own commonsense primal diet, tailored to your specific needs and conditions, such as allergies, eczema, arthritis, and even cancer
• Builds upon the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, Dr. Francis Pottenger, and other nutritional health pioneers
The human body’s innate mechanisms for healing and immunity extend beyond the mending of cuts and broken bones or recovery from colds and flu. Given the foods we evolved to thrive on, foods our ancestors knew well, the body can naturally prevent and overcome a host of degenerative conditions and chronic illnesses, from allergies, eczema, and arthritis to dental caries, heart attack, and even cancer.
Drawing on the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, Dr. Francis Pottenger, and other nutritional health pioneers, Dr. Ron Schmid demonstrates that the strongest and most disease-resistant indigenous cultures around the world lived on whole, natural foods--seafood, wild game, healthy grass-fed domestic animals, and, in some cases, whole grains and raw dairy. He explores how modern refined diets differ from ancestral ones, the dramatic declines in health seen in indigenous cultures that adopt modern diets, and the steps you can take to build health with traditional foods. He observes that the foods considered essential and “sacred” in native cultures--the foods around which rituals and ceremonies evolved and that were emphasized prior to and during pregnancy--were invariably animal-source foods such as seafood, liver, and raw milk products, thus underscoring the importance of these foods to overall health and immunity, a fact that modern nutritional science has overwhelmingly proved true.
Blending the wisdom of traditional eating patterns with modern scientific knowledge, Dr. Schmid explains how to apply these principles to create your own commonsense primal diet, tailored to your specific needs, to rebuild health and improve longevity.
- GenresHealth
384 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2015
8 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 6, 2016
This is a retitled and revised reprint of a book originally published in 1985 by the Weston A. Price Foundation. Those who are aware of that organization will know a lot about the perspective of the book, by that association. Essentially, it provides discussion of historical eating patterns, description of worldwide 1930s indigenous dietary practices, and then extrapolates recommendations (with some research support) for diet and nutrition for optimum health. I tend to lean towards agreeing with the emphasis on whole and natural foods, including the incorporation of animal meats and fats. However, I did have some serious issues with the book.
First, the research was not updated at all. The bibliography has no reference after 1986. There has been a lot of relevant research published since then, but none was represented (either supporting or against). I found that blindly optimistic at best and misleading at worst. Second, there is heavy use of anecdote to not just illustrate but to make many points. One person's observations are not generalizable fact. Third, there are many recommendations that are not backed up with any explanation. For instance, the recommendation to soak grains before using in an acidic solution. The soaking has support (not provided in this book), but I hadn't heard about the use of an acid source and couldn't identify its purpose. I asked a chemist who has also followed a raw food diet and she didn't know why either. In addition, there were health practice recommendations for disease treatment that weren't supported by research, a chapter about research done on a very large number of cats that I found upsetting to read and unconvincing in its relevance to humans, and many associations and correlations that were treated as causative.
Overall, the writing is accessible and easy to read. There are few difficult to understand concepts, and the author does a good job at explaining things. My main concern is that to those unfamiliar with medical research the book appears much more grounded in science and research than it is. This is a book best read with an eye to conducting some additional research on those topics of most personal interest.
I received a free copy for review through NetGalley.
First, the research was not updated at all. The bibliography has no reference after 1986. There has been a lot of relevant research published since then, but none was represented (either supporting or against). I found that blindly optimistic at best and misleading at worst. Second, there is heavy use of anecdote to not just illustrate but to make many points. One person's observations are not generalizable fact. Third, there are many recommendations that are not backed up with any explanation. For instance, the recommendation to soak grains before using in an acidic solution. The soaking has support (not provided in this book), but I hadn't heard about the use of an acid source and couldn't identify its purpose. I asked a chemist who has also followed a raw food diet and she didn't know why either. In addition, there were health practice recommendations for disease treatment that weren't supported by research, a chapter about research done on a very large number of cats that I found upsetting to read and unconvincing in its relevance to humans, and many associations and correlations that were treated as causative.
Overall, the writing is accessible and easy to read. There are few difficult to understand concepts, and the author does a good job at explaining things. My main concern is that to those unfamiliar with medical research the book appears much more grounded in science and research than it is. This is a book best read with an eye to conducting some additional research on those topics of most personal interest.
I received a free copy for review through NetGalley.
August 6, 2015
This book verifies many of the observations, on health, that I had noticed over the decades.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and teen years in 1960's, I never met an autistic child, anyone with cancer, and all of my friend's had living healthy, grandparents, and great-grandparents. All of my grandparents lived well into their 80's.
Today teenagers are getting root canals at 16, fighting obesity, dying of cancer, are autistic, and learning disabled. 12 year olds with adult onset diabetes. or dying of Crohn's. We now have 50% cancer rates. Our elderly take 10-15 medications. We are being poisoned and malnourished to death.
There is no such thing as dying of old age. We die of cancer, heart disease, and strokes. We drive around in little wheelchairs because we no longer can walk. Everbody gets hip and knee replacements. Our bodies are disintegrating.
Primal Nutrition details how the changes in diet from our so called "primitive" ancestors to our "modern" diet have caused all of these health problems.. Ron Schmid shows how rotting teeth, cancer, arthritis, and disease have become the new norm. We don't need another pill; we need real food.
We are constantly being told that fat, salt, cholesterol, dairy, meat, and grains are the problem; and if we just remove them, we will be healthy. The problem is that all of these foods have been modified to the point that they are no longer food.
Primal Nutrition shows in great detail the good health enjoyed by people who eat healthful nutrient rich meat, fish, and dairy,. Removing these foods can actually make us sick. Ron Schmid proves that investing in grass fed meat and dairy will make major differences in our health.
This book is well written, meticulously documented, and extremely informative. He has made a powerful case that reverting to a hunter-gatherer diet of minimally processed milk, cheese, and meat from pastured animals, along with fish and whole grains; makes the all the difference in health and longevity.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and teen years in 1960's, I never met an autistic child, anyone with cancer, and all of my friend's had living healthy, grandparents, and great-grandparents. All of my grandparents lived well into their 80's.
Today teenagers are getting root canals at 16, fighting obesity, dying of cancer, are autistic, and learning disabled. 12 year olds with adult onset diabetes. or dying of Crohn's. We now have 50% cancer rates. Our elderly take 10-15 medications. We are being poisoned and malnourished to death.
There is no such thing as dying of old age. We die of cancer, heart disease, and strokes. We drive around in little wheelchairs because we no longer can walk. Everbody gets hip and knee replacements. Our bodies are disintegrating.
Primal Nutrition details how the changes in diet from our so called "primitive" ancestors to our "modern" diet have caused all of these health problems.. Ron Schmid shows how rotting teeth, cancer, arthritis, and disease have become the new norm. We don't need another pill; we need real food.
We are constantly being told that fat, salt, cholesterol, dairy, meat, and grains are the problem; and if we just remove them, we will be healthy. The problem is that all of these foods have been modified to the point that they are no longer food.
Primal Nutrition shows in great detail the good health enjoyed by people who eat healthful nutrient rich meat, fish, and dairy,. Removing these foods can actually make us sick. Ron Schmid proves that investing in grass fed meat and dairy will make major differences in our health.
This book is well written, meticulously documented, and extremely informative. He has made a powerful case that reverting to a hunter-gatherer diet of minimally processed milk, cheese, and meat from pastured animals, along with fish and whole grains; makes the all the difference in health and longevity.
January 14, 2019
I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.
This book is an anthropological look into the reasons behind eating a paleo diet. The book covers a wide range of studies of primitive diets and uses those studies to recommend a paleo diet. This book covers much of the same material as other paleo books, but backs it with considerable anthropological evidence (which is good but not as good as randomized controlled trials).
I found the summaries of Weston A Price and Francis Pottenger's findings much more readable than the original sources (e.g. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects).
My main complaint with this book is that it doesn't have much non-anthropological evidence. I'd like to see more conclusive science if I were to use this as my go to reference. That being said, this is much more scientific than the bulk of paleo books published today (but not as scientific as my favorites).
This book is an anthropological look into the reasons behind eating a paleo diet. The book covers a wide range of studies of primitive diets and uses those studies to recommend a paleo diet. This book covers much of the same material as other paleo books, but backs it with considerable anthropological evidence (which is good but not as good as randomized controlled trials).
I found the summaries of Weston A Price and Francis Pottenger's findings much more readable than the original sources (e.g. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects).
My main complaint with this book is that it doesn't have much non-anthropological evidence. I'd like to see more conclusive science if I were to use this as my go to reference. That being said, this is much more scientific than the bulk of paleo books published today (but not as scientific as my favorites).
February 5, 2025
Repetitive, long winded, not an enjoyable read.
January 20, 2016
Disjointed, slapped-together rehash of other people's research with little extra insights or value added. The writing is very stilted, does not flow well. It also seems to include many irrelevant left-field facts seemingly just added as filler material. Disappointing waste of time.
January 24, 2016
Quite interesting.
March 7, 2016
I liked the anthropological aspect of this book. What different people ate in different tribes, and groups across the globe.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews