Website Changed Our Lives
Thank you for the information provided on your website. It has literally changed our lives! About two years ago, I began researching nutrition because of certain health problems I was experiencing (allergies, migraine headaches, severe cervical dysplasia, etc.). Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon the Weston A. Price Foundation website and have referred to it over and over again, to the exclusion of most other resources I was using.
With very little support from others and much opposition, our food intake gradually changed from pasteurized milk to raw and cultured milk, from “low-fat” boneless chicken breasts to free-range whole chicken and stock. Presently, I have crème fraiche sitting on top of my kitchen counter, beans soaking in lemon juice, grass-fed pot roast soaking in buttermilk in the refrigerator and freshly ground spelt soaking in a warm place for buttermilk biscuits tomorrow morning. This is a complete turnaround from the way we were eating two years ago and our health is all the better for it. The only medical problems I and my family experienced this past year were some minor cold symptoms that lasted a few days, which is a very different health status for us! And, after seeing results, more of my friends and family are following suit.
What attracted me to your website at first was the absence of advertisements and the fact that many statements in the articles I read were backed up with documentation that I could read myself. These facts alone distinguish the Weston A. Price website from all others on the same subject. I was hard-pressed to find quality information that was not sponsored by a company clearly only concerned with making money. I continued to refer to your website not only because I began to feel healthier as I put to practice the advice given, but because the website is so functional, making it easy to find the answers to my questions from well-written articles. Thank you again for your website and the help you have provided for our family.
Elizabeth Kingery
Kent, Washington
Having It Both Ways
I want to share my happy suspicion that we “WAPF mommies” may be able to have the best of both worlds: nursing and sleeping. The statement from a reader in your last issue–“when a baby sleeps through the night, the mother’s milk typically dries up”–is not my experience. That is because my son nurses at night while continuing to sleep.
I believe that our comparatively restful nights are due to two factors: our practice of having our baby sleep with my husband and me (“co-sleeping” or “family bed”), and our diet of nourishing foods as outlined by the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Before conceiving, all through my pregnancy and to this day, my diet has included cod liver oil, lacto-fermented vegetables, raw milk products, eggs from local free-range chickens and organ meats. I am forty years old; my husband is fifty-five. After several miscarriages we finally have our long-awaited child. Baby Gillis is robust and cheerful.
As a newborn, Gillis nursed voraciously through the day and slept through the night while nursing (one major session and some little nips). As he got older and became more interested in his surroundings, he nursed a bit less during the day and more at night–while continuing to “sleep through the night.” As of this writing, Gillis is nearly 10 months old and continues to nurse like a champion, even though he now eats some other food as well. He goes to sleep around 8 pm and remains asleep until 7 am or later. When he wants to nurse during the night, he wiggles a bit, and I pop him on the breast. He does not wake up, and I barely have to wake up myself. Papa slumbers on. . .
Fortunately, John and I learned of the nourishing traditional diet in time to improve our health and become parents. Our days of soy and other so-called “health foods” are behind us. Your magazine and philosophies have truly given us new life.
Eveline MacDougall
Greenfield, Massachuestts
Fat Deficiency Syndrome
I have seen a lot of children who eat butter by the spoonfuls directly out of the butter bin. That is what I call “acute fat deficiency syndrome.” They also lick the butter off the sandwich and then throw the bread away. Wise parents give the child more butter as the child signals fat deficiency.
In 1991, I wrote an article with the provocative title “Children Starve in Sweden,” (of course rejected by peer review) where I found that 50 percent of the children in the area where I worked, in the south of Stockholm, Sweden had a normal height development but had a weight lag of .5 to 2 standard deviations below the normal weight curve from 4-6 months of age until 18 months-4 years of age when the children had caught up to normal weight again. In Mora in the province of Delacarlia, a rural area 300 km northwest of Stockholm, there were only 10 percent of children having a weight lag. Cause: lowfat, low-calorie diet in Stockholm, high fat and higher-calorie diet in Delacarlia. Lowfat and low-calorie diet means canned baby food with 75 Kcal/100 grams. A 7-month-old child needs 840 Kcal/day. The high-fat, high-calorie diet meant traditional Swedish rural food.
Bjorn Hammarskjold
Mora, Sweden
Editor’s Response: Leanness in children with normal or above-normal height is a sign of adequate protein but deficiency in fat-soluble vitamins. Extreme smallness (height and weight) can be a sign of protein deficiency.
Milk in Japan
You might be interested to know that we consume more milk in Japan than people think. Many people believe that milk is full of nutrients like eggs. Sadly, the quality of milk may not be as good as it should be. At the same time, I have not really heard people attacking milk either. Lowfat milk is not so widely available like it is in the US. However, skim milk is sold in powder form.
My parents (ages 65 and 62) have the milk delivered every morning, but otherwise their diet is a typical Japanese diet. They start their day with a bowl of miso soup made with kelp and small dried fish broth or dried shiitake vegetables and/or sea vegetables, as well as hoshizakana [fermented fish] or eggs.
School children get milk every day at school. If you will go to the following website you will see a sample of a school lunch menu. You may not be able to read the Japanese text but you can see the photos. The website is www.pureweb.jp/~natural/lunch/lunch-box16/lunch2004.htm.
Kayako Tanaka
Kyoto, Japan
Proof Against Infection
Proof is in the pudding: an old adage? I run a daycare drop-in, meaning, I get kids whom I may have never seen prior to their stay and parents that I may not know all that well. Recently we had a virus of almost epidemic proportions run through our communities here in Phoenix.
When I got calls asking whether I would take the ailing children. I said yes. I follow the nutritional traditions found at the website of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Go ahead, ask me if any of my family members got the virus. Go ahead, ask me. Thanks for asking. No! We didn’t. Since that time, I have three families on better eating programs. Not because I told them to do it, but simply because they wanted to know why we continued to thrive despite the fact that we had ailing children in our home. Say what you will, the proof is in the pudding.
Jennifer Thompson
Phoenix, Arizona
Fats and Behavior
At choir last night, one of the younger women, who has a son about four years years old, said that she wanted to tell me something she’d noticed about my daughter Susan, who will be six in June. She said that Susan has recently become more easygoing than she used to be.
That surprised me, because I did not think that Susan had exhibited less-than-easy-going behavior around her before. But as I think about it, I know that she has exhibited almost infantile separation anxiety anytime I had to leave her in the nursery. She never did that as an infant, but she had begun doing that in the last year or two. I guess that’s what she was referring to. And it’s true. My daughter no longer cries when I drop her off at the nursery.
Anyway, I thanked her and asked whether- she would like to know what made the difference. She said she would. I told her about how we switched from 2% to whole milk in January, and I’d been using more eggs and making pot roast at least once a week. And Susan loves the pot roast and continues to be a big milk drinker.
Until we started using whole milk, she cried a lot and was kind of “brittle.” And I have noticed that I don’t get as angry since we started drinking whole milk and my daughter hasn’t run off crying in ages, even though occasionally she is rebuked strongly.
This gal and a close friend of hers, who also has young children and is in choir, both seemed amazed about what I told them about cholesterol being healthful and whole milk being that much better than lowfat milk. I told them about how my foot had stopped giving me trouble, and instead of gaining weight (which I was resigned to do when we switched to whole milk), I have actually lost weight and am able to wear clothes that several sizes smaller than I had been wearing. And I’m stronger and have more stamina.
I have a friend with three children. They’re all pretty lean and getting taller. As my daughter and I ate our supper while waiting for choir time to arrive, I noticed that my friend’s kids (especially the older two) kept picking at each other, even throwing kicks at each other! The youngest child is a vegetarian.
On a recent Max-X show, they aired videos of people rioting, including a riot between factions of Buddhists. This fits right in with evidence showing that vegetarianism doesn’t make your life quiet and full of peace.
Good nutrition influences behavior, as well as overall health. There is a school district in Pennsylvania, where they’ve lost six kids since December to health-related problems. They need your message!
Laura J. Cooper
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Editor’s Response: Your story proves that when raw milk is not available, even whole milk from the supermarket can be beneficial for many children. We condemn our children to all sorts of behavioral and emotional difficulties when we deny them healthy fats.
Sedative in the Formula?
My son and daughter-in-law are convinced that formula is fine. I shudder when I see my grandson using plastic bottles, liners and silicone and the plastic pacifier constantly in his mouth.
I have observed something that frightens me further. After feeding the baby sleeps forever, like he is drugged. They have to wake him up. Is it possible that they are putting a sedative in the formula? Could they be adding an ingredient to make parents believe their children are very content on the formula? When he does wake up he can be fussy, like a drug has worn off.
He is gaining weight and my thought is that he is being fed the same ingredients as cows on the feed lot.
Beth Marble
Columbus, Ohio
Editor’s Response: According to Barbara Heiser of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy, DHA and ARA from non-nutritional sources (DHA manufactured from fermented micro-algae and ARA or arachidonic acid from soil fungus) added to certain baby formulas have been causing trouble in babies, notably severe explosive diarrhea. (She has not heard reports of babies acting like they are drugged, but several ingredients in the formula could cause such a reaction.) The National Institutes of Health is so concerned that they are conducting post-market surveillance on DHA- and ARA-enriched formulas. Another frightening revelation is the fact that none of the powdered formulas is sterile, and they may harbor lethal bacteria; but the carrageenan added to pre-mixed formula may cause severe digestive problems.
Goat Milk Formula
I spoke with you about a year ago because I wanted to use a homemade raw goat milk formula for my adopted baby. Well, almost a year has gone by and my baby has thrived, thrived, thrived. Thank you for making this information available for mothers of adopted children.
Judith Ugelow
Sheffi eld, MA
Blatantly Ignorant
Recently, I was running errands with my mom and we stopped at the local pharmacy. At the entrance of the store was a large barrel-shaped cooler filled with soda. On top of this cooler was a sign announcing that proceeds from the soda would benefit the American Diabetes Association.
Having been raised by my mom who is an avid Weston A. Price Foundation supporter and an outspoken nutritionist, and being only seventeen, I was grateful to have been able to recognize an inconsistency such as this. I laughed and asked my mom if it was supposed to be a joke. How could the American Diabetes Association be promoting a substance such as soda that is a direct cause of the very disease that the organization is trying to prevent and cure? To me, this was a blatantly ignorant fund-raiser, but unfortunately, many less-educated people probably will think of purchasing a soda as a charitable donation and are later dumbfounded when they discover they have health problems such as diabetes. So I have to wonder where all the money they raise goes because it surely isn’t doing anything to help people avoid diabetes.
Caroline Valvardi
Berwyn, Pennsylvania
Editor’s Response: Great observation! Our readers may wish to tell the American Diabetes Association what they think of this fund-raiser at www.diabetes.com
The Heidi Solution
Your enthusiasm for milk as a simple, workable solution for the “walking wounded” is just what we all need. This “Heidi Solution” really is a political solution, as you say. For one thing, we cannot just fix our own families with our communal cowshare programs and watch others suffer. This is a political movement in so far as it empowers the individual with freedom from disease. I am so much less judgemental now that I have more fully comprehended the tremendous burden of illness and pain our fellow citizen must bear.
We must envision a societal solution that encompasses the entire polis. Being part of what will soon be an enormous cultural revolution for the welfare of my community has been tremendously exciting–almost as exciting as seeing the health of my whole family transformed before my very eyes.
Paul Hubbard
Poquoson, Virginia
Safety of Raw Cheese
My doctor has given me dire warnings about drinking raw milk and eating raw cheese during my pregnancy. Should I be concerned?
Anne Smythe
San Bernadino, California
Editor’s Response: Raw milk produced in clean conditions and raw hard cheeses are safe for pregnant women (we recommend that pregnant women drink 1 quart of whole raw milk per day), but it’s best to be careful about all commercial soft cheeses, not because they are “raw,” but because they are often improperly pasteurized, that is, the temperature, which kills all the protective components of milk but not the pathogens.
“A” Scandal
I recently visited to a new doctor to whom I don’t think I’ll return. Since I told her I might be getting pregnant within a year or two, she wanted me to take prescription prenatal vitamins. I told her I was happy with my vitamins (which are whole food vitamins) and wouldn’t need them. This concerned her, so she told me to make sure I was getting enough folic acid and that I should be careful to keep vitamin A out of my diet. She even told me to avoid foods that might contain vitamin A. Keep vitamin A out of my diet?? I wonder how many doctors tell their patients this?
Kelly Young
Morrisville, North Carolina
Super Baby
Just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thanks. Our new baby son, Derek, was born just over two weeks ago, and he barely cries at all! He is the quintessential, healthy baby described by Weston Price in his book. We are so thrilled. Such a change from our first son, who is now three years old, who was a good baby, but cried a lot and I never could figure out why. Now I know he was just hungry and my milk was not rich enough in what he needed. My milk is certainly rich enough now with all the pasture-fed butter, meat and raw cheeses I’m eating.
Another astounding thing. . . I can eat anything and my milk does not cause our baby any digestive problems. He does not spit up and does not even need to be burped. He burps himself!
One piece of amazing news. Little Derek turned over at just two weeks old! I put him to sleep on his tummy, and he turned himself onto his back. I’m wondering whether this was commonplace back when folks had a nutritious diet. Perhaps our expectation that babies don’t roll over until several months old is not based on what they should really do if fed rich, nutritious breast milk.
Today little Derek turned over the other direction–my husband thought it was a fluke, so little Derek had to prove him wrong! He has now turned from tummy to back and back to tummy in the span of four days. He can also pick his head up to 90 degrees while on his tummy and can hold his head steady while I am holding him upright (albeit for only 10-15 seconds or so). I am starting to understand what a truly healthy baby is supposed to be like. It certainly is different from what the baby books describe!
Anyway, thank you for getting the word out and helping to make our second baby such a delight.
Sarah Pope
Lutz, Florida
A Different Child
I’d like to report a success story regarding my 10-year-old daughter, Chelsea. We had some extensive evaluations done last year as it seemed she was having some academic and social problems in school. The counselor identified several specific problems (they all coincided with weaknesses that I myself possess–the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). Her diagnosis included the word “organic.” That was what I needed to hear because that meant we were dealing with some deficiencies that could be addressed instead of some type of injury. I immediately started her on fish oil supplement and last summer when I discovered your foundation and its tremendous work, I incorporated the dietary information as soon as I could. We started using only raw dairy products from a local farmer and we purchased half a share in a pasture-fed cow. We avoid refined sugar, white flour, and hydrogenated garbage and have switched the fish oil to cod liver oil.
Just a week ago, the school counselor called me to tell me that Chelsea is doing wonderfully and she seems “so different.” Her “eyes look different.” She asked me if I had put Chelsea on medication. I answered with a very distinct “No!” I told her about the dietary changes and about your work and hope that she will follow up and educate herself so that she can help other children. It’s amazing how quickly everyone wants to shove pills down the throats of our children when they don’t need them. Well, I’m going to continue to “shove” raw dairy, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken and eggs, and whole foods into my four children. Thank you for everything!
Laurie Fisher
Odessa, Florida
Saved by Real Milk
I have been furnishing my son’s pediatrician with information on trans fats and soy products. She is the second pediatrician that I have spoken to that had heard nothing about the problems with soy infant formula. What’s going on? Seems to me, if anyone should know, it would be the pediatricians.
As for raw milk, Cody, my son, has always been tiny. He was full term, but only weighed just over four pounds at birth. His growth rate had always remained below what it should be. At almost six years, he only weighed 32 pounds. He also had been on four different allergy medications—Claritin, Flonase, Tanafed and Extendryl. Two weeks after my finding a source of raw Jersey milk, he no longer needed any medicine.
When I took him to the pediatrician, she wanted to know what I had done because Cody had gained four pounds and grown about one-and-one-half inches in a month. I told her and, surprisingly, she was for it. After all, what could she say? She has been his doctor since his birth. Another story: Years ago Elton Maddox had a dairy. Some people he knew had a very sick baby. Elton said, “The little thing was as poor as a rail, and cried all of the time.” A baby specialist in Charleston told the baby’s father to find someone with a cow that had not been fresh for more than six weeks, and get the milk for the baby. Elton’s wife told the baby’s father that she was afraid that the milk would be too rich, give the baby diarrhea and that they might lose it. The father said that they were going to lose it anyway, so he wanted to try the milk. Elton separated out a Guernsey to milk her specially for the baby. The next day the baby’s mother wanted him to “come in and see something.” He went in and there was the baby sleeping peacefully. After putting it on the milk, the little thing got better and did just fine.
Billie Paxton
Elkview, West Virginia
Wonderful News
Just a short story to share. Our pastor and his wife were told many years ago that she was infertile and would never be able to conceive–something to do with a cyst. About 18 months ago I got her to take some butter oil and cod liver oil home and they both started to drink raw milk. Well, today was a joyous day because we learned that our pastor’s wife is pregnant and due this August. I am so happy for them. Her personality is one that begs to have 12 children around her feet at all times. (The doctors don’t know what happened to the cyst.)
David Wetzel
Page, Nebraska
Leave a Reply