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Mindless Procreation 1: Squandering Our Genetic Wealth

underground wellnessby Sean Croxton

They don’t make ‘em like they used to.

The proven blueprint has been abandoned, resulting in recurrent manufacturer error. Quality control is at a historic low. Defective parts are ubiquitous. As expected, upper management denies all culpability, preferring to place blame elsewhere. Absent of a systematic rehabilitation of current practices, crisis appears inevitable.

The situation described above is certain to spawn public outcry. Picketers would line up in droves. The media might even show up. However, the manufacturing oversights I speak of are human in nature, not merchandise.

We don’t make people like we used to.

Not that long ago, missionaries and explorers chronicled their encounters with “superhuman warriors” possessing superior bravery, intellect, athletic prowess, and immunity to disease. These indigenous people lived long healthy lives free of heart disease, cancer, and the innumerable disorders of modern man. They embodied both physical and mental perfection, with beautifully symmetrical facial structures; open nasal passages for unobstructed breathing, wide jawbones that fit all of their cavity-free teeth (wisdom teeth included), and eyes without need for glasses. Their demeanor was described as pleasant. Villages had no need for jails, mental institutions, or even hospitals.

Elderly natives aged gracefully, remaining able-bodied and of sound mind. They were the protectors of the wisdom that allowed their kin to physically and mentally thrive while producing strong progeny to carry on tradition. Much of this wisdom was dietary in nature. However, textbooks in nutrition were not necessary. Instead, they depended on countless generations of astute observation in how food influenced development.

Reproduction was not taken lightly. In many cultures, preconception and pregnancy diets were mandatory, with fish eggs (high in brain-building fats DHA and EPA), organ meats (high in fat-soluble vitamins), and specially prepared grains (high in minerals) served to young women wishing to build strong offspring. Men were not exempt, as they too were placed on special diets before marriage and conception. To avoid Second Sibling Syndrome (we’ll discuss this later), the births of offspring were spaced by 3-4 years in order for the mother to rebuild her nutrient stores that had been depleted during her previous pregnancy. These “primitive” natives had reproduction down to a science.

Although indigenous people likely knew nothing of chromosomes or DNA, they recognized a distinct relationship between diet and genetic expression. According to Catherine Shanahan MD, author of Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, such meticulous nutritional protocols were a matter of preserving genetic wealth, the genetic legacy endowed and entrusted to each generation by the hundreds, if not thousands, of generations that preceded them.

Protecting thousands of years of genetic wealth is a responsibility of the highest order. Failing to adhere to the reproductive blueprint may alter genetic momentum, producing inferior, defective offspring thus weakening the tribe. These people were well aware that the nutritional misdeeds of a single generation could have an impact on not only their children, but also their grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Genes have a long memory.

They also have a short fuse.

In the 1930s, nutrition pioneer Weston Price photographically chronicled the rapid physical and moral degeneration of isolated indigenous people when exposed to what he termed the foods of commerce: white sugar, flour, table salt, and pasteurized milk. Confirming traditional wisdom, the offspring of those consuming such nutrient-depleted foods exhibited altered genetic expression including narrow jaws, crowded teeth, poor eyesight, constricted airways, less pleasing dispositions, as well as the sudden appearance of the diseases of civilization that were previously absent. In other words, in a single generation these superlative human specimens morphed into…well, us.

Click HERE for Part 2.

Sean
Host, The Thyroid Sessions
The Thyroid Sessions

Comments

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11 thoughts on “Mindless Procreation 1: Squandering Our Genetic Wealth

  1. FemmeFrancais

    Which exact “naitve people” are you referring to? Where are these people from? Culture changes with geography- including foods…so it’s confusing because it sounds like your suggesting that all mankind did the things you discussed- all the same..when that can’t be true

  2. Celeste

    Great article, Sean! Love the analogy. What an uproar if this were a commercial product! So so true. Looking forward to the podcast.

    @FemmeFrancais: In the 1930s a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled all over the world studying healthy traditional cultures. He visited tribes and villages from Switzerland to Africa to Polynesia and more. All over the globe, he found healthy groups of people still eating their traditional ancestral diet. The specific foods they ate varied widely, but when analyzed for nutrient content (which Dr. Price did thoroughly), the basic principles they followed were amazingly consistent. What was interesting is that no matter what the diet, when people started deviating from their traditional foods and adopting modern convenience foods like sugar and white flour, the health consequences were dramatic.

    Dr. Price documented all his findings and published them in a book, “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.” You can read a more thorough summary of his findings and their implications here:

    http://westonaprice.org/about/475-principles-of-healthy-diets

    Enjoy reading!
    Celeste

  3. Naief Medina

    Genetic wealth preservationist priceless Amazing article the more I learn about the cultures of these tribes the more I wonder about where we would be now if continued the food traditions of our ancestors!

  4. Amy B.

    “They embodied both physical and mental perfection, with beautifully symmetrical facial structures; open nasal passages for unobstructed breathing, wide jawbones that fit all of their cavity-free teeth (wisdom teeth included), and eyes without need for glasses. Their demeanor was described as pleasant. Villages had no need for jails, mental institutions, or even hospitals.”

    Fantastic stuff, as always, Sean.

    I’m becoming more and more fascinated by the connection between diet and mental health. After all, what do we need to create the neurotransmitters that keep us on an even keel, like serotonin, dopamine, etc? We need amino acids and fatty acids. Where do we get these? From protein and fat. It’s extremely intriguing when you think about it — you never hear about depression, bipolar disorder, ADD/ADHD, autism, etc., in history books. I suspect there might have been cases here and there, but nothing like the numbers we see today.

    The violence connection is especially interesting. Last winter, I was not getting enough sleep, and due to my work schedule, I left the house while it was dark and returned at night when it was dark again. Very, very little sunlight, too little sleep, and a *lot* of aggravation — the DC metro plus a shuttle bus to my office. I was on a very short fuse and had little tolerance or patience for anything that wasn’t going well or working correctly — people, machines, systems. I was angry, irritable, and much, much more aggressive than usual. A lot of my thoughts were terribly hostile and negative, too. Knowing what I do about how the mind and body work, I took a step back. I made it a point to get as much sunlight as possible in the mid-Atlantic during winter. I made getting more sleep my #1 priority, and I dialed my diet in, even though I was already eating quite well. I upped the greens (lots of kale and collards) and upped the animal fat — started cooking everything in beef tallow. I noticed a difference within about 2 days — I kid you not. It was like flipping a switch.

    I’m convinced the general trend toward violence, aggression, and short-fuses in our society is linked most directly to diet, but the other lifestyle factors are huge here, too, I think. Adequate sleep, adequate daylight, and maybe even above all, a sense of purpose and fulfillment — enjoying your job (or, if like me, you’re somewhat stuck in a job you *don’t* enjoy, then at least making enough time for what Mark Sisson calls “play” — fun for the sake of fun. Engaging your mind and body — AND SPIRIT — in activities that make you feel alive.) How many millions of people out there drag themselves through days, weeks…YEARS of drudgery, moving from one day to the next, surviving but most certainly not *thriving?* It’s tragic, really, how much emotional energy, talent, and creativity is being squandered for so many reasons. (I know because I’ve been squandering mine for far too long, but I’m happy to report I’m coming out of it, with help from a Chek practitioner. Thanks, Sean, for introducing Mr. Chek’s philosophies and methods to people like me, who never would have found them otherwise.)

    Hehheh…sorry for all those tangents. I love this stuff!

  5. AaronF

    Amy,
    I think Weston Price’s theory on the proclivity towards violence (and retardation) was that it was a direct consequence of the narrowing of the upper palate. This would presumably affect certain regions of the brain and/or certain glands (such as the pituitary gland).

    I think you’re absolutely right in the way you’re thinking about these things. You need a proper diet to produce a stable balance of neurotransmitters. But you also need lifestyle factors to help control stress and give purpose. It has a direct affect on mood and hormones. In that way, wellness is really a holistic approach, and I’m glad Sean treats it that way.

    I think there are a lot of things that make modern culture so insidious. Thinking about it, I feel I should almost write my own blog post. There’s the disruption of traditional diets and traditional communal cultures, both of which are important for maintaining health. That leaves it up to us to figure everything out, but then you have to step around all the misinformation and misdirection propagated in our culture. Depending on where you start, it’s a lot of work to figure it all out.

  6. Nestor

    Weston Price went all over the world and found indigenous peoples from the Alps, Britain, Africa, the Pacific, Arctic regions of the US and Canada, etc. What he found was, eating traditional foods available produced strong, healthy, intelligent, moral people with good physical AND dental health. When white flour, sugar, etc., were introduced, poor dental, physical and emotional health came about in the very next generation.

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