Page 20 - Spring2015

Caustic Commentary

period. These findings accord with a 2006 study involving ages fourteen to fifty to limit their sodium intake to 2,300
nine hundred rats, which found that aspartame significantly mg per day or one teaspoon of salt, and those over fifty and
increased the risk for lymphomas and leukemia in both males high-risk groups to cut back to 1500 mg daily or two-thirds
and females (www.naturalnews.com/037772_aspartame_leu- of a teaspoon. But a large international study found that
kemia_lymphoma.html). In 2005, Dr. Stylianos Tsakiris, men and women who ate between 3,000-6,000 mg sodium
at the Medical School, University of Athens, showed that (between 1.3 and 2.6 teaspoons) had a lower risk of major
aspartame causes memory loss and learning impairment— cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack, stroke or heart
with potentially disastrous consequences for children who failure, and they also had a lower risk of dying over a four-
consume aspartame in the form of diet colas and sugar-free year period compared with people who consumed more or
gum. A recent study indicates that aspartame disrupts the less sodium (N Engl J Med. 2014 Aug 14;371(7):612-23). On
healthy bacteria in the gut, which can interfere with normal average, American adults consume 3,400 mg sodium daily
blood sugar and insulin production, leading to hypoglycemia or one and one-half teaspoons of salt.
and diabetes. Finally, a new study from the University of Iowa
on healthy postmenopausal women showed that drinking two IGNORING DOCTOR PRICE
or more diet drinks per day may increase the risk of heart The old “ soft foods” theory of malocclusion and dental crowd-
disease, including heart attack and stroke (www.janethull. ing has raised its head again in a report published in PLOS
com/healthynews/blog/2014/09/study-shows-aspartame- ONE (phys.org/news/2015-02-malocclusion-dental-crowding-
causes-memory-loss/). All in all, the evidence is clear: we arose-years.html). Noting that hunter-gatherers had almost no
should avoid products containing aspartame like the plague. malocclusion and dental crowding, while the condition was
common amoung the world's earliest farmers, the authors
CALCIFICATION state with assurance that the diet of the hunter-gatherer “was
Pineal gland calcification due to excessive fluoride ex- based on 'hard' foods like wild uncooked vegetables and meat,
posure is a clinical risk factor in the onset of Alzheimer's while the staple diet of the sedentary farmer is based on 'soft'
disease, bipolar disease, and insomnia as well as ADHD. But foods like cereals and legumes. With soft cooked foods there
fluoride is not the only factor that can cause calcification of is less of a requirement for chewing, which in turns lessens
the pineal gland. In his book The Milk Book, William Camp- the size of the jaws but without a corresponding reduction in
bell Douglass, MD, points out that pasteurized milk can also the dimensions of the teeth.” Sigh. . . there is just so much
cause calcification of the pineal gland. Vitamin K, found in wrong with these conclusions, starting with the assumption
aged cheeses and poultry liver, protects against soft-tissue that the hunter-gatherer did not cook his food. Quite the con-
calcification throughout the body. trary, descriptions of hunter-gatherer populations indicate that
they cooked a large part of their meats and virtually all their
SALT AND HEART ATTACKS plant foods. And what about herding populations consuming
Current U.S. dietary recommendations advise Americans “soft” foods like milk, yogurt and cheese? These groups are
characterized by splendid facial development. And how do
FOR SCIENTISTS AND LAY READERS your genes know that you will be eating soft foods and there-
Please note that the mission of the Weston A. Price fore give you a more narrow jaw? And what about the rest of
Foundation is to provide important information about diet the face and body—how do soft foods affect their disrupted
and health to both scientists and the lay public. For this rea- development? There is no discussion of the possibility that
son, some of the articles in Wise Traditions are necessarily the diets of agriculturalists might be less nutrient-dense than
technical. It is very important for us to describe the science that of hunter-gatherers, less rich in animal foods like fish and
that supports the legitimacy of our dietary principles. In organ meats, for example. Any mention of nutrition would
articles aimed at scientists and practitioners, we provide a force these researchers to consider the work of Weston A.
summary of the main points and also put the most techni-
cal information in sidebars. These articles are balanced by Price, and that would lead them down some very uncomfort-
others that provide practical advice to our lay readers. able paths.
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