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Despite the Theories and treatments of the day designed were the major killers of that era, and the “ac-
predominant to address this worsening crisis were abject cessory factors,” namely vitamins, became the
failures. Many experts sided with the theory of major focus of nutrition research for the next
“science of eugenics, believing that some people were simply half of the century. Indeed, that era was a golden
the day,” doomed as “human wastage,” their ill health a age for nutrition research, and many important
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scientists result of weak or defective genes. But babies discoveries were made.
of the rich and well-off were also suffering and
slowly picked dying. Great minds of the day turned to food WESTON A. PRICE
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apart the and the diet. Probably the greatest nutrition researcher of
puzzles of GOLDEN AGE OF VITAMIN HUNTERS the twentieth century was Dr. Weston A. Price
(1870-1948), a dentist who was raised on a farm in
deficiency Nutrition study at the beginning of the 1900s Canada. With his wife, Florence, he traveled the
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diseases was a fledgling science, and researchers came world studying diets of indigenous peoples and
such as from many fields: agriculture, biochemistry and recorded the effect of their diets on their dental,
chemistry, dentistry, anatomy, medicine, physiol-
physical and mental health. He also documented
rickets, ogy, hygiene, home economics, health education, the effects of “foods of commerce,” such as white
pellagra, anthropology and others. The twentieth century rice, canned milk, and white flour on the facial

beriberi, and was a golden age filled with important discov- structure, rates of dental caries and the overall
eries of essential nutrients, their roles in the physical health of these groups. His work applies
scurvy, which prevention of disease, and the implementation of not only to dentistry but also to related fields,
were major these findings into public health nutrition policy. such as anthropology, genetics, health education,
killers of Many Nobel Prizes were awarded to scientists in chemistry, physiology and medicine.
At his Cleveland dental clinic, Dr. Price
the field of nutrition science. Nutrition science
that era. today is the heart and major driving force weld- also worked extensively with children, adults
ing together diet, genetics, disease, disability, and families, applying the nutrition principles
and other related fields. he developed during his career and using the
At the beginning of the twentieth century, knowledge established by early scientists who
the germ theory of Robert Koch and the work had identified vitamins A, B, C, D, E and others.
of Louis Pasteur guided scientific thinking. In his most famous work, Nutrition and Physi-
The principles of Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), cal Degeneration, he cites many of these early
who contended that food contained only three pioneers who built the foundations of nutrition
elements (protein, fat, and carbohydrate) and science up to his time. 7
refused to acknowledge that any other substances Price also was working at the height of the
could play a role in health, also dominated sci- eugenics movement, which he addressed in Nu-
entific thought and held sway over health policy trition and Physical Degeneration. Price showed
for many years. Liebig even promoted baby that humans suffered disease and disability,
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formulas based on his own principles which mentally as well as physically, not because of
were devoid of essential vitamins and minerals. “bad genes,” but because elements of the modern
Babies fed on these formulas developed infantile diet caused degeneration in the expression of
scurvy in large numbers. While the babies of the human genome, which continued to appear
the well-to-do suffered because families could in successive generations. Through his work he
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afford to buy these formulas, infants of the poor established the basis for the work we now call
suffered even more because of hunger, famine epigenetics.
and poverty. 1 In addition to his magnum opus, Dr. Price
In this era researchers who opposed these wrote books related to dental practice, along with
views were criticized, taunted and discouraged. many articles published in medical journals. Dr.
But despite the predominant “science of the Price’s papers (and those of other researchers)
day,” scientists slowly and successfully picked are archived at the Price-Pottenger Nutrition
apart the puzzles of the deficiency diseases such Foundation, founded in 1952 and presently head-
as rickets, pellagra, beriberi and scurvy, which quartered in Lemon Grove, California, which
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