It is of interest that the diets of the primitive groups which have shown a very high immunity to
dental caries and freedom from other degenerative processes have all provided a nutrition
containing at least four times these minimum requirements; whereas the displacing nutrition of
commerce, consisting largely of white-flour products, sugar, polished rice, jams, canned goods,
and vegetable fats have invariably failed to provide even the minimum requirements. In other words
the foods of the native Eskimos contained 5.4 times as much calcium as the displacing foods of the
white man, five times as much phosphorus, 1.5 times as much iron, 7.9 times as much magnesium,
1.8 times as much copper, 49.0 times as much iodine, and at least ten times that number of fat-
soluble vitamins. For the Indians of the far North of Canada, the native foods provided 5.8 times
as much calcium, 5.8 times as much phosphorus, 2.7 times as much iron, 4.3 times as much
magnesium, 1.5 times as much copper, 8.8 times as much iodine, and at least a ten fold increase in
fat-soluble activators. For brevity, we will apply the figures to calcium, phosphorus, magnesium,
iron and fat-soluble activators in order. The ratio in the Swiss native diets to that in the displacing
diet was for calcium, 3.7 fold; for phosphorus, 2.2 fold; for magnesium, 2.5 fold; for iron, 3.1 fold;
and for the fat-soluble activators, at least ten fold. For the Gaelics in the Outer Hebrides, the native
foods provided 2.1 times as much calcium, 2.3 times as much phosphorus, 1.3 times as much
magnesium, and 1.0 times as much iron; and the fat-soluble activators were increased at least ten7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 166/250fold. For the Aborigines of Australia, living along the eastern coast where they have access to sea
foods the ratio of minerals in the native diet to those in the displacing modernized foods was, for
calcium, 4.6 fold; for phosphorus, 6.2 fold; for magnesium, 17 fold; and for iron 50.6 fold; while
for the fatsoluble activators, it was at least ten fold. The native diet of the New Zealand Maori
provided an increase in the native foods over the displacing foods of the modernized whites of 6.2
fold for calcium, 6.9 fold for phosphorus, 23.4 fold for magnesium, 58.3 fold for iron; and the
fatsoluble activators were increased at least ten fold. The native diet of the Melanesians provided
similarly an increase over the provision made in the modernized foods which displaced them of 5.7
fold for calcium, 6.4 fold for phosphorus, 26.4 fold for magnesium, and 22.4 fold for iron; while
the fat-soluble activators were increased at least ten fold. The Polynesians provided through their
native diet for an increase in provision over that of the displacing imported diets, of 5.6 fold for
calcium, 7.2 fold for phosphorus, 28.5 fold for magnesium, 18.6 fold for iron; and the fat-soluble
activators were increased at least ten fold. The coastal Indians of Peru provided through their
native primitive diets for an increase in provision over that of the displacing modernized diet of 6.6
fold for calcium, 5.5 fold for phosphorus, 13.6 fold for magnesium, 5.1 fold for iron; and an excess
of ten fold was provided for fat-soluble vitamins. For the Indians of the Andean Mountains of
Peru, the native foods provided an increase over the provision of the displacing modern foods of S
fold for calcium, 5.5 fold for phosphorus, 13.3 fold for magnesium, 29.3 fold for iron; and an
excess of at least ten fold was provided for fat-soluble vitamins. For the cattle tribes in the interior
of Africa, the primitive foods provided an increase over the provision of the displacing modernized
foods of 7.5 fold for calcium, 8.2 fold for phosphorus, 19.1 fold for magnesium, 16.6 fold for iron
and at least ten fold for fat-soluble activators. For the agricultural tribes in Central Africa the native
diet provided an increase over the provision of the displacing modern diet of 3.5 fold for calcium,
4.1 fold for phosphorus, 5.4 fold for magnesium, 16.6 fold for iron and ten fold for fat-soluble
activators. All the above primitive diets provided also a large increase in the water-soluble vitamins
over the number provided in the displacing modern diets. 7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 167/250FIG. 95. Effect of different wheat products on rats. Left: whole wheat. Center: white flour. Right: bran and middlings mixture. The graphs
record actual amount of indicated minerals present, as milligrams per
cent. Only the rats on the whole wheat developed normally without
tooth decay. Those on white flour had tooth decay, were underweight,
had skin infections and were irritable. They did not reproduce. The
third group were undersize. The balance of the ration was the same for
all. From the data presented in the preceding chapters and in this comparison of the primitive and
modernized dietaries it is obvious that there is great need that the grains eaten shall contain all the
minerals and vitamins which Nature has provided that they carry. Important data might be
presented to illustrate this phase in a practical way. In Fig. 95 will be seen three rats all of which
received the same diet, except for the type of bread. The first rat (at the left) received whole-
wheat products freshly ground, the center one received a white flour product and the third (at the
right) a bran and middlings product. The amounts of each ash, of calcium as the oxide, and of
phosphorus as the pentoxide; and the amounts of iron and copper present in the diet of each group
are shown by the height of the columns beneath the rats. Clinically it will be seen that there is a
marked difference in the physical development Qf these rats. Several rats of the same age were in
each cage. The feeding was started after weaning at about twenty-three days of age. The rat at the
left was on the entire grain product. It was fully developed. The rats in this cage reproduced
normally at three months of age. The rats in this first cage had very mild dispositions and could be
picked up by the ear or tail without danger of their biting. The rats represented by the one in the
center cage using white flour were markedly undersized. Their hair came out in large patches and
they had very ugly dispositions, so ugly that they threatened to spring through the cage wall at us
when we came to look at them. These rats had tooth decay and they were not able to reproduce. The rats in the next cage (illustrated by the rat to the right) which were on the bran and middlings
mixture did not show tooth decay, but were considerably undersized, and they lacked energy. The
flour and middlings for the rats in cages two and three were purchased from the miller and hence
were not freshly ground. The wheat given to the first group was obtained whole and ground while
fresh in a hand mill. It is of interest that notwithstanding the great increase in ash, calcium,
phosphorus, iron and copper present in the foods of the last group, the rats did not mature
normally, as did those in the first group. This may have been due in large part to the fact that the
material was not freshly ground, and as a result they could not obtain a normal vitamin content
from the embryo of the grain due to its oxidation. This is further indicated by the fact that the rats in
this group did not reproduce, probably due in considerable part to a lack of vitamins B and E
which were lost by oxidation of the embryo or germ fat. There is a misapprehension with regard to the possibility that humans may obtain enough of the
vitamin D group of activators from our modern plant foods or from sunshine. This is due to the
belief viosterol or similar products by other names, derived by exposing ergosterol to ultraviolet
light, offer all of the nutritional factors involved in the vitamin D group. I have emphasized that there
are known to be at least eight D factors that have been definitely isolated and twelve that have
been reported as partially isolated. Coffin has recently reported relative to the lack of vitamin D in common foods as follows: (5)
1. A representative list of common foods was carefully tested, by approved technique, for
their vitamin D content. 2. With the remote possibility of egg yolks, butter, cream, liver and fish it is manifestly
impossible to obtain any amount of vitamin D worthy of mention from common foods. 3. Vegetables do not contain vitamin D.
   It will be noted that vitamin D, which the human does not readily synthesize in adequate amounts,
must be provided by foods of animal tissues or animal products. As yet I have not found a single
group of primitive racial stock which was building and maintaining excellent bodies by living entirely
on plant foods. I have found in many parts of the world most devout representatives of modern
ethical systems advocating the restriction of foods to the vegetable products. In every instance7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 168/250where the groups involved had been long under this teaching, I found evidence of degeneration in
the form of dental caries, and in the new generation in the form of abnormal dental arches to an
extent very much higher than in the primitive groups who were not under this influence. Many illustrations might be presented showing the special wisdom of the primitives in the matter
of reinforcing their nutrition with protective foods. Few people will realize how reluctant members of the primitive races are, in general, to disclose
secrets of their race. The need for this is comparable to the need for secrecy regarding modern
war devices. The Indians of the Yukon have long known the cure for scurvy and history makes an important
contribution to their wisdom in treating this disease. It is of interest that W. N. Kemp (6) of
Vancouver states:
    The earliest recorded successful treatment of scurvy occurred in Canada in 1535 when
Jacques Cartier, on the advice of a friendly Indian, gave his scurvyprostrated men a decoction
of young green succulent 'shoots' from the spruce trees with successful results. These happy
effects apparently were not appreciated in Europe, for scurvy continued to be endemic. Since that time untold thousands of mariners and white land dwellers have died with this
dreaded disease. Shortly before our arrival in Northern Canada a white prospector had died of scurvy. Beside
him was his white man's packet of canned foods. Any Indian man or woman, boy or girl, could
have told him how to save his life by eating animal organs or the buds of trees. Another illustration of the wisdom of the native Indians of that far north country came to me
through two prospectors whom we rescued and brought out with us just before the fall freeze-up. They had gone into the district, which at that time was still uncharted and unsurveyed, to prospect
for precious metals and radium. They were both doctors of engineering and science, and had been
sent with very elaborate equipment from one of the large national mining corporations. Owing to
the inaccessibility of the region, they adopted a plan for reaching it quickly. They had flown across
the two ranges of mountains from Alaska and when they arrived at the inside range, i.e., the Rocky
Mountain Range, they found the altitude so high that their plane could not fly over the range, and,
as a result, they were brought down on a little lake outside. The plane then returned but was
unable to reach the outside world because of shortage of fuel. The pilot had to leave it on a
waterway and trudge over the mountains to civilization. The two prospectors undertook to carry
their equipment and provisions over the Rocky Mountain Range into the interior district where they
were to prospect. They found the distance across the plateau to be about one hundred miles and
the elevation ranging up to nine thousand feet. While they had provisions and equipment to stay
two years they found it would take all of this time to carry their provisions and instruments across
this plateau. They accordingly abandoned everything, and rather than remain in the country with
very uncertain facilities and prospects for obtaining food and shelter, made a forced march to the
Liard River with the hope that some expedition might be in that territory. One of the men told me
the following tragic story. While they were crossing the high plateau he nearly went blind with so
violent a pain in his eyes that he feared he would go insane. It was not snow blindness, for they
were equipped with glasses. It was xeropthalmia, due to lack of vitamin A. One day he almost ran
into a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs. Fortunately, they did not attack him but moved off. He sat down on a stone and wept in despair of ever seeing his family again. As he sat there holding
his throbbing head, he heard a voice and looked up. It was an old Indian who had been tracking
that grizzly bear. He recognized this prospector's plight and while neither could understand the
language of the other, the Indian after making an examination of his eyes, took him by the hand and
led him to a stream that was coursing its way down the mountain. Here as the prospector sat
waiting the Indian built a trap of stones across the stream. He then went upstream and waded
down splashing as he came and thus drove the trout into the trap. He threw the fish out on the
bank and told the prospector to eat the flesh of the head and the tissues back of the eyes, including
the eyes, with the result that in a few hours his pain had largely subsided. In one day his sight was7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 169/250rapidly returning, and in two days his eyes were nearly normal. He told me with profound emotion
and gratitude that that Indian had certainly saved his life. Now modern science knows that one of the richest sources of vitamin A in the entire animal
body is that of the tissues back of the eyes including the retina of the eye. In Chapter 18 I refer to the work of Wald on studies of vitamin A tissues. He states that
extracts of eye tissue (retina, pigment, epithelium, and choroid) show the characteristic vitamin A
absorption band and that they are potent in curing vitamin A deficient rats. He shows also that the
concentration of vitamin A is constant for different mammals. I have been impressed to find that primitive racial stocks in various parts of the world are
familiar with the fact that eyes constitute an invaluable adjunct for nutrition. Even the one time
cannibals of the Fiji Islands, and the hereditary king of the Fiji Islands, told me in detail of the
practices with regard to the use of eyes as an adjunct to diet. The chief, his father, and grandfather
had the privilege of reserving the eyes of captives for their personal use. When among the natives
of the islands north of Australia, I learned to enjoy greatly fish head soup made from certain
selected tissues. After the fish had been cleaned the heads were split and the eyes left in. The space of the entire book might be used for discussing the nutritional wisdom of the various
primitive races. It is a pity that so much of their wisdom has been lost through lack of appreciation
by the whites who early made contact with them. REFERENCES
1. SHERMAN, H. C. Chemistry of Foods and Nutrition. New York, Macmillan, 1933. 2. BILLS, C. E. New Forms and Sources of Vitamin D. J.A.M.A., 108:12, 1937, Nutrition
Abstracts and Reviews, 1938. 3. LAWSON, A. and MOON, H. P. A clay adjunct to potato dietary. Nature, 141: 40,
1938. 4. Report Council on Foods. Nutritional value of spinach. J.A.M.A., 109:1907, 1937. 5. COFFIN, J. Lack of vitamin D in common foods. J. Am. Dietet. A., 11:119, 1935. 6. KEMP, W. N. The sources of clinical importance of the vitamins. Bull. Vancouver Med. A., Dec., 1937. TABLE OF CONTENTS   
 
Chapter 16
PRIMITIVE CONTROL OF DENTAL CARIES
THE essential differences in the diets of the primitive races and those of the modernized groups
have been discussed in the preceding chapter. We are concerned now with discovering whether
the use of foods, which are equivalent in body-building and repairing material to those used by the
primitives will, when provided to our affected modernized groups, prevent tooth decay or check it
when it is active. There are two approaches to this problem of the control of tooth decay by nutritional means. One is by the presentation of clinical results and the other by the consideration of the
characteristics of those nutritional programs which have been successful in producing a high
immunity to tooth decay.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 170/250   We may divide the primitive racial stocks into groups, classified according to the physical
environment in which they are living and the manner in which the environment largely controls their
available foods. It is significant that I have as yet found no group that was building and maintaining
good bodies exclusively on plant foods. A number of groups are endeavoring to do so with
marked evidence of failure. The variety of animal foods available has varied widely in some
groups, and been limited among others. In the preceding chapter we have seen that the successful dietaries included in addition to a
liberal source of minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and water-soluble vitamins, a source of
fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin D is not found in plants, but must be sought in an animal food. The dietaries of the
efficient primitive racial stocks may be divided into groups on this basis: in the first place those
obtaining their fatsoluble activators, which include the known fat-soluble vitamins, from efficient
dairy products. This includes the Swiss in the high Alps, the Arabs (using camel's milk), and the
Asiatic races (using milk of sheep and musk ox). In the second place there are those using liberally
the organs of animals, and the eggs of birds, wild and domesticated. These include the Indians of
the far North, the buffalo hunting Plains Indians and the Andean tribes. In the third place there are
those using liberally animal life of the sea. These include Pacific Islanders and coastal tribes
throughout the world. In the fourth place there are those using small animals and insects. These
include the Australian Aborigines in the interior, and the African tribes in the interior. Many of the above groups use foods from two or more sources. Each of the groups has
provided an adequate quantity of body-building material from both animal and plant tissues. It
does not matter what the source of minerals and vitamins may be so long as the supply is
adequate. In our modern life, the location of a group will determine the most efficient and most
convenient source for obtaining the essential foods. Clearly, for those near the coast, the sea may
be most convenient, while for those in the interior or in the far North, dairy products or the organs
of animals may be the only available source. It would be fortunate indeed, if our problems were as
simple as this statement might indicate. We have, however, in the first place, the need for a strength
of character and will power such as will make us use the things our bodies require rather than only
the foods we like. Another problem arises from the fact that our modern sedentary lives call for so
little energy that many people will not eat enough even of a good food to provide for both growth
and repair, since hunger appeals are for energy only, the source of heat and power, and not for
body-building minerals and other chemicals. Still another problem confronts us, i.e., the sources of
fatsoluble activators indicated above, namely: dairy products, organs of animals and sea foods,
may vary through a wide range in their content of the fat-soluble activators or vitamins, depending
upon the nutrition available for the animals. Cows fed on third grade hay, too low in carotene, not
only cannot produce strong calves but their milk will not keep healthy calves alive. (Chapter 18.) The League of Nations' Committee on Nutrition has estimated the amount of pasture land
required per capita to provide adequate milk and meat. Owing to the density of population and
cost of land near large cities, it is not possible to provide an adequate acreage for dairy cattle. This
results in stall feeding of shipped fodder. Only those cows can be kept in a herd whose production
of milk and butter fat can pay in volume for their keep. Unfortunately milk may have a high cream
line or butter fat content and still be low in essential fat-soluble vitamins. This constitutes an
exceedingly important phase of our modern problem. Butter ships best when hard and this quality
can be largely controlled by the fodder given to the cattle and hence becomes an important factor
in the wholesale butter industry. Since 1927, I have been analyzing samples of dairy products,
chiefly butter, from several parts of the world for their vitamin content. These samples are received
every two to four weeks from the same places, usually for several years. They all show a seasonal
rise and fall in vitamin content. The high level is always associated with the use of rapidly growing
young plant food. This tide in plant life, fluctuating with the seasons, controlled the migration of the
buffalo southward in the autumn and winter and northward in the spring. They moved at the rate of
about twelve miles per day, travelling with the sun in order to provide the highest-vitamin milk for
the young calves born in the south. No doubt these tides in nutrition control also the migration of7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 171/250birds. By far the most efficient plant food that I have found for producing the high-vitamin content
in milk is rapidly growing young wheat and rye grass. Oat and barley grass are also excellent. In
my clinical work small additions of this high-vitamin butter to otherwise satisfactory diets regularly
checks tooth decay when active and at the same time improves vitality and general health. Similarly the value of eggs for providing fat-soluble vitamins depends directly upon the food
eaten by the fowl. The fertility of the eggs also is a direct measure of the vitamin content, including
vitamin E.
   Since the sea foods are, as a group, so valuable a source of the fatsoluble activators, they have
been found to be efficient throughout the world not only for controlling tooth decay, but for
producing a human stock of high vitality. Unfortunately the cost of transportation in the fresh state
often constitutes a factor limiting distribution. Many of the primitive races preserved the food value,
including vitamins, very efficiently by drying the fish. While our modern system of canning prevents
decomposition, it does not efficiently preserve some of the fatsoluble activators, particularly vitamin
A. Since the organs, particularly the livers of animals, are storage depots of the vitamins an
important source of some of the fat-soluble activators can be provided by extracting the fat of the
livers and shipping it as liver oils. Modern methods of processing have greatly improved the quality
of these oils. There are some factors, however, which can be provided to great advantage for
humans from dairy products of high efficiency. I have shown in the preceding chapter the quantities of several of the minerals that are essential in
suitable chemical form to maintain an adult in good health and make possible tissue repair. The
dietaries of the various primitive groups have all been shown to have a mineral content several
times higher than that which obtains in the inadequate food eaten by modernized primitives and the
people of our modernized cultures. Modern commerce has deliberately robbed some of nature's foods of much of their body-
building material while retaining the hunger satisfying energy factors. For example, in the production
of refined white flour approximately eighty per cent or four-fifths of the phosphorus and calcium
content are usually removed, together with the vitamins and minerals provided in the embryo or
germ. The evidence indicates that a very important factor in the lowering of reproductive efficiency
of womanhood is directly related to the removal of vitamin E in the processing of wheat. The germ
of wheat is our most readily available source of that vitamin. Its role as a nutritive factor for the
pituitary gland in the base of the brain, which largely controls growth and organ function,
apparently is important in determining the production of mental types. Similarly the removal of
vitamin B with the embryo of the wheat, together with its oxidation after processing, results in
depletion of body-building activators. Refined white sugar carries only negligible traces of body-building and repairing material. It
satisfies hunger by providing heat and energy besides having a pleasant flavor. The heat and energy
producing factors in our food that are not burned up are usually stored as fat. In the preceding
chapter we have seen that approximately half of the foods provided in our modern dietaries furnish
little or no body-building or repairing material and supply no vitamins. Approximately 25 per cent
of the heat and energy of the American people is supplied by sugar alone which goes far in
thwarting Nature's orderly processes of life. This per capita use is unfortunately on the increase. Therefore we must begin by radically reducing the foods that are so deceptive, and often injurious
in overloading the system. Even this much change in our modern nutrition will raise the factor of
safety sufficiently to check tooth decay in a large percentage of people. It will not, however, be
adequate for most children in whom the additional demands of rapid growth must be satisfied. I
have found the highest incidence of tooth decay in the high school and boarding school girls, and
the next in the boarding school boys. These groups suffer even more than the childbearing mothers. In discussing the technical aspects later I shall consider the defensive factors in the saliva as
controlled by the nutrition through the blood stream, and also the role of oral prophylaxis.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 172/250   It is appropriate at this point to note some characteristics of a decaying tooth. The process of
tooth decay never starts from within but always from without and is most likely to start at the
contact points between the teeth or in the pits and grooves, especially when these are incompletely
formed. Teeth never have caries while they are covered with flesh but decay most easily soon after
eruption, when conditions are unfavorable. If the saliva is normal the surfaces of the teeth
progressively harden during the first year after eruption. While there are many theories regarding
the relative importance of different factors in the process of decay practically all provide for a local
solution of the tooth substance by acids produced by bacteria. The essential difference in the
various theories of tooth decay is the difference in theories relative to the control of these
decalcifying organisms, and relative to their quantity and activity. The dental profession has been
waiting for decades for this question to be solved before taking active steps to prevent the whole
process. The primitive approach has been to provide a program that will keep the teeth well, that
is, prevention of dental caries by adequate food combinations. I have just stated that teeth harden
after eruption if the saliva is normal. This occurs by a process of mineralization much like the
process by which petrified wood is produced. The tooth is made up of four structures. The first is the pulp within, which carries blood vessels
and nerves. This structure is surrounded in both the root and crown by the dentine or tooth bone
which is nourished from within. The dentine of the root is covered by cementum which receives
nourishment from the membrane which attaches the root to the jaw bone. The dentine of the crown
or exposed part of the tooth is covered with enamel. Tooth decay proceeds slowly through the
enamel and often rapidly in the dentine, always following the minute channels toward the pulp,
which may become infected before the decay actually reaches the pulp to expose it; nearly always
the decay infects the pulp when it destroys the dentine covering it. When a tooth has a deep cavity
of decay, the decalcified dentine has about the density of rotten wood. With an adequate
improvement in nutrition, tooth decay will generally be checked provided two conditions are
present: in the first place, there must be enough improvement in the quality of the saliva; and in the
second, the saliva must have free access to the cavity. Of course, if the decay is removed and a
filling placed in the cavity, the bacteria will be mechanically shut out. One of the most severe tests
of a nutritional program, accordingly, is the test of its power to check tooth decay completely,
even without fillings. There are, however, two further tests of the sufficiency of improvement of the
chemical content of the saliva. If it has been sufficiently improved, bacterial growth will not only be
inhibited, but the leathery decayed dentine will become mineralized from the saliva by a process
similar to petrification. Note that this mineralized dentine is not vital, nor does it increase in volume
and fill the cavity. When scraped with a steel instrument it frequently takes on a density like very
hard wood and occasionally takes even a glassy surface. When such a tooth is placed in silver
nitrate, the chemical does not penetrate this demineralized dentine, though it does rapidly penetrate
the decayed dentine of a tooth extracted when decay is active. This process is illustrated in Fig. 96
which shows two deciduous teeth extracted from the same child, one before, and the other a few
months after improving the nutrition. These deciduous molars were replaced by the bicuspids of
the second dentition. The tooth at the left had deep caries and was removed before the treatment
was begun. Note that the silver nitrate has blackened the tissue to the depth of the decay. The
tooth at the right was removed about three months after the nutrition was changed. Note that the
decayed dentine is so dense that the silver nitrate has not penetrated deeply and discolored it.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 173/250FIG. 96. A, illustrates the permeability of decayed dentin to
silver nitrate. B, illustrates the decreased permeability of
decayed dentin to silver nitrate due to mineralization, after
saliva has been improved by correcting the nutrition. There is still another test that demonstrates Nature's protective mechanisms. Ordinarily, when the
pulp of a tooth is exposed by dental caries, the pulp becomes not only infected, but dies opening
up a highway of infection direct from the infected mouth to the inside of the fort at the end of the
root. One expression of this is a dental abscess, the existence of which is usually unknown to the
individual for sometime and the infecting germs pass more or less freely throughout the body by
way of the blood stream and lymph channels. This infection may start the degeneration of organs
and tissues of other parts of the body. Among some of the primitive races, whose nutritional programs provided a very high factor of
safety, even though the teeth were worn down to the gum line and into what was formerly the pulp
chamber, the pulp was not exposed. Nature had built a protecting zone, not in the cavity of the
tooth in this case, but within the pulp chamber. This entirely blocked off a threatened exposure and
kept the walls of the fort sealed against bacteria. This process does not occur in many instances in
people of our modern civilization. Pulp chambers that are opened by wear provide exposed pulp
which becomes infected with subsequent abscess formation. If a reinforced nutrition as efficient as
that of many of the primitive races, is adopted, the pulp tissue will seal up the opening made by
decalcification of the dentine, by building in a new layer of normal dentine which is vital and quite
unlike the petrified decay exposed to the saliva, thus completely walling off the impending danger. This is illustrated in Fig. 97 with three cases. At the left are shown x-rays of teeth of three children
in one of my experimental clinics in a poor district in Cleveland. The pulp chambers and pulp
tissues of the root canals are shown as dark streaks in the center of the tooth. The very large
cavities which had decalcified the tooth to the pulp chamber are shown as large dark areas in the
crown. Temporary fillings had to be placed because of pain produced by the pressure of food on
the pulp below the decayed dentine. After the nutrition was improved, the tissues of the pulp built
in secondary dentine thus reincasing itself in a closed chamber. This process is shown in each of
the three cases presented in Fig. 97, in the views to the right.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 174/250FIG. 97. Three cases that illustrate how nature can close an
exposure of the pulp due to dental caries by building a
protecting wall within the pulp chamber when the nutrition is
adequately improved. Under the stress of the industrial depression the family dietary of the children shown in Fig. 97
was very deficient. They were brought to a mission where we fed them one reinforced meal at
noon for six days a week. The home meals were not changed nor the home care of the teeth. The
preliminary studies of each child included complete x-rays of all of the teeth, a chemical analysis of
the saliva, a careful plotting of the position, size and depth of all cavities, a record of the height, and
weight, and a record of school grades, including grades in deportment. These checks were
repeated every four to six weeks for the period of the test, usually three to five months. It is
important to note that the home nutrition which had been responsible for the tooth decay was
exceedingly low in body building and repairing material, while temporarily satisfying the appetite. It
usually consisted of highly sweetened strong coffee and white bread, vegetable fat, pancakes made
of white flour and eaten with syrup, and doughnuts fried in vegetable fat. The nutrition provided these children in this one meal included the following foods. About four
ounces of tomato juice or orange juice and a teaspoonful of a mixture of equal parts of a very high
vitamin natural cod liver oil and an especially high vitamin butter was given at the beginning of the
meal. They then received a bowl containing approximately a pint of a very rich vegetable and meat
stew, made largely from bone marrow and fine cuts of tender meat: the meat was usually broiled
separately to retain its juice and then chopped very fine and added to the bone marrow meat soup
which always contained finely chopped vegetables and plenty of very yellow carrots; for the next
course they had cooked fruit, with very little sweetening, and rolls made from freshly ground whole
wheat, which were spread with the high-vitamin butter. The wheat for the rolls was ground fresh
every day in a motor driven coffee mill. Each child was also given two glasses of fresh whole milk. The menu was varied from day to day by substituting for the meat stew, fish chowder or organs of
animals. From time to time, there was placed in a two quart jar a helping similar to that eaten by
the children. This was brought to my laboratory for chemical analysis, which analysis showed that
these meals provided approximately 1.48 grams of calcium and 1.28 grams of phosphorus in a
single helping of each course. Since many of the children doubled up on the course, their intake of
these minerals was much higher. I have shown in the preceding chapter that the accepted figures
for the requirements of the body for calcium and phosphorus are 0.68 grams of calcium and 1.32
grams of phosphorus. It is obvious that this one meal a day plus the other two meals at home
provided a real factor of safety. Clinically this program completely controlled the dental caries of
each member of the group.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 175/250   The chemical analysis of the saliva (1, 2) revealed a marked improvement which progressively
increased. At the beginning of the test the average for the group showed a very low factor of
safety, so low that we should expect tooth decay to be active. In six weeks the average changed
to a condition which we should expect would be accompanied by a cessation of tooth decay. The
saliva factor of safety continued to improve for five months at which time the special program was
discontinued for the summer. Several incidents of special interest occurred. Two different teachers came to me to inquire what
had been done to make a particular child change from one of the poorest in the class in capacity to
learn to one of the best. Dental caries is only one of the many expressions of our modern deficient
nutritions. I have referred to the importance of a high vitamin butter for providing the fat-soluble activators
to make possible the utilization of the minerals in the foods. In this connection, it is of interest that
butter constitutes the principal source of these essential factors for many primitive groups
throughout the world. In the high mountain and plateau district in northern India, and in Tibet, the
inhabitants depend largely upon butter made from the milk of the musk ox and the sheep for these
activators. The butter is eaten mixed with roasted cereals, is used in tea, and in a porridge made of
tea, butter and roasted grains. In Sudan Egypt, I found considerable traffic in high vitamin butter
which came from the higher lands a few miles from the Nile Basin. This was being exchanged for
and used with varieties of millet grown in other districts. This butter, at the temperature of that
area, which ranged from 90° to 110° Fahrenheit, was, of course, always in liquid form. Its brilliant
orange color testified to the splendid pasture of the dairy animals. The people in Sudan, including
the Arabs, had exceptionally fine teeth with exceedingly little tooth decay (Chapter 9). The most
physically perfect people in northern India are probably the Pathans who live on dairy products
largely in the form of soured curd, together with wheat and vegetables. The people are very tall
and are free of tooth decay. Probably every housewife is familiar with the low melting quality of the butter produced in early
summer when the cows have been put on the green pastures. This is particularly true of butter that
has the grassy flavor and the deep yellow to orange color. This butter is usually several times as
high in fat-soluble activators including vitamins A and D as butter produced from stall fed cattle or
cattle on poorer pasturage. In Chapter 15, I have explained why this butter is not favorable for
shipping and why dairymen so frequently give the cows a ration that will produce less of these
qualities. One of the principal foods used for accomplishing this is made of cotton seed meal and
cereals. There are many illustrations of the low efficiency of this type of fodder for providing vitamins
essential for dairy products. In one of the recent severe droughts in the Mississippi Valley several
thousand cattle were shipped to Ohio for water and green pasture as a means of saving their lives. They were fed enroute on concentrates said to consist of cotton seed meal and grain. Professor
Oscar Erf of the Department of Dairying of Ohio State University has given me the following
detailed information:
   With reference to the cattle from the south-western and central-northern states of the drought
area which were brought into Ohio in the fall of 1935 on a 600 acre farm north of Delaware, will
say that I had the privilege of viewing some of these cattle previous to the time that they were
brought to Ohio in 1935. Because of the extreme drought period and the hot sun, it was rare to
see green grass on the prairies. The sedges were nearly all dried up. The tumbleweed was about
the only thing that was available for the cattle in some instances. The corn was dried up and
very little green was in evidence. In the particular location that I was in we found the cattle
suffering terribly. Many had infected eyes. There were a good many deaths on the plains which were literally dried up. Sometimes there
was even a small amount of decomposition after death. In the fall, those that survived on the
plains, were loaded up and driven to the corrals, loaded into cars and sent east. Only the good
ones were loaded and even a large number of these passed out in transit. I was informed that the crop of grass the year before was very scant. Consequently, a large
number of calves were born with weak eyes and these were the early ones to pass out on the7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 176/250plains. The low vitality of the individuals which I considered was due to the lack of vitamin A or
the green grass factors was the cause of the serious infection, however their being secondary to
the primary cause. The first train load of the twenty-eight hundred cattle that were brought to this ranch were fed
on green corn stalks. There was a nine acre patch of corn in this area. The fences were taken
down one afternoon at 3 o'clock and by 9 o'clock there was no evidence of stubbles or roots. This had all been eaten in a very short space of time. We had quite a time getting hays and
green stuff which we demanded because of its carotin content and its green grass factor. There
was not enough grass available in the beginning so we had to buy about 400 tons of hay a day
to keep the animals fed. They got no grain of any kind because it was a question of bringing the
cattle to a more or less normal condition with no intention of fattening the animals. After they had made arrangements for feeding operations and made feed racks in sufficient
numbers, we went over the herd to estimate the numbers that were blind and had sore eyes,
which I assume from past experience, was due to a vitamin A deficiency. As near as we can
estimate, nearly 8 12 animals were affected (29 per cent). There were 157 calves born and
approximately 50 per cent were deformed and not normal. We did not get the complete figures
but they probably ranged a little higher than that. The worst infected cows were calves and
animals that were 18 to 20 months old. I could not get the story of these individuals but they
must have been in the area of dry grass for 2 years. There was a slight improvement in those
that were not seriously infected after they were fed here. They improved decidedly in October
and November and were practically all slaughtered before the middle of December. The milk of these vitamin deficient cows would not properly nourish either their calves or human
beings. Many children have tooth decay even while using whole milk, in part because the milk is too low
in vitamin content, due to the inadequacy of the food given the cows. The means for improving this
condition have been discussed in Chapter 15. Some of the current theories of the chemistry of tooth decay place the responsibility on the local
condition in the mouth as affected by the contributing factors provided by sugars and starches
which enhance the growth of acid producing organisms. A phase of this has been closely related to
the slogan that a clean tooth cannot decay. Among the difficulties in applying this interpretation is
the physical impossibility of keeping teeth bacteriologically clean in the environment of the mouth. Another difficulty is the fact that many primitive races have their teeth smeared with starchy foods
almost constantly and make no effort whatsoever to clean their teeth. In spite of this they have no
tooth decay. In many of the primitive groups that I have studied the process of modernization
includes teaching oral hygiene and prophylaxis. Yet, even with the addition of this important
adjunct to health, they have in most cases lost their immunity to tooth decay and dental caries has
become active. This will be seen in many of the illustrations of the primitive races in the preceding
chapters. Of course everyone should clean his teeth, even the primitives, in the interest of and out
of consideration for others. In my clinical work I have sought for extreme cases of active tooth decay in order to test the
primitive wisdom. Many of these cases have been furnished by members of the dental profession in
other cities and states. By the simple procedure of studying the nutrition of the individual, obtaining
a sample of saliva for analysis, seeing x-rays of the individual's teeth and supporting bone, and
getting a history of the systemic overloads, I have been able to outline a nutritional program which,
in well above 90 per cent of the cases has controlled the dental caries. Improvement in the
condition of the teeth has been confirmed by later x-rays and reports by the patients' dentists. In a
few cases where I had contact with the patients only through correspondence the cooperation was
not adequate for accomplishing complete improvement. While it is true that there is a marked
difference in the susceptibility of different individuals to dental caries, even those who would
ordinarily be classed as highly susceptible, have generally received permanent benefit from the
treatment. These principles of treatment have now been applied to many hundreds of patients as indicated
by the fact that over 2,800 chemical analyses of the saliva have been made. The dietary programs
that have been recommended have been determined on the basis of a study of the nutrition used by7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 177/250the patient, the data provided by the x-rays, from the saliva analysis and case history. The diets
have been found to be deficient in minerals, chiefly phosphorus. Fat-soluble vitamins have been
deficient in practically every case of active tooth decay. The foods selected for reinforcing the
deficient nutritions have always included additional fatsoluble vitamins and a liberal source of
minerals in the form of natural food. Human beings cannot absorb minerals satisfactorily from
inorganic chemicals. Great harm is done, in my judgment, by the sale and use of substitutes for
natural foods. One of our greatest difficulties in undertaking to apply the wisdom of the primitives to our
modern problems involves a character factor. The Indians of the high Andes were willing to go
hundreds of miles to the sea to get kelp and fish eggs for the use of their people. Yet many of our
modern people are unwilling to take sufficient trouble to obtain foods that are competent to
accomplish the desired results. Jobbers and middlemen as well as supply depot managers want butter sold in accordance with
its label rather than in accordance with its vitamin content. One large distributor whom I asked to
cooperate by maintaining a stock of high-vitamin butter to which I could refer people, told me
frankly that he wished I would stop telling people about the difference in the vitamins in butter. He
did not wish them to think of butter in terms of its vitamin content. Another large concern told me
that when I had worked up a sufficiently large market they would become interested in supplying
the demand. I counsel people to put in storage some of that butter which has the grassy flavor and
which melts easily and is produced when the cows go onto the rapidly growing young grass. Unfortunately, cows that have been on a stable fodder low in carotene and under the stress of
gestation often are so depleted in their own body vitamins that it takes them three or four weeks to
replenish their own bodies when they get on good pasture. Then the vitamins will appear in liberal
quantity in their milk. This has made it necessary for me to assist many patients in obtaining a
supply by analyzing butter for its vitamin content and then putting this material in storage and
making it available for special cases as needed. The program that I have found most efficient has been one which includes the use of small
quantities of very high vitamin butter mixed in equal parts with a very high vitamin cod liver oil. A
simple method of preparing the butter is by melting it and allowing it to cool for twenty-four hours
at a temperature of about 70° F., then centrifugalizing it which provides an oil that remains liquid at
room temperature. When this butter oil is mixed in equal parts with a very high-vitamin cod liver
oil, it produces a product that is more efficient than either alone. It should be used within a couple
of weeks of the time it is mixed. It is desirable that this material be made available in various parts
of the country. Even the high-vitamin butter produced on the early summer growth of grass put in
storage and used during the winter will go far toward solving our great national problem of
shortage of fat-soluble vitamins. The quantity of the mixture of butter oil and cod liver oil required
is quite small, half a teaspoonful three times a day with meals is sufficient to control wide-spread
tooth decay when used with a diet that is low in sugar and starches and high in foods providing the
minerals, particularly phosphorus. A teaspoonful a day divided between two or three meals is
usually adequate to prevent dental caries and maintain a high immunity; it will also maintain freedom
from colds and a high level of health in general. This reinforcement of the fat-soluble vitamins to a
menu that is low in starches and sugars, together with the use of bread and cereal grains freshly
ground to retain the full content of the embryo or germ, and with milk for growing children and for
many adults, and the liberal use of sea foods and organs of animals, produced the result described. I have previously reported (3) seventeen cases of extensive dental caries. In these patients there
were found 237 open cavities of apparently active caries. Most of the individuals were between
twelve and twenty years of age and accordingly had twenty-eight permanent teeth each, or a total
of 476. It will be noted that if one cavity is allowed per tooth, approximately half of the total
number of teeth were affected, or precisely 49.7 per cent of all the teeth had open cavities. This
group includes only persons of whom I have been making critical examination every six to twelve
months over a three-year period. In practically all cases, Roentgen-ray examinations were made in
addition to clinical examinations of the teeth. While these persons have been on the reinforced7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 178/250nutritional program during the winter and spring months of the past three years, only two new
cavities have developed in the group, or 0.4 per cent. The length of time during which the cavities
previously found had been developing is not known beyond the fact that all of the patients were
receiving frequent and thorough dental service, most of them twice a year and many of them more
frequently. It is accordingly probable that the cavities found had developed in less than a year. That
dental caries was not a new problem with these persons was indicated by the very extensive and
numerous dental restorations that had been made in their mouths. It is, therefore, apparent that 250
times as many cavities developed in the period preceding the starting of the nutritional program as
in the three years following its adoption. If these data were reduced to a yearly basis, the
comparison would show a much wider variation. In a group of fifty persons, including the above mentioned seventeen, who had been on the
special nutritional program for from one to six years, most of them three years or more, only two
new cavities developed. Allowing these persons to have an average of twenty-eight teeth per
person, or a total of 1,400 teeth, this would represent an incidence of dental caries in a period of
three years of 0.14 per cent. In this group of fifty, there are many instructive and striking cases. For example, H. F. did not have a single cavity from October, 1932, to June, 1933, while taking
additional vitamins and high mineral foods. From June, 1933, to May, 1934, while not taking the
special vitamins, she developed ten new cavities. S. K., prior to 1931 had rampant tooth decay with pulps nearly exposed in all first permanent
molars. The remaining deciduous teeth had been reduced to shells. She was on the special
nutritional program from December, 1931, to June, 1932, during which time caries was completely
arrested. She discontinued taking special oil in June, 1932, and did not take it again until October,
1933, during most of which time she was taking viosterol under a physician's prescription to
prevent dental caries. She came in October, 1933, with fourteen new cavities. She was
immediately placed again on the special program, from October, 1933, to May, 1934. During this
period, the dental caries was completely under control. During the time that she was not on the
special program, there developed on many of the surfaces of the permanent teeth white patches of
decalcifying enamel. Under the reinforced nutritional program, these largely disappeared, and those
that did not regain their translucency turned dark. Among the group of seventeen J. H., sent in from another city, had thirty-eight open cavities in
June, 193 1. In addition to active caries, he had quite disturbing heart symptoms, which curtailed
his activity, and he also had a marked sense of lassitude and weariness. He has been on the
reinforced nutritional program during the fall, winter and spring of each year since that time. During
this time, he has not developed a single new cavity. The density of all the teeth has progressively
improved as evidenced by Roentgen-ray records. His physical condition has been greatly
improved so that he is able to carry on his college activities and heavy outside work to earn money
to maintain his college expenses. He is not conscious of a heart limitation. When asked what the
principal change was that he had noticed, he said that in addition to not feeling tired, he was more
rested with six hours' sleep than formerly with ten hours'. A. W. had thirty-two new cavities in the two years previous to beginning the special nutritional
reinforcement. She continued this regularly during the winter and spring months for three years and
has not had a single new cavity since that time. In a group of children whose mothers had the special nutritional reinforcement during gestation
and lactation and who had been provided with the same dietary adjuncts during the winter and
spring months of infancy and early childhood, not a single carious cavity has developed. A number
of these children are now in public schools. Their physical development is distinctly above that of
the average children of their age, as is also their efficiency in school work. It is important that I emphasize here some dangers that are not usually recognized or properly
emphasized in the literature. When fish oils including cod liver oils are given in too large doses to
some patients they experience quite definite symptoms of depression. The available evidence7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 179/250indicates that fish oils that have been exposed to the air may develop toxic substances. My work
and that of others with experimental animals has demonstrated that paralysis can be produced
readily by over-dosing. Serious structural damage can be done to hearts and kidneys. I have
reported this in considerable detail. (4) My investigations have shown that when a high vitamin
natural cod liver oil is used in conjunction with a high vitamin butter oil the mixture is much more
efficient than either alone.4 This makes it possible to use very small doses. Except in the late stages
of pregnancy I do not prescribe more than half a teaspoonful with each of three meals a day. This
procedure appears to obviate completely the undesirable effects. As stated elsewhere fish oils
should be stored in small containers to avoid exposure to the air. Rancid fats and oils destroy
vitamins A and E, (5)  the former in the stomach. (6)
    I am frequently reminded that ancient skulls are often found with extensive dental caries thus
disproving that the primitive groups were more free from dental caries than the modern groups. It
must be kept in mind that the fundamental laws of Nature have been in operation as long as
animals and men have been on the earth. In my investigations among primitive races, I have been
concerned particularly with the study of changes that have taken place both in immunity to dental
caries and in the environment, including the foods used. It has been important that I find large
groups with relatively high immunity to dental caries to be used as controls. There is great need,
accordingly, that additional data be provided. Fortunately, this need is being met. There have just
come to my desk two interesting reports; one, from Dr. Arne Hoygaard (7)  and the other from Dr.
P. O. Pedersen. (8) These two distinguished scientists have spent a year in East Greenland among
the Eskimos in that very barren and isolated region. The percentage of teeth found attacked by
dental caries among the isolated Eskimos of East Greenland is exceedingly low, less than 1 per
cent. Where the Eskimos were in contact with modernized store foods at the port, tooth decay
was active. The conditions which they have found were apparently not quite so favorable as in the
groups I studied in Alaska. The Greenland Eskimos apparently are living in a more difficult
environment. The data provided by these investigations are in accord with the data I have obtained
among isolated Eskimos and other primitive racial stocks. Eastern Greenland, by international
agreement, is administered by the Danish Government and no one is permitted even to visit the
coast of Greenland without special permission. This permission is very difficult to obtain. Even
Danish citizens are not free to travel there. We are, accordingly, very grateful to Dr. Hoygaard and
Dr. Pedersen for their contribution from studies made in that protected field. We shall look
forward with interest to their detailed reports. Unfortunately, the public is very much at sea because of the extravagant claims that are made for
many of the products advertised over the radio, in journals, and by door to door solicitation. A
dependable and helpful booklet on the vitamin content of foods has been published by the United
States Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publications, No. 275. The fact should always be
emphasized that foods as Nature makes them have much more nutritional value than after they are
processed so that insect life cannot live on them. When foods cannot support insect life they
cannot support human life. A report has just appeared in the September number of the New Zealand Dental Journal by H.
H. Tocker on behalf of the Hawkes Bay Branch of the New Zealand Dental Association in which
he reports the results of the application of my suggestions in the Hukarere School for native Maori
girls at Napier. I have reported my studies there in Chapter 12. They used only one part of my
suggestions for checking the activity of dental caries. The diet of both their control group and
tested group was the same except for one item, i.e., "one heaped teaspoonful twice daily of malt
and cod liver oil." In a group of sixty-six native girls the thirty-three with the best teeth were used
as a control group. The remaining thirty-three were given the additional fat-soluble vitamins. In six
months' time ~resistance of this group was raised by 41.75 per cent" as compared with the control
group. The nutrition of the test group was not adequately reinforced to obtain the best results. There was a marked inadequacy of mineral carrying foods in proportion to the energy and heat
providing factors in the foods. An adequate quantity of such efficient foods should be as readily
available today as before the white men came to New Zealand.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 180/250   It is important to summarize at this point some of the data that I have developed in other
chapters because of their direct relation to the control of dental caries and other degenerative
processes. Since human life like other animal life has been developed in Nature's laboratory to fit
Nature's natural foods we run a great risk when we undertake to modify seriously these foods. Bakers' so-called whole wheat bread is not comparable to Nature's foods that provide entire
wheat and other cereals, because of the factors that have been removed from the wheat either
mechanically or by oxidation. This is so large a problem that adequate changes in the available
grain foods cannot be made until there 15 sufficient public demand to produce them through the
normal channels of supply and demand. It is primarily a problem for our Federal and State
governments. Packaged foods containing dry cereals can undergo important changes, even while
the material is being processed or while in packages on the shelves. The determinations of the loss
of vitamins in packaged foods as reported in 1938 by the Agricultural Experimental Station of
Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, reveal that a material loss occurs in two weeks'
time and a very serious loss in one to two months' time in certain stock rations. An important source of misapprehension is the literature and teachings of fadists. Such, for
example, as the misapprehension of many people that they must use only alkaline producing foods
and that a great danger is associated with the use of acid producing foods. In the primitive races I
have found practically no difference between the acid balance meat diet of the isolated Eskimos of
the far north and the less acid vegetable and milk diet of other groups as efficient factors in control
of caries. It is important to keep in mind that our bodies have a mechanism for maintaining proper
acid and alkali balance in the blood and this varies through only a very narrow limit whether the
balance of the total food eaten is acid or alkaline. It is also important to have in mind that there are
certain fat-soluble vitamins provided in dairy products in adequate quantity that cannot all be
supplied in fish oils. Also that overdosing with cod liver oil and other fish oils can be definitely
detrimental. When packages of cod liver oil are purchased from the trade the material should be
received in full containers not exposed to air and when opened should be transferred to small units
so it is not progressively oxidized during the period of its use. The excess of calories over body building minerals is exceedingly high in sweets of various kinds
regardless of their special branding and the methods of manufacture and storage. There is very little
of the body building minerals in maple syrup, cane syrup from sugar or honey. They can all defeat
an otherwise efficient dietary. The problem is not so simple as merely cutting down or eliminating
sugars and white flour though this is exceedingly important. It is also necessary that adequate
mineral and vitamin carrying foods be made available. It is also necessary to realize that many of
our important foods for providing vitamins are very low in body building material. For example,
one would have to eat nearly a bushel of apples a day or half a bushel of oranges to obtain a liberal
factor of safety for providing phosphorus; similarly one would be required to eat nine and one half
pounds of carrots or eleven pounds of beets each day to get enough phosphorus for a liberal
factor of safety, while this quantity would be provided in one pound of lentils or beans, wheat or
oats. I have discussed elsewhere the availability of phosphorus depending upon its chemical form. Since the calories largely determine the satisfying of the appetite and since under ordinary
circumstances we stop when we have obtained about two thousand to twenty-five hundred very
little of the highly sweetened fruits defeats our nutritional program. We would have to consume
daily the contents of thirty-two one pound jars of marmalade, jellies or jams to provide a two gram
intake of phosphorus. This quantity would provide 32,500 calories; an amount impossible for the
system to take care of. Milk is one of the best foods for providing minerals but it may be inadequate in several vitamins.
Nutrition_and_Physical_Degeneration_by_Weston_Price.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        It is of interest that the diets of the primitive groups which have shown a very high immunity to
dental caries and freedom from other degenerative processes have all provided a nutrition
containing at least four times these minimum requirements; whereas the displacing nutrition of
commerce, consisting largely of white-flour products, sugar, polished rice, jams, canned goods,
and vegetable fats have invariably failed to provide even the minimum requirements. In other words
the foods of the native Eskimos contained 5. 4 times as much calcium as the displacing foods of the
white man, five times as much phosphorus, 1. 5 times as much iron, 7. 9 times as much magnesium,
1. 8 times as much copper, 49. 0 times as much iodine, and at least ten times that number of fat-
soluble vitamins. For the Indians of the far North of Canada, the native foods provided 5. 8 times
as much calcium, 5. 8 times as much phosphorus, 2. 7 times as much iron, 4. 3 times as much
magnesium, 1. 5 times as much copper, 8. 8 times as much iodine, and at least a ten fold increase in
fat-soluble activators. For brevity, we will apply the figures to calcium, phosphorus, magnesium,
iron and fat-soluble activators in order. The ratio in the Swiss native diets to that in the displacing
diet was for calcium, 3. 7 fold; for phosphorus, 2. 2 fold; for magnesium, 2. 5 fold; for iron, 3. 1 fold;
and for the fat-soluble activators, at least ten fold. For the Gaelics in the Outer Hebrides, the native
foods provided 2. 1 times as much calcium, 2. 3 times as much phosphorus, 1. 3 times as much
magnesium, and 1. 0 times as much iron; and the fat-soluble activators were increased at least ten7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg. net. au/ebooks02/0200251h. html#toc 166/250fold. For the Aborigines of Australia, living along the eastern coast where they have access to sea
foods the ratio of minerals in the native diet to those in the displacing modernized foods was, for
calcium, 4. 6 fold; for phosphorus, 6. 2 fold; for magnesium, 17 fold; and for iron 50. 6 fold; while
for the fatsoluble activators, it was at least ten fold. The native diet of the New Zealand Maori
provided an increase in the native foods over the displacing foods of the modernized whites of 6. 2
fold for calcium, 6. 9 fold for phosphorus, 23. 4 fold for magnesium, 58. 3 fold for iron; and the
fatsoluble activators were increased at least ten fold. The native diet of the Melanesians provided
similarly an increase over the provision made in the modernized foods which displaced them of 5. 7
fold for calcium, 6. 4 fold for phosphorus, 26. 4 fold for magnesium, and 22. 4 fold for iron; while
the fat-soluble activators were increased at least ten fold. The Polynesians provided through their
native diet for an increase in provision over that of the displacing imported diets, of 5. 6 fold for
calcium, 7. 2 fold for phosphorus, 28. 5 fold for magnesium, 18. 6 fold for iron; and the fat-soluble
activators were increased at least ten fold. The coastal Indians of Peru provided through their
native primitive diets for an increase in provision over that of the displacing modernized diet of 6. 6
fold for calcium, 5. 5 fold for phosphorus, 13. 6 fold for magnesium, 5. 1 fold for iron; and an excess
of ten fold was provided for fat-soluble vitamins. For the Indians of the Andean Mountains of
Peru, the native foods provided an increase over the provision of the displacing modern foods of S
fold for calcium, 5.
The diets of primitive groups provided a nutrition containing at least four times the minimum requirements, whereas the diets of modernized groups failed to provide even the minimum requirements.
What is the main difference between the diets of primitive groups and those of modernized groups?
Vitamin D is not found in plants, and it must be obtained from animal products, such as dairy products, organs of animals, or sea foods.
What is the primary source of vitamin D for humans?
The key to preventing tooth decay is not only providing a liberal source of minerals and vitamins but also improving the quality of the saliva and ensuring that it has access to the cavity.
What is the key to preventing tooth decay, according to the author?
The author recommends a diet that includes a liberal source of minerals, particularly phosphorus, and a small quantity of high-vitamin butter mixed with cod liver oil.
What is the author's recommendation for improving the nutritional program to control tooth decay?
The author warns that fish oils and cod liver oil should not be used in large doses, as they can be detrimental, and should be stored in small containers to avoid oxidation.
What is the author's warning about the use of fish oils and cod liver oil?