How One Nutritious Meal a Day Matters
Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #129 [vol6, 2.3]
Ever feel discouraged by what everyone else feeds your kid? Maybe it’s more fast food than you prefer or allll the sweets from school…and you wonder, “Does it even matter what I’m making at home?”
The food you make at home matters!
Last week I listened to this podcast about picky kid to healthy eater. The guest mentioned a study where dentist Dr. Weston A. Price saw an incredible difference in students, particularly their dental health and classroom behavior, when the children were given one nutritious meal a day.
Some of you are familiar with Dr. Weston A. Price, who studied people who had not been influenced by modern foods. I ran across a blog post and later found the study on pages 391-393 his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Benefit of One Nutritious Meal a Day
The children in this study by Dr. Price were from an economically depressed area, parents were mill workers. Children were selected on the basis of rampant dental caries (cavities).
One midday meal was provided for the children.
It's important to note their diet at home was not changed: sweets and refined starches, highly sweetened coffee, white bread, vegetable oil.
The home care of teeth was not changed.
The preliminary studies of each child included:
x-rays of all the teeth
chemical analyses of the saliva
a careful plotting of the position, size and depth of all cavities
recording height and weight, school grades and behavior.
At the beginning of the test, the average chemical analysis of all the saliva specimens was 2.4% of the total inorganic phosphorus of the saliva.
in 2 months 3.4%
in 4 months 8.1%
in 5 months 11.4%
in 7 months 11.8%.
The Meal
a teaspoon of high vitamin butter/cod liver oil
half cup tomato or orange juice
bowl of rich vegetable & meat stew, made with marrow bones & tender meat
cooked fruit with little sweetening
rolls made with freshly milled wheat, on site
2 glasses of raw milk
The menu varied from day to day, sometimes substituting fish chowder or organ meats for meat stew. From time to time a half-gallon jar was brought to Dr. Price’s laboratory for chemical analysis.
It is important to note that Dr. Price emphasized thriving healthy cultures eat the whole animal, not simply muscle meats. Related: sign up for Offally Good Cooking’s Newsletter for organ meat inspo. This is an area where I need growth.
Results of the Study
One of the boys was so weak at the beginning of the test that it was considered questionable whether it was safe for him to walk the two blocks from home to the mission for the one reinforced meal a day. In six weeks he was able to play basketball - dashing around as the star player with no evidence of undue fatigue!
Two different teachers inquired of Dr. Price. 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?!
The clinical effect was apparent: COMPLETE CONTROL of dental caries for entire group, as shown on x-rays.
Dental carries is only one of the many expressions of our modern deficient nutrition.
The food you eat at home matters!
The average reader of this newsletter isn’t a mill worker getting meals for their children from a study. You are intelligent and see where this is going.
Even if your children eat garbage when away from home, the food eaten at home makes a difference in their health and behavior. It makes a difference of the time and money spent at a doctor’s office.
Nutrient Priorities in My Home These Days
Pastured eggs - We have a small backyard flock, down to 2 hens, so I’m supplementing with eggs from the co-op where I pick up milk. When that doesn’t work, I buy a pastured option from the grocery or buy from friends with backyard hens. We aim to consume at least 2 dozen a week (about 6 eggs per person/wk), most weeks it is more. If pastured eggs are not in the budget for you — regular eggs STILL have fantastic nutrition.
Butter - There are days when my family consumes a pound of butter a day. I can’t afford only high dollar butter so I buy store brand as well as rich yellow butter from New Zealand found at Costco. While that butter isn’t labeled organic, from talking with several friends from there, chemicals are largely frowned upon. The price of the NZ is similar to organic butter yet the color is brighter yellow which indicates more nutrients.
The color of the butter changes with seasons. I’ve purchased pale Kerrygold butter before. If I happen to discover a deep yellow-orange butter, I’ve been known to drive back for more of the same batch!
In 2018 we lived in Fiji for six months; the butter was a highlight for me. It was consistently a deep yellow from cows eating quickly growing tropical grasses, evidence of incredible nutrition.
Once I was waxing to a Fijian woman about the island’s butter, telling her what a gold mine she was sitting on and encouraging her to eat with gusto. She’d lived for a long while in southern California and said, “Really? I always thought American butter was better because it is white.”
Nutrients and minerals show up in color!
Meat from a farmer with a face. I stuffed my freezer with a deal for local ground beef. This fall I also bought brats, pork roasts and whole chickens in bulk from local farms. Bulk buying is slightly cheaper. Never cheap for quality meat. If it’s not in the budget to buy direct from a farmer, aim for organic meat. If local or organic meat isn’t in the budget, go for meat on the bone. Least of our budget dollars should lend to processed meats like hot dogs, nuggets, or lunch meat with fillers. Homemade hamburgers are cheaper per pound than deli ham!
Raw milk - For years we bought 2 gallons for 5 people a week. I didn’t drink much because I wanted the children to drink more. In recent days I’m drink more, particularly in the form of kefir in a breakfast smoothie. Our oldest went to college and now 4 of us drink 3 gallons a week.
Raw milk has been a priority (time and budget) since I first started learning about it 16 years ago. It is a superior food. A person could live on raw milk, alone, for 6 months. There’s no other food that compares in nutritional diversity: protein, fats, carbs, enzymes, probiotics.
Raw milk cannot be compared to pasteurized milk — it’s like apples to oranges. Some lactose intolerant people are able to drink raw milk (pasteurization destroys the lactase enzyme and it becomes lactose, which is difficult to digest).
Because people usually ask: I pay about $12/gallon through a buying club near UofL. Before finding that club, I used to drive 40 minutes each way to Simpsonville, once a week.
Find raw milk near you.
Good news ARKANSAS! The legislature recently passed a billed legalizing raw milk sales off the farm. Starting in August(ish) you’ll be able to buy at a farmer’s market! If you’re in central Arkansas, email: ruaballard AT gmail.com They also have cheese, beef and pork in smaller quantities. Here’s a 10 min video of their morning routine.
What about organic fruit, veg, and grain?
Organic produce is important. However when it comes to comparing nutrient density, the foods that contain protein and fat are far and away the heaviest hitters nutritionally.
In addition, the things I listed are typically foods my people don’t fight about eating. Actually, some weeks we fight over who gets the last glass of milk!
Another Strategy for Nutrition
An additional attack on better nutrition: buy the highest quality of the food your family eats most consistently.
Eating peanut butter and jelly everyday at lunch? Buy organic peanut butter, jelly, and learn to make bread.
Does someone want chips? Find chips made with avocado oil…or a better alternative to what they’re consuming regularly.
Think creatively about substitutions.
Did you know organic grapes are cheaper per pound than chemical laden Doritos?
Related:
Is Organic Worth It?
On My Table This Week
Chili: a crowd pleasing, winter fav. + I hid a scoop of dried liver.
Craving broth, I made chicken soup with a whole chicken. I grow tired of plain chicken soup so turned it into a chowder with the addition of frozen corn from Mom’s garden, a couple chopped potatoes, and a can of green chilies. Bacon would have been excellent if I wasn’t lazy. Would have been yum and stretched further with white beans. I made the broth creamy and pumped up the nutrition even more by tempering an egg yolk. Bomb, baby, bomb. It was so good.
Baked Oatmeal I’ve Made Weekly for Over a Decade. Schaeffer (12yo) now makes it Sunday mornings to share with his small group.
Gingerbread bars for boys sledding. They ate the whole pan.
Pumpkin muffins with sourdough discard. I didn’t use the crumble topping, added a few dark chocolate chips and recommend preheating your oven to 425, add muffins to oven. After 5 minutes drop temp to 350 to finish without opening the door. The higher heat in the beginning gives the bakery-beautiful domed top. I also used half soft white wheat, freshly milled.
Sourdough loaf process and ratios here, I’m up to 80% whole wheat. I didn’t want to lug the grain mill out earlier this week and made bread with only all purpose flour. My family and I were underwhelmed. After eating freshly milled whole wheat for six months the white loaf tasted bland. Nutrients, man, they taste good.
Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be.
Julie
PS - The food we eat at home matters. Hit reply and let me know a stumbling block for offering nutritious food in your home. Or leave a comment if you’re reading in the Substack app.
I love this article! I’m a WAPF mama 💛 my mission is to fuel the conversation on the necessity of as well as education around macronutrients AS WELL as micronutrients + nutritional density. Metabolic health is so vital!
Fascinating and encouraging!