Your Great-Grandparent’s Diet

by Primavera Hernandez
Staff Contributor    

    We are what we eat. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. Increasing rates of heart disease, certain cancers, obesity and diabetes are gross epidemics associated with our nations lifestyle and diet.  As graduate students of public health our job is to learn ways in which we can promote healthy behaviors and elicit positive behavior changes.


    Take improving ones eating habits, for example. As a certified Nutrition Educator, I have learned over time that asking someone to change his or her diet is a very difficult and personal matter. No one likes their favorite comfort foods taken away from them. Be prepared to run because you might get hurt if you try to take away someone’s donuts, ice cream and soda - especially coffee.


     So how about this recipe for inspiring change? Connect individuals and communities to the diets of their ancestors. Such a change in diet would be a source of cultural pride and self-knowing instead of a source of dread and self-sacrifice.

    What is a traditional diet? It is one based on unprocessed whole foods, unique to any one culture or region. Beginning in the 1930s, a Dentist named Dr. Weston A. Price began traveling the world, looking for “primitive” groups who lived entirely on indigenous foods. In a nutshell, what he found was that individuals and communities who adhere to their traditional diets (fresh whole foods, grain, dairy, local animal protein, omega fatty acids, organ meats, fermented foods), exhibit low to no dental cavities, broad oral arches and strong straight teeth. By contrast, individuals and communities who adopted more modern refined diets (white flour and sugar, canned goods, refined oils) exhibit increased dental cavities and other dental problems. Hence, traditional diets provide greater nutrition and greater health than do modern refined diets.

    Within the Masters in Public Health program at San Jose State University, heavy weight is placed on cultural competency. We seek to learn the histories, perspectives, culture and traditions of various communities so as to better understand and serve their health needs. I propose, that in the area of nutrition, we need to become culturally competent in the traditional diets specific to the communities we are working with. This already is in place in many community nutrition programs. Let us continue this trend and reintroduce individuals to their ancestral diets. Framing healthy food choices will not only inspire a healthier palate but also deepen our ancestral connection.