A Weston Price diet (or WAP diet: WAP stands for Weston A. Price) follows the principles discovered by Weston Price, DDS, when he investigated traditional diets around the world in the 1930s.
Initially, he wanted to answer the question of what diets were best for maintaining sound, cavity-free teeth. He found more than that.
He found that the traditional groups who had cavity-free teeth were also free of Western diseases—such as heart disease or tuberculosis.
They did indeed eat a special diet. Although their diets varied greatly between groups, they shared these traits:
You can read about his findings in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. The photographs in his book are each worth a thousand words.
Two foundations (see More Information below) carry on Weston Price's tradition.
Uses whole foods and traditionally made foods only.
Uses a food only if it has been a successful part of a diet of disease-free traditional people.
Maximizes nutrients in the diet: vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, protein, healthy fats, enzymes.
No refined or processed foods, no food additives, synthetic ingredients, or artificial sweeteners.
Additional points:
Omnivore: Meat and animal products are essential. Grass-fed and organic meat; seafood; organ meats; raw dairy products; eggs; animal fats.
Fat: Healthy fats are essential, including saturated animal fats, coconut oil, butter, omega-3 fats. Vegetable oils discouraged. Promotes saturated fat and cholesterol as vital bodily components.
Carbohydrates: No discouragement of carbohydrates.
Grains: Whole grains and beans included. Always cooked and always soaked before cooking. No soy unless fermented.
Cooking: Food is cooked whenever cooking maximizes nutrients or removes anti-nutrients. High-enzyme foods are sourced from cultured foods, raw milk, high-enzyme raw fruits and vegetables; occasional raw meat.
Superfoods: Raw milk, raw butter, high-vitamin butter oil, cod liver oil, organ meats.
The Weston A. Price Foundation, with helpful local chapters to join, promotes a WAP diet. Its founder Sally Fallon Morell wrote Nourishing Traditions, which contains nutrition information, an explanation of the controversies, food preparation instructions, and recipes. In Eat Fat Lose Fat, she and Mary Enig present specific Weston Price diets for weight loss, for health recovery, and for "everyday gourmet."
Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation
The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation publishes Weston Price's Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and Dr. Francis Pottenger, Jr., MD's Pottenger's Cats. Dr. Pottenger researched the effect of diet on animals. The Foundation offers courses and promotes the Weston Price diet principles.