I'm am looking for the actual amount of vitamins A and D that were
consumed by properly fed individuals eating their native diets prior
to the introduction of depleted, processed Western foods. I would
like to know the ranges of amounts in as many native cultures as are
easily accessible, with one being the minumum of course. Numbers can
be given in micrograms or IU per pound of bodyweight, or, micrograms
or IU per adult, or, some similar absolute measure. No percentages of
any kind, please.
To point you in a starting direction -- Dr. Weston A Price did
original research in this area in the early part of the 20th century.
In his book _Nutrition and Physical Degeneration_ he does comparative
analysis of various native diets but only published the amounts of
these vitamins as a comparison with the degraded American diet at the
time. I have not been able to find the actual daily amounts consumed.
Perhaps I am just missing it, but I've given up and thought I'd see
if this information is available elsewhere. There are many citations
in his book for other research in this area being done by others based
on anthropological studies throughout the 1920's and 30's that I do
not have access to. I think the data is out there, I just can't find
it myself. |