Arnold DeVries: Primitive Man and His Food (1952)

The defective state of modern man has had its effects upon medicine and the very study of
disease. Dr. E.A. Hooton, the distinguished physical anthropologist of Harvard, has remarked
that “it is a very myopic medical science which works backward from the morgue rather than
forward from the cradle.” Yet this is exactly what the customary procedure of medicine has
been. The reasons have been somewhat of necessity, it is to be admitted, for one can
scarcely study health when the adequate controls are not present. In civilization one studies
civilized people, and the frequency of the forms of degeneration which are found then
determine what we consider normal and abnormal. As a result, conditions which generally
form no part of undomesticated animal life are regarded as normal and necessary for the
human species. So long has disease been studied that the physician often has little concept
as to what health actually is. We live in a world of pathology, deformity and virtual physical
monstrosity, which has so colored our thinking that we cannot visualize the nature of health
and the conditions necessary for its presence.
The question should then logically arise: why not leave civilization and study physical
conditions in the primitive world? If perfect physical specimens could here be found, the study
could be constructive and progressive, giving suggestions, perhaps, as to the conditions which
permitted or induced a state of physical excellence to exist. We might then find out what man
is like, biologically speaking, when he does not need a doctor, which might also indicate what
he should be like when the doctor has finished with him.
Fortunately the idea has not been entirely neglected. Primitive races were carefully observed
and described by many early voyagers and explorers who found them in their most simple and
natural state. Primitive life has also very carefully been observed and studied with the object of
understanding social, moral or religious conditions, in which, however, incidental observations
were made too with respect to the physical condition of the people, and the living habits which
might affect that condition. Others, in modern life, have studied the savages with the specific
object of determining their physical state of health, and the mode of living which is associated
therewith.
The results of such work have been very significant, but regarding medicine and nutrition in
actual practice, they have been almost entirely neglected. The common view that primitive
man is generally short lived and subject to many diseases is often held by physician as well as
layman, and the general lack of sanitation, modern treatment, surgery and drugs in the
primitive world is thought to prevent maintenance of health at a high physical level. For the
average nutritionist it is quite natural to feel that any race not having access to the wide variety
of foods which modern agriculture and transportation now permit could not be in good health.
These assumptions have helped to determine existing therapeutic methods, and they have
largely prevented serious consideration that might be based upon factual data.
But the facts are known, and these comprise a very interesting and important story. They
indicate that, when living under near-isolated conditions, apart from civilization and without
access to the foods of civilization, primitive man lives in much better physical condition than
does the usual member of civilized society. When his own nutrition is adequate and complete,
as it often is, he maintains complete immunity to dental caries. His teeth are white and
sparkling, with neither brushing nor cleansing agents used, and the dental arch is broad, with
the teeth formed in perfect alignment.
The facial and body development is also good. The face is finely formed, well-set and broad.
The body is free from deformity and proportioned as beauty and symmetry would indicate
desirable. The respective members of the racial group reproduce in homogeneity from one
generation to the next. There are few deviations from the standard anthropological prototype.
One individual resembles the other in facial form, looking much like sisters or brothers, with
the chief differences in appearance being in size.
Reproductive efficiency is such as to permit parturition with no difficulty and little or no pain.
There are no prenatal deformities. Resistance to infectious disease is high, few individuals
being sick, and these usually rapidly recovering. The degenerative diseases are rare, even in
advanced life, some of them being completely unknown and unheard of by the primitive.
Mental complaints are equally rare, and the state of happiness and contentment is one
scarcely known by civilized man. The duration of life is long, the people being yet strong and vigorous as they pass the proverbial three score and ten mark, and living in many cases
beyond a century.
These are the characteristics of the finest and most healthful primitive races, who live under
the most ideal climatic and nutritional conditions. Primitive races less favored by environment
are less successful in meeting weakness and disease, but even the poorest of these have
better teeth and skeletal development than civilized man, and they usually present other
physical advantages as well.
The experience of primitive man has therefore been one of great importance. We note that
people living today, under the culture and environment of the Stone Age, have not only
equalled but far surpassed civilized man in strength, physical development and immunity to
disease. The mere existence of this fact poses an important question to modern medicine
and should arouse serious thought and consideration.
Of equal significance is the fact that the good health of the primitive has been possible only
under conditions of relative isolation. As soon as his contact with civilization is sufficient to
alter his dietary habits, he succumbs to disease very readily and loses all of the unique
immunity of the past. The teeth decay; facial form ceases to be uniform; deformities become
common; reproductive efficiency is lowered; mental deficiency develops; and the duration of
life is sharply lowered.
It would hence appear that the nutritional habits of primitive man are responsible for his state
of health. So long as the native foods remain in use, there are no important physical changes,
and the bacterial scourges are absent, even though a complete lack of sanitation would
indicate that pathogenic bacteria might be present. With a displacement of native foods for
those of modern commerce the situation changes completely, and the finest sanitation that the
white man can provide, together with the best in medical services, is of no avail in preventing
the epidemics which take thousands of lives. Among scientists who have studied at first hand
both the physical condition and food of many primitive races, the close relationship between
the two has been clearly recognized.
pp. 47

source: "Against Civilization" - John Zerzan