Can Low-Protein, High-Carbohydrate Diets Be Healthy?
Although most of the diets described by Dr. Weston Price contained generous amounts of animal foods, a few were characterized by low levels of animal foods and a high carbohydrate intake. Several African groups consumed insects, small dried fish and shrimp, and small amounts of shrimp paste as their chief animal foods, with large amounts carbohydrates from tubers, grains, fruits like bananas, and vegetables. Natives of the high Andes consumed small amounts of animal foods in the form of Guinea pigs and dried seafood, particularly dried fish eggs, with large amounts of carbohydrates from potatoes and grains. Even the Swiss diet was relatively low in protein (milk has 2 percent of calories as protein, Swiss cheese has 23 percent of calories as protein) and high in carbohydrates from bread and milk. Protein intake may have been less than 10 percent in these diets, and carbohydrate intake in the range of 60 percent, yet these groups had excellent dental health and a high level of overall g
