Pottinger's Cat Study

Why is it so important to eat nutrient dense, properly prepared foods (what I like to call real foods)?  From 1932-1942, a doctor named Francis Pottinger Jr. did a study on cats.  In this study, he divided healthy cats into different groups.  Group 1 ate a diet consisting of mainly raw foods;  Group 2 ate some raw foods, but their milk was cooked;  Group 3 had all cooked food; Group 4 had cooked and sweetened food.  As I learned about these groups, I found myself comparing Group 4’s food with the Standard American Diet (SAD) that we see today.  The SAD diet mainly consists of processed foods that have been heated, sweetened, and have junk added to them to give them a longer shelf life.

The results of this study were amazing, and great evidence of what cooking and sweetening all of our foods can do to us.  Basically, the cats in Group 1 (raw foods) thrived.  They maintained their good health through 4 generations.  The cats in groups 2-4 progressively got less and less healthy (Group 2 was less healthy than Group 1, Group 3 was less healthy than Group 2, and Group 4 was by far the least healthy). 

The cat group (Group 4), with the diet that so closely resembles the SAD diet that we see so often, got sicker with every generation.  These cats developed asthma and allergies, had physical deformities, developmental delays, social problems (irritable, lethargic, aggressive), vision problems, digestive problems, and fertility problems, just to name a few.    The skeletal structure of the cats in Group 4 (after a couple of generations) was drastically different.  The skulls were more narrow, which gave them bulging eyes, sunken cheeks and crooked teeth.  The mineral content in their bones decreased dramatically.  This group of cats was unable to reproduce after the third generation due to still births, miscarriages, or simply not being able to conceive.

The best news about the Pottinger Cat Study is that all of these problems that the kittens in Group 4 had developed could be, and were, reversed by changing the diet of Group 4 to a healthier, no sugar, less processed diet!  It took these unhealthy cats four generations of eating  “real food” for them to return to the health that their original healthy ancestors had had.

What does this mean for us humans?  What can we learn from Pottinger’s Cat study?  Quite simply, WE NEED TO STOP EATING PROCESSED FOODS!! I can see in my own family, through the generations, that we are our own Pottinger’s Cat study.  Each generation, less healthy than the previous generation.  What I love about nutrition is that WE HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THIS DEGENERATION!  Right now, today, we can decide to start feeding our children and ourselves real food.  Nutrient dense, properly prepared, whole foods…not the processed foods and fast foods that our nation currently eats.  If we do not make this change, we will continue to watch our families become progressively sicker, just like Pottinger’s cats.

Here are 5 easy changes to make today.

  1.Fresh fruits and veggies are a fantastic way to get raw, healthful foods into our diets.  Check out your local farmer’s market.  Choose organic and local whenever possible (better yet, plant a small garden!!).  Check out the “dirty dozen and clean 15” list and try to buy the “dirtiest” produce organically. 

http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/29/fruits-veggies-dirty-dozen-clean-15/

If organic foods are simply not possible, wash your fruits and vegetables well.  http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/diy-homemade-vegetable-wash-preserver/

2.  Switch to real sea salt.  Stop using the iodized table salt!  That stuff has been bleached and processed (it has anti-caking agents added).  Real salt has all of the minerals our bodies need with no bleach or added ingredients (Celtic sea salt seems to be the best, but the brand “Real Salt” is great, and less expensive ).  To make sure you’re getting enough iodine, eat some wild caught seafood or try some seaweed.  I sneak seaweed into our meals all of the time and no one can taste them.  J  There’s also a great product called Sea Seasonings that I use, which you can find at  your gocery store or on amazon.

3. Make your own spaghetti sauce.  I used to rely on jarred spaghetti sauce for an easy weeknight meal, but there are all kinds of added “junk” ingredients in there (including corn syrup, bad oils, and other “natural” ingredients which could mean just about anything).  Spaghetti sauce is easy, and you can eliminate those extra ingredients that we don’t need.  Open a couple cans of tomato sauce (check the ingredients, you should get the one with only tomatoes), add some dried oregano, basil, onion powder, garlic powder, real salt, and pepper.  (If you have fresh tomatoes, use these!!  Cut them up and cook them until they are tender.  Use your potato masher or an immersion blender to mash them up.  Then add spices!)

4. Forget the boxed meals in which you add meat and make your own.  Use your own spices, pasta or rice, and dairy products to create your own “cheesy hamburger macaroni”.

5.  Skip the drive thru and have eggs and toast for dinner instead.  Eggs take very little time to prepare.  Free range organic eggs are best (yes, I know they are more expensive, but a dozen healthy eggs costs around $4 and that is MUCH cheaper and healthier than the drive through any day), and PLEASE use real butter on your toast (and to cook your eggs!) (skip the margarine and other butter spreads, they are full of hydrogenated oils, which are terrible for your body).  Tired of eggs and toast?  Wrap the eggs in a tortilla and add some salsa. 

Want to learn more about the Pottinger Cat Study?   Check out this youtube video http://youtu.be/B23fBGVqL94.  You can read the book Pottinger’s Cats: A Study in Nutrition.  Another excellent read is the book Pottinger’s Prophecy written by one of my teachers at NTA, Gray Graham, and his partners Deborah Kesten, Larry Scherwitz. 

If learning more about optimal health through good nutrition interests you, look into the Nutritional Therapy Association at www.nutritionaltherapy.com.