Sample Reading List
PLEASE NOTE: One of the major goals fo the NTA is to provide students with the latest, contemporary research as well as the time-tested, ancestral wisdom on every subject taught in our certification programs. While this list contain most of the books you need for class, we are always evaluation contemporary sources and you should plan on purchasing up to two new resources during the course. If a new resource is required, your instructor will notify you at least three weeks in advance of the reading assignment, so it won’t come as a surprise.
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
by Weston A. Price, DDS
The teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, a highly-respected dentist and researcher, are firmly rooted in the DNA of the NTA’s philosophy and curriculum. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration documents Price’s epic work to unravel the relationship between diet and physical health, an investigation that led him to 14 countries over the course of 10 years. In the end, he observed that the healthiest people tended to be those in rural areas eating traditional, time-honored, nutrient-dense diets, while the least healthy people tended to be those eating modern, nutrient-poor, processed foods. As cultures adopted highly processed foods like white flour, white sugar, and refined vegetable oils, ill health, tooth decay, poor bone development, and “diseases of civilization” surely followed. While Price observed a great variety of health-promoting traditional diets around the world, he observed some key patterns repeated throughout:
• Use of animal products (to his great disappointment, Price was unable to find any truly healthy vegan societies)
• Four times more calcium and ten times more fat-soluble vitamins than in the modern Western diet
• Seeds, grains, and nuts were typically soaked, sprouted, fermented, or naturally leavened to minimize anti-nutrients
• Nearly equal amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
*Available in paperback format only
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
by Sally Fallon
Nourishing Traditions simultaneously challenges the politically and economically motivated advice of the “diet dictocrats” while also offering modern families a guide to wise food choices and proper preparation techniques based on the time-honored wisdom of our ancestors. Contrary to common belief, Fallon shows that saturated fat and cholesterol are not only safe, but in fact required for optimal human health, reproduction, growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease, and sustainable energy levels. The book includes detailed overviews of all the essential nutrients needed for human life to flourish and a full-spectrum nutritional cookbook with a host of healthy and delicious recipes, including tips on how to remove antinutrients by soaking and sprouting grains, and the health benefits of bone broths and enzyme-rich lacto-fermented foods.
*Available in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover
