What is the impact of diet on health and well-being – ScienceDaily

The incidence of type 2 diabetes is also minimal. This brings scientists to examine the role of diet in Tsimane's cardiovascular health – and the potential impact of this diet on the population exposed to globalization and market forces.

This is where the anthropologists Thomas Kraft and Michael Gurven of the University of Santa Barbara intervene. They are part of the Tsimane Project on Health and the History of Life, supported by the National Institutes of Health, which conducted the first systematic study of what Tsimane regularly consumes. and compares it to that of the Moseten, a neighboring population with a similar language and ancestry, but whose eating habits and lifestyle are more influenced by external forces. The results of the researchers appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Our previous work has shown that the Tsimane had the healthiest heart ever studied, so it is natural to understand why and how," said Michael Gurven, professor of anthropology at the University of Santa Barbara, co-director of Tsimane Health Center. Life History Project and the main author of the newspaper. "The first obvious candidate is: what do they eat and eat what we think is best for heart health?"

"We performed a detailed badysis of Tsimane's diet, then compared it to what modern Americans are eating in general and to diets that claim to be in good heart health," he continued. "Maybe the Tsimane are just following one of those without knowing it." These diets – Paleo, Okinawan and DASH, among others – are often encouraged because of their health benefits and, in the case of Paleo, the fact that our body has evolved to take advantage of certain types of foods.

The connection to Moseten is an added benefit of the study. Very ethnolinguistic and genetically similar to Tsimane, the Moseten, an isolate in Bolivia, are much more cultured than the Tsimane in many ways. "They provide predictions about Tsimane's state of health in 20 years," Gurven said. "They represent what happens to many Aboriginal people over time, and how can changes in their diets increase the prevalence of heart disease and diabetes?"

The researchers interviewed 1,299 Tsimane and 229 Moseten using the same measurement strategy used in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. everything they had eaten or drunk in the previous 24 hours. Using published and clean nutritional estimates for all items, as well as various portion size estimation methods, they provided a detailed breakdown of the daily dietary intake.

The high-calorie diet (2,433 to 2,738 kcal / day) of Tsimane was characterized by high carbohydrate and protein intake and reduced dietary fat intake (64%, 21%, and 15%, respectively). In addition, Tsimane do not eat a wide variety of foods compared to the American or Middle Moseten diet. Nearly two-thirds of their calories come from complex carbohydrates, especially plantains and rice. 16% come from more than 40 species of fish and 6% from wild game. Only 8% of the diet comes from the markets.

Despite the low dietary diversity, researchers found little evidence of micronutrient deficiencies in Tsimane's daily intake. Calcium and some vitamins (D, E and K) were rare, but the intake of potbadium, magnesium and selenium – often related to cardiovascular health – far exceeded American levels. Dietary fiber intake was almost double that of the United States and Moseten.

During the five-year study, the researchers found a significant increase in total energy and carbohydrate intake of Tsimane, particularly in villages located near the markets. Their consumption of food additives (lard, oil, sugar and salt) has also increased significantly. The researchers noted that the Moseten consumed far more sugar and cooking oil than the Tsimane.

The conclusion: a diet rich in complex carbohydrates rich in energy is badociated with a risk of low cardiovascular disease, at least if it is badociated with a physically active lifestyle (the adults of Tsimane take an average of 17,000 steps per day, against 5,100 to Americans). Siding away from a high-fiber, low-fat diet, salt and processed sugar poses a serious health risk to people in transition. Evidence of nutritional transition in Bolivia is consistent with rising trends in fat and body mbad index in Tsimane, suggesting that the low prevalence of cardiovascular disease – as among Tsimane – may not persist.

According to Gurven, it will be essential to avoid pitfalls related to changing diets and lifestyle for groups like Tsimane. Many other indigenous peoples of South America, Africa and South-East Asia find themselves in similar situations. And rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease are high among Aboriginal groups whose lifestyles are no longer traditional – including many Indian populations in North America and d & # 39; Australia.

And for the Tsimane, change is not far off the horizon. "It's a crucial moment," said Thomas Kraft, a postdoctoral researcher in anthropology at UC Santa Barbara and senior author of the journal. "The roads in the area are improving, so is the river transport with the proliferation of motor boats, so people are less and less isolated from the past, and that is happening at a fairly fast pace."

Anecdotally, Gurven added, the biomedical team at Tsimane's health and life story project sees more diabetic patients among Tsimane than ever before. This is probably due to the increase in regular consumption of refined sugar and fat during the study. As Kraft noted, the researchers calculated a 300% increase in the consumption of these products, as Tsimane could buy large bags of sugar and liters of cooking oil. "They basically fry and add a lot of sugar to the drinks when they can," he said.

And consume a lot of calories. "But they are also physically active – not because of routine exercises, but because they use their bodies to get food in their fields and in the forest," added Gurven, "who is also an important lesson – you can not watch what you are doing. " Eat regardless of what you do with your body. If you are physically active, you can probably get away with more flexibility in your diet. "

The number of calories aside, the high carbohydrate content of the Tsimane diet is not "unprecedented," according to Kraft. "One of the other regimes to protect the arteries is the Japanese Okinawa Diet. It contains about 85% of carbohydrates. But they share one common trait: they are usually complex carbohydrates – these are sweet potatoes the Okinawa diet; here they are plantains and cbadava. "

The Moseten diet has fewer total calories and fewer carbohydrates than the Tsimane diet, but the Moseten eat a wider range of foods, including more fruits, vegetables, dairy products and legumes. The Moseten also buy more food, including sodas, bread, dried meat and processed products. The researchers suggest that the Moseten regime could provide insight into the Tsimane regime of the future. "We are still badyzing their health indicators, but we expect the Moseten to show more risk factors for diabetes and heart disease," Gurven said.

In addition to finding that Tsimane consume more calories per day than Moseten, researchers note that Tsimane are also more physically active (much of their work is devoted to the hard work of slash and burn agriculture, hunting, fishing and foraging). . They spend more energy, but may also have greater resting energy expenditure because of higher infection rates and persistent immune activity.

Overall, the findings suggest that no single diet protocol is the key to health. The photo is much more complicated. "It clearly highlights the diversity of diets consistent with good cardiovascular health," said Kraft.

Gurven added, "We are at a unique moment in history where, for many of us, our daily decisions are more focused on what not to eat. We must work hard not to overeat. For most of human history, it was the opposite. It was so difficult to get the calories we needed to survive. "

And with regard to the desire of Tsimane to incorporate sugar and other additives into their diet, despite the health risks badociated with them, "Tell people to look at what's wrong." They eat, do not eat too much of this or that – this mentality is hard to believe – to convey when food is unpredictable and a daily job, "continued Gurven. "Getting calories cheaply with less effort – who would not want to?"