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What the people with the healthiest hearts eat
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Scientists have discovered a tribe inhabited by people who have virtually no heart problems. These are representatives of the Bolivian settlement of Tsimane.
Experts examined all the tribe's inhabitants, even the oldest, and found no particular problems with the cardiovascular system. To understand the reason for this phenomenon, scientists analyzed the diet and lifestyle of these people and found several significant differences.
Thus, the majority of the settlement's inhabitants are engaged in hunting, fishing, farming - that is, they obtain their own food. At least 17% of their total diet consists of meat products - this is game, as well as the meat of some local rodents.
In addition, the tribe's representatives eat fish - about 7%, mainly freshwater species.
The rest of the diet – that is, the largest part – consists of cereals, corn, cassava (local potatoes), nuts, all kinds of fruits and especially bananas.
If we break down the resulting diet into percentages of nutrients, we can see the following picture: the Tsimane population receives most of their calories from carbohydrate foods of plant origin. At the same time, the daily amount of food contains relatively little fat - after all, game meat is quite lean.
The tribe's inhabitants are engaged in active physical labor. For example, according to calculations, each inhabitant takes an average of 15 to 17 thousand steps daily, regardless of age. Perhaps it is the combination of such nutrition and physical activity that allows the settlement to maintain health and longevity.
Scientists checked the health of the locals who had already reached the 75-year mark and noticed that 70% of these people had absolutely clean and healthy vessels. In comparison, at this age, more than 80% of American residents already have arterial deposits and atherosclerotic changes in the vascular walls.
At the same time, it is noted that similar indicators were also found among the female population of Japan.
In addition to nutrition and physical activity, experts have noted that Bolivians almost never smoke, but suffer relatively often from infectious diseases and helminthiasis. However, apparently, this does not affect the condition of the heart and blood vessels.
Professor and anthropologist Michael Gerven from the University of California, Santa Barbara, notes that both Europeans and Americans can achieve this result. The main thing is to do physical work every day, eat healthy food with a limited amount of fat, and also have a generally positive attitude. Tribal people rarely quarrel, urbanization with its constant presence of stress is alien to them, they adhere to a positive worldview.
Dr Nevid Sattar, a representative of the University of Glasgow, confirms the above: "The results of the study once again prove that we are very well aware of the measures to prevent cardiovascular diseases. What does a person need to live a long life? A healthy diet, minimal thermal processing of food, no bad habits, physical activity."