Slaying The Low Carb Dragon – Wisdom from the Pacific Islands
See also: Part 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
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There are very few cultures left on this planet that have not been affected by modern food habits. There are even fewer that have been studied thoroughly. The island of Kitava in Papua New Guinea is host to one such culture, and its inhabitants have many profound things to teach us about diet and health.
100 year old man from Kitava. He has never heard of spontaneous sudden death or symptoms suggestive of a stroke.
The Kitava study, a series of papers produced primarily by Dr. Staffan Lindeberg and his collaborators, offers a glimpse into the nutrition and health of an ancient society, using modern scientific methods. This study is one of the most complete and useful characterizations of the diet and health of a non-industrial society I have come across. It's also the study that created, and ultimately resolved, my cognitive dissonance over the health effects of carbohydrate.
From the photos I've seen, the Kitavans are beautiful people. They have the broad, attractive faces, smooth skin and excellent teeth typical of healthy non-industrial peoples.
Like the Kuna, Kitavans straddle the line between agricultural and hunter-gatherer lifestyles. They eat a diet primarily composed of tubers (yam, sweet potato, taro and cassava), fruit, vegetables, coconut and fish, in order of calories. This is typical of traditional Pacific island cultures, although the relative amounts differ.
Grains, refined sugar, vegetable oils and other processed foods are virtually nonexistent on Kitava. They get an estimated 69% of their calories from carbohydrate, 21% from fat (17% which is saturated fat) and 10% from protein. Most of their fat intake is saturated because it comes from coconuts. They have an omega-6 : omega-3 ratio of approximately 1:2. Average caloric intake is 2,200 calories per day (9,200 kJ). By Western standards, their diet is high in carbohydrate, high in saturated fat, low in total fat, a bit low in protein and high in calories.
Now for a few relevant facts before we really start diving in:
- Kitavans are not particularly active. They have an activity level comparable to a moderately active Swede, the population to which Dr. Lindeberg draws frequent comparisons.
- They have abundant food, and shortage is practically unknown.
- Their good health is probably not related to genetics, since genetically similar groups in the same region are exquisitely sensitive to the ravages of industrial food. Furthermore, the only Kitavan who moved away from the island to live a modern life is also the only fat Kitavan.
- Their life expectancy at birth is estimated at 45 years (includes infant mortality), and life expectancy at age 50 is an additional 25 years. This is remarkable for a culture with limited access to modern medicine.
- Over 75% of Kitavans smoke cigarettes. Even the most isolated societies have their modern vices.
For the whole of PNG, no case of IHD or atherothrombotic stroke has been reported in clinical investigations and autopsy studies among traditionally living Melanesians for more than seven decades, though an increasing number of myocardial infarctions [heart attacks] and angina pectoris in urbanized populations have been reported since the 1960s.
Dementia was not found except in in two young Kitavans, who were born handicapped. The elderly remained sharp until death, including one man who reached 100 years of age. Kitavans are also unfamiliar with external cancers, with the exception of one possible case of breast cancer in an elderly woman.
Overall, Kitavans possess a resistance to degenerative diseases that is baffling to industrialized societies. Not only is this typical of non-industrial cultures, I believe it represents the natural state of existence for Homo sapiens. Like all other animals, humans are healthy and robust when occupying their preferred ecological niche. Our niche happens to be a particularly broad one, ranging from complete carnivory to plant-rich omnivory. But it does not include large amounts of grains or modern industrial foods.
In the next few posts, I'll discuss more specific data about the health of the Kitavans, including their body composition, serum lipids, and hormone profile. These data challenge the theory of an "atherogenic lipid profile", the idea that certain blood lipid patterns cause heart disease.
[This article originally titled, The Kitavans: Wisdom from the Pacific Islands, appeared on Whole Health Source in August 2008 -If you like this post then don't forget to Subscribe to Nutrition and Physical Regeneration]
Dr. Stephan Guyenet received his Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of Washington in 2009. His goal is to live well, and help others do the same. His passion is learning about and conveying time-tested strategies for achieving and maintaining health and well-being. Please visit his blog and if you find his work useful, donate so that he may continue to produce excellent material on matters of health and well being.
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Chef said:
These figures don't seem to add up right:
They get an estimated 69% of their calories from carbohydrate, 21% from fat, 17% from saturated fat and 10% from protein.
Yes, it should read that 17% of the 21% total fat intake is saturated.
All of these studies seem to ignore or minimize the many other factors that make up health and wellness. The physical body and its chemical composition does not stand alone. The mind/spirit and environment play as large (or more) a role as diet.
The diet is determined by the climate and available resources. Spiritual/emotional health is interwoven and just as important. One might just as well determine that these people have no heart disease, etc. simply because they do not have rush hour traffic and toxic air.
Seems you need to take a far more holistic approach.
All of these studies seem to ignore or minimize the many other factors that make up health and wellness.
No they don't.
The physical body and its chemical composition does not stand alone. The mind/spirit and environment play as large (or more) a role as diet.
And what study was that based on?
The diet is determined by the climate and available resources.
No argument here.
Spiritual/emotional health is interwoven and just as important.
Again no argument here that emotional and spiritual health can play a role in physical health.
One might just as well determine that these people have no heart disease, etc. simply because they do not have rush hour traffic and toxic air.
One might, but they would be wrong.
Seems you need to take a far more holistic approach.
Perhaps, but how one determines my approach from this series of posts is beyond me. Thanks for the advice.
Very interesting piece.
I read some research regarding development of athero plaque in animals. The experiments were first performed on rats, then later the experiment used chickens (I believe, maybe it was rabbits) and then dogs. There was a group that was Type 1 diabetic and, as a control, a non-diabetic group. Each group was fed a high fat diet. The Type 1 diabetic animals did not develop any plaques in the initial part of the study, but the normal animals did.
Later, the Type 1 diabetic animals were given insulin…and began immediately to develop athero plaque.
That led me to somewhat the same conclusion that you seem to be presenting. In human populations that abandon their native diets in favor of Westernized diets, it must be the type of carbohydrate and the resulting insulin levels, the hyperinsulinemia, that causes many of our chronic conditions. The high GI carbs that we so abundantly consume rather than carbs in general may indeed lay at the center of the problem.
My grandparents, both maternal and paternal lived long lives. 98, 94, 89 and 76 years. 98 was still mentally sharp. 76 was a diabetic and did die of complications from diabetes. They all ate much more of a whole food diet and certainly ate their share of carbs. Given my own anecdotal evidence, I can't see that carbs in and of themselves are to blame for the diseases of civilization.
R Hagar´s last blog ..H1N1 "pandemic" results from down under
Given my own anecdotal evidence, I can’t see that carbs in and of themselves are to blame for the diseases of civilization.
Yes, it is at this point a lot of very good paleos/low carbers miss the boat.
Like you my grandparents lived much longer lives eating more whole foods that had its fair share of carbs.