An indigenous tribe in the heart of the Bolivian jungle may hold clues to longevity as scientists claim they are the healthiest humans ever studied.
The Tsimane community is one of the last groups of people on the planet to live a fully subsistence lifestyle of hunting, foraging and farming. Less than 10 percent of their daylight hours are spent in sedentary activities, compared to 54 percent in industrious populations and they have little access to processed foods, alcohol and cigarettes.
For decades, scientists have marveled at the astonishing heart and brain health of the Tsimane tribe, rooted deep in the Amazon rainforest, 600km north of La Paz – Bolivia’s largest city.
There have been zero cases of Alzheimer’s among the tribe’s 16,000-strong population while studies show elderly members of the group have 70 percent less brain atrophy than those of the same age in industrialized countries.
Bolivian doctor Daniel Eid Rodríguez, a medical coordinator for the researchers, told the BBC: ‘We found zero cases of Alzheimer’s among the entire adult population – it is remarkable,’
A team of researchers led by anthropologist Hillard Kaplan of the University of New Mexico have studied the tribe for two decades.
They found the Tsimanes are constantly kept active by hunting animals, planting food and weaving roofs.
An average hunt for the tribe lasts more than eight hours and covers 11 miles.
Meanwhile only 14 percent of the calories they consume are from fat, compared to 34 percent in the US, according to the research cited by the BBC.
Their diets are also high in fiber and 72 percent of their calories come from carbohydrates – compared to 52 percent in the US.
What’s more, their protein is usually sourced from the animals they hunt such as birds, monkeys and fish and their cooking styles does not include frying.
Such lifestyle habits could be the key for longer living in Western societies, scientists have concluded.
Typically, humans build up fats, cholesterol and other substances that can make their arteries thicken or harden as they age, causing atherosclerosis.
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