The Inuit Paradox
How can people who gorge on fat and rarely see a vegetable be healthier than we are?The Inuit Paradox | DiscoverMagazine.com
I was a Cultural Anthropology fan long before enrolling in my first course on the topic at MSU. I wish I still had the reading list from my Intro. to Anthropology class, but the articles found on a simple online search will have to suffice. Enjoy the above article on why Paleo isn't just for hipsters anymore, in fact, it was around long before excessive denim, tattoo sleeves, black framed glasses, and neatly trimmed beards.
My favorite excerpt from the article above:
Today, when diet books top the best-seller list and nobody seems sure of what to eat to stay healthy, it’s surprising to learn how well the Eskimo did on a high-protein, high-fat diet. Shaped by glacial temperatures, stark landscapes, and protracted winters, the traditional Eskimo diet had little in the way of plant food, no agricultural or dairy products, and was unusually low in carbohydrates. Mostly people subsisted on what they hunted and fished. Inland dwellers took advantage of caribou feeding on tundra mosses, lichens, and plants too tough for humans to stomach (though predigested vegetation in the animals’ paunches became dinner as well). Coastal people exploited the sea. The main nutritional challenge was avoiding starvation in late winter if primary meat sources became too scarce or lean.
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