Potatoes and human health, part III

Potato food cultures: the Quechua

The potato is thought to have arisen in what now is Peru on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Native Peruvians as such as the Quechua were dependent on the potato for thousands of years.A 1964 study of the Quechua people of the Nuñoa showed that 74% of your calories from potatoes (fresh and Chuños), gewonnen.Total energy consumption was 10% from grain, 10% from Chenopodia (quinoa and Cañihua) and 4% from animal foods 3,170 calories per day (1).

In 2001 a medical study of rural Quechua men reported an average body fat percentage of 16.4% (2).The median age of volunteers was 38.Körperfett has slowly increase with age in this population and age 65, it was predicted are around 20% on average. This is below the threshold of overweight, I say that most men in this population are pretty thin, although it some overweight individuals.

2004, A study in rural Quechua women was 31.2% in voluntary with an average age of 35 (3) a body fat. Body fat percentage was in a group of Quechua immigrants of the Peruvian capital, Lima.Among women in rural areas, the average fasting was insulin 6.8 uIU/mL and sober-glucose was 68.4 mg / dL, who together pretty good insulin sensitivity and glucose control (4) vorschlagen.Insulin and glucose significantly in the rural urban group. Blood pressure was low in both groups. Overall, this means that Quechua women are not overweight and metabolic health in reasonably good.

Rural Quechua are characteristic, with the average man no more than 5 "(2) .Man could be tempted ' 2 to speculate this reflects stunting due to a defective nutrition." Given that almost all non-industrial populations including contemporary hunters and gatherers, short of modern standards, am I not convinced the Quechua are abnormal.A more likely explanation is that industrial food excessive tissue growth in modern populations may cause overeating and excessive insulin and IGF-1 production by promoting, the growth factors this hypothesis in Dr. Staffan of Lindeberg's book food and Western disease sind.Ich met for the first time.

I think not the Quechua diet to optimal, but it seems that a reasonable level of metabolic health support.It shows that high carbohydrate, high glycemic index, high glycemic load diet to insulin resistance and obesity in connection with a traditional diet and lifestyle not leading a life.Unfortunately I have not more detailed data on other aspects of their health, such as digestion.

Potato food cultures: the Aymara

The Aymara are a other potato-dependent people of the Andes, Peru, Bolivia Chile erstrecken.Das first paper discussed is "low prevalence type II diabetes despite a high body mass index in the Aymara natives of Chile", by Dr. José Luis Santos and colleagues (5) with the Titel.In of paper show you that the prevalence of diabetes in this population was 1.5%, and the prevalence of pre-diabetes 3.6 was %.Die prevalence of both remained low in the older Menschen.Hier is a comparison of these figures with the data from the modern United States (6):



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