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A team of researchers found the healthiest hearts in the world’. These were established to be the Tsimane people, a remote tribe in the Amazon.
The study was carried out by an international team of researchers. They released their results on March 17th in the Lancet journal. Their paper is titled: “Coronary atherosclerosis in indigenous South American Tsimane: a cross-selection cohort study”.
Where And How Do The Tsimane Live?
The Tsimane, also known as the Chimane, live in lowland Bolivia. They are indigenous to the area and have a mostly subsistence agricultural culture. Besides this, they also rely on fishing and hunting. These two contribute to their food supplies.
According to the researchers, the Tsimane are “an incredible population”. They have a radically different way of living when compared to the rest of the world. Also, they have a very different diet. These differences are believed to have contributed to their latest denotation.
There are around 16,000 people in the Tsimane tribe. They live in the Amazon rainforest on the Maniqui River. Their lifestyle is similar to that of thousands of years old civilizations. The research team admits that the globe cannot return to an agricultural or hunting and fishing way of life. Nonetheless, civilization could “learn something” from the Tsimane.
How Did The Tsimane Come To Be Declared The Healthiest Hearts?
The team named the remote tribe the people with the ‘healthiest hearts’. This appellation came after a series of tests. For their study, the scientists gathered a team of over 700 volunteers. The study team collaborated with another research group. This latter was studying mummified bodies.
The 705 volunteers went through a CT scanner. Researchers were looking to analyze their “CAC” levels. This is the coronary artery calcium or a sure sign of clogged up blood vessels. CAC is also a potential sign that shows the risk of heart attacks.
According to the study report, up to 45 years old, almost no Tsimane had CAC. In contrast, by the same age, almost 25 percent of the American exhibit this sign. As they reach the age of 75, just about one-third of the tribe’s people present CAC. In comparison, almost 80 percent of the US population shows CAC signs.
The team studied the population over a longer period of time. As such, it was not the case of a mostly young population or unhealthy members dying young. Besides CAC levels, they also looked for signs of inflammations. Research also carried out blood tests. These looked for cholesterol and glucose levels as well as blood pressure.
According to a study researcher, their CAC level “[…] is much lower than in every other population where data exists.”.
Despite the fact that they present high levels of inflammation, the tribe nonetheless has very low levels of heart diseases. Putting it simply, the healthiest hearts population shows that maintaining a healthy diet and a constantly active life can help reduce the clogging up of the blood vessels.
The research team will be carrying out a new study. In it, they will be studying each element of the Tsimane lifestyle. Based on the results, they will try to adapt and apply this to the modern, urbanized way of living.
Image Source: Flickr
