Deep in rainforest, tribe with the world’s healthiest hearts
FAR from the reaches of modern society, in the depths of the Amazon rainforest, lives a remote tribe who may harbour the secret to a longer, healthier life.
For scientists have discovered that the Tsimane people do not develop heart disease as they age.
Even into their 70s and 80s, they remain free of the problems that plague the Western world.
Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world, a problem that until now doctors have thought inevitably becomes a risk with age.
But the remote tribe, a foraging society in the Bolivian Amazon, do not demonstrate this pattern seen in Western and industrialised societies.
In fact, the community – which resisted the advances of European missionaries in the 17th century – has the healthiest arteries ever seen, according to findings published in the Lancet medical journal.
The Tsimane spend most of every day hunting, fishing, farming and foraging, and follow a carbohydrate-based diet containing little protein and fat.
The scientists who examined hundreds of men and women from the group found that almost nine out of ten had clear arteries, showing no risk of heart disease.
Even in old age there was little sign of the furring that heralds heart attacks or strokes. Almost two-thirds of those aged over 75 were found to be risk free, and just 8% had a moderate-to-high risk level.
This contrasts sharply with the US, where just 14% are free of heart disease, and half are at moderate-to-high risk – five times greater than the Tsimane.
US lead scientist Professor Hillard Kaplan, from the University of New Mexico, said: ‘Our study shows that the Tsimane indigenous South Americans have the lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis – hardening and narrowing of the arteries – of any population yet studied.
‘Their lifestyle suggests that a diet low in saturated fats and high in non-processed fibre-rich carbohydrates, along with wild game and fish, not smoking and being active throughout the day could help prevent hardening in the arteries of the heart.’
Co-author Dr Gregory Thomas, of Long Beach Memorial Medical Centre, California, added: ‘Most of the Tsimane are able to live their entire life without developing any coronary atherosclerosis. This has never been seen in any prior research.’
As well as their healthy diet, the Tsimane are incredibly active, only being sedentary for 10% of the day.
This compares with people living in cities, who are sedentary for more than half their waking hours. To gather food, the tribespeople fish using bows and
‘Lessons we can learn’
arrows and poisonous vines, and hunt with machetes and dogs.
Despite their rugged lifestyle, Tsimane men have a third less testosterone than Western men.
However, their testosterone levels do not decline with age, meaning that they rarely suffer from obesity, heart disease and other illnesses linked with older age. Tsimane women’s breast milk was also found to be higher in omega-3 fatty acids, crucial for brain development, than milk produced by Western women.
The researchers visited 85 Tsimane villages between 2004 and 2015, and scanned the hearts of 705 adults aged 40 to 94.
They discovered that members of the tribe also had low readings for heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.
The research was presented at the American College of Cardiology in Washington DC.
Professor Nilesh Samani, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘There are some lessons we can learn from this study. It may not be possible... to copy the Tsimane community’s way of life, but there are certainly aspects of their diet and lifestyle, such as not smoking and eating a diet low in fat, that we can better incorporate into our lives to help reduce our risk of heart disease.’