Deadly Harvest: The Intimate Relationship Between Our Heath and Our Food Read Online Free PDF

and we will see how this relates to the way we eat today. Nevertheless, the proportions are worth noting: about 20% animal food to 80% plant food measured by weight. Measured by calories, Richard Lee estimated the ratio to be 33% animal food to 67% plant food. 14 The reason for the difference is that there are more calories per pound in animal foods than plant foods.
    The San can survive very well without hunted food at all. However, it is certain that they could not survive without the women’s gathered animal and plant food. The men’s work—hunting—is an optional extra. In spite of that, hunting preoccupies the thoughts of both men and women. It inspires songs, dances, storytelling, and interminable plotting and cogitation. Why this might be so, and why men are necessary, especially husbands, is discussed in Chapter 6.
    Richard Lee estimates that an adult San spends about 12 to 19 hours per week getting food. 15 That is the only “work” there is; after that, it is just lazing around, chatting, singing, dancing, making the odd piece of body adornment, and preparing hunting equipment. It is a very easy-going lifestyle. Compared to today’s average 40-hour work week, which does not include food shopping and preparation time, the San lifestyle was very leisurely. This is all very agreeable, but what is the effect of this lifestyle on thehealthof the San?
     
    The State of the San’s Health
    Austrian biologist Sylvia Kirchengast reports that the San are, above all, slimand they stayslim throughout their lives. 16 Their average body mass index (BMI) is around 19. That corresponds to a weight of 110 pounds (50 kg) for a height of 5’4” (163 cm).
    Body Mass Index
    The body mass index (BMI) is a useful rule of thumb to test whether you are a healthy weight for your height. Conventional medical wisdom considers a “healthy” BMI to lie between 18 and 25; “overweight” is 26 to 30; “obese” is 31 and over.
    Stuart Truswell and John Hansen are medical doctors who conducted nutritional and medical research on the San in the 1960s. They found that, predictably, the San do not suffer from diseases associated with obesity. 17 Diabetes is unknown. They have one of the lowest cholesterol levels in the world: total cholesterol levels for all age groups are around 120 mg/100 ml; phospholipids and triglycerides are low too.
    The diet is very low in fats of all kinds, and the types of fats are healthier. They are mainly polyunsaturated fats with very little saturated fat. It is interesting to compare the fats in the San’s blood with those in the average European’s blood. The San has a much higher percentage of the polyunsaturated omega-3 fat (26% to 9%) and a lower percentage of the polyunsaturated omega-6 fat (34% to 40%). This is not surprising: in contrast to Westerners, the San are eating a diet that contains roughly equal amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. The main sources of fats for the San are nuts and wild creatures, both of which have very different fatty acid profiles to the foods habitually consumed in the West. In addition, their bodies are not fabricating fats out of the kinds of food that are making Westerners fat.
    There is no sign of coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, or thrombosis. Researchers have found no case of varicose veins, piles, or hernias. No cases of cancer or osteoporosis were seen either. Average blood pressure is a low 120/75 and it does not increase with age; not a single case was found of high blood pressure.
    In 1966, the South African ear, nose, and throat specialists John Jarvis and H.G. van Heerden made hearing tests on 10 old Bushmen and found that they had perfect hearing. 18 There was little or no earwax and the drum could be easily seen. Teeth were also free of caries (cavities). In old age, eyesight still remained excellent for distance, but, in a few, the lens has lost some transparency.
    Other researchers found that the San received healthy levels of vitamins A, B 12 ,