Mito
Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2016
- Messages
- 2,554
Introduction
Arterial calcification has been found in 34 of 137 mummified remains from 3 continents across wide variations in lifestyle and heritage, including in hunter-gatherer populations.1,2 None of these individuals consumed a primarily marine-based diet rich in ω-3 fatty acids. Fifty years ago, Danish researchers3 hypothesized that high intake of marine animals rich in fish oil containing ω-3 fatty acids protected native Greenlandic Inuit peoples from atherosclerosis. Davis and colleagues4 found fish oil reduced the atherosclerosis induced in rhesus monkeys exposed to a high-cholesterol atherogenic diet. In 2019,5 interest persists in the actions of ω-3 fatty acids in their natural and highly purified forms. To better understand the early history of human atherosclerosis, we performed a case series study of Inuit hunter-gatherer people living 500 years ago who consumed a marine-based diet.
Atherosclerosis in 16th-Century Greenlandic Inuit Mummies
Arterial calcification has been found in 34 of 137 mummified remains from 3 continents across wide variations in lifestyle and heritage, including in hunter-gatherer populations.1,2 None of these individuals consumed a primarily marine-based diet rich in ω-3 fatty acids. Fifty years ago, Danish researchers3 hypothesized that high intake of marine animals rich in fish oil containing ω-3 fatty acids protected native Greenlandic Inuit peoples from atherosclerosis. Davis and colleagues4 found fish oil reduced the atherosclerosis induced in rhesus monkeys exposed to a high-cholesterol atherogenic diet. In 2019,5 interest persists in the actions of ω-3 fatty acids in their natural and highly purified forms. To better understand the early history of human atherosclerosis, we performed a case series study of Inuit hunter-gatherer people living 500 years ago who consumed a marine-based diet.
Atherosclerosis in 16th-Century Greenlandic Inuit Mummies