“Hydration is vitally important, drink lots of water” we are told. “Too much meat in one's diet is can cause health issues” say the experts. “Eat plenty of roughage and veggies and greens,” we are told. “Avoid sweet things, they are bad for health” is the common refrain. However, Dr. Anthony Gustin has different views based on the time he spent with the Hadza tribe in Africa. “Sports rehab and functional med clinician. Food and fitness skeptic. Farmer. Not a guru” says his Twitter bio.
Tanzania is where the human species is known to have evolved before branching out into different parts of the world. Gustin spent time with the Hazda tribe who arguably are living the sort of life that we are probably meant to live.
The tribals are more carnivorous than herbivorous. Meat is prized and salads are not exactly thought of as desirable.
The large animal reserves meant to protect endangered species means that the options of these hunter gatherer communities, is severely restricted.
Roads, highways, farming and other activities of other communities have made hunting increasingly difficult. This is true for other parts of the world as well, where industrialised societies have caused other indigenous communities to become extinct says Gustin
They don’t jog – they either walk or they run fast. There is none of that cardio workout here that ‘developed’ societies seem to be doing all the time.
Hydration may not be all it is cracked up to be. The drink little water – certainly not the prescribed 8 glasses or more that we are told we need.
Honey, along with the grubs and the larvae is highly prized – the hive was wolfed down in record time. So maybe having a sweet tooth isn't so bad after all?
The world we live in prioritises and rewards hard work. In the Hadza community, there is a lot of leisure and they are a happy lot, with little or no stress. The men and women work for about 3 or 4 hours a day and the rest is spent laughing, playing music, telling stories and sleeping.
They have unctions to help heal, natural bug repellant, and excellent survival skills that most of us simply do not have. The Hadza also know which berries to eat, how much and which to avoid.
There are long periods of fasting before eating – no ‘six small meals a day’ formula here. Plus eating is a leisured, enjoyable, community activity.
Experts urge us to eat plenty of fibre. This community eats barely any. Gustin acknowledges that this is obviously not the only way to live and many different lifestyles can work for humans. Since modern living is a reality, we aren't going back to living like our hunter-gatherer ancestors anytime soon. But we can learn from these indigenous societies, he says.
The Hadza may appear to live idyllic lives but they live precarious lives with poor life expectancy. People such as Gustin do clearly romanticise a lifestyle that no one would choose; no one used to the comfort, security & stability and health care systems of the modern world, that is.
In my view, the main takeaway from Gustin’s thread about the Hadza community is that we don’t need to take all the health advice as gospel truth. While we live far longer, richer and more rewarding lives in modern times, some lifestyle habits of our hunter-gatherer ancestors may be worth adopting – certainly, we would all gain from less stress, more sleep and joy in our lives.
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