Bolivian community diet associated with heart health, no dementia

As Americans compete to unlock the secret of anti-aging, the answer can be drawn to the depths of the rain forest in Amazon.

People Tsimané boast of the “healthiest hearts on the planet” and the brain that grow much slower than their Western counterparts, with only 1% of the population showing signs of dementia.

The research suggests that their pre-industrial lifestyle, marked by a unique balance of food consumption and physical activity, can maintain the key.

“This ideal set of conditions for preventing the disease leads us to consider whether the style of our industrialized life increases our risk of disease,” said Dr. Andrei Irimia, an associate professor at the Gerontology School Leonard Davis of the University of Southern California who studies the tribe.

A community in the heart of the jungle

There are about 17,000 Tsimanés that live deep in the jungle of the Bolivian lowlands. This isolated indigenous community is physically active throughout their lives, fishing, hunting, agriculture and food from the tropical forest.

They live near the Maseset people, who also reside in rural villages and rely on living agriculture for their livelihood.

In 2022, an international research team revealed that between the older Tsimané and Masesetn, only about 1% suffer from dementia. By comparison, 11% of Americans aged 65 and older have memory disease, according to Alzheimer’s Association.

“Something about the lifestyle of pre-industrial living seems to defend Tsimané and the oldest Masesetn from dementia,” said Margaret Gatz, author of the main study and professor at USC Dornsife’s letters, arts and sciences.

Previous studies have shown that both Tsimané and Masesetn experience significantly less brain atrophy than industrialized populations in the US and Europe. Brain atrophy is strongly associated with cognitive decline, functional damage and dementia.

But here is the turn: Tsimané and Maseset, while the two live traditional lifestyle, vary significantly in terms of modern exposure. Although they share similar languages ​​and stories, Masesetn have more access to modern technology, medicine and education.

While Masesetn is healthier than most Westerners, they do not match Tsimané’s extraordinary health.

In fact, researchers have found that in the midst of Tvizané, a higher body mass index (BMI) and slightly elevated levels of “bad cholesterol” are associated with larger brain volumes for their age.

This may be due to Tsimané which is generally more muscular than individuals in industrialized countries with similar BMI – likely a result of their active, physically sought -after life.

Even more surprising is the high levels of Tsimané’s inflammation, which is usually associated with brain atrophy in the western populations. However, studies suggest that high inflammation does not have the same impact on their brains.

The Tsinané community first attracted the attention of scientists when a 2017 study discovered their extraordinary heart health at an older age.

Researchers found that Tsimané have the lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis – a condition marked by fatty deposits within the arteries – of any known population. Moreover, they have extremely few risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

Scientists believe that Tsinané’s low cardiovascular risks can overcome inflammation caused by infections, raising new questions about the true causes of dementia. While inflammation in Westerners is often associated with obesity and metabolic issues, in Tsimane, it is mainly driven by respiratory, gastrointestinal and parasitic infections.

“This study shows that Tsimané lies not only in terms of heart health but also brain health,” said Hillard Kaplan, a professor at Chapman University who has studied the community for nearly two decades. “Findings suggest abundant opportunities for interference to improve brain health, even in populations with high levels of inflammation.”

Diet and activity: a life balance

While people in industrialized nations enjoy modern health care, we are used to exercising less and eating more – especially diets rich in sugars and fats.

Otherwise, Tsimané has little or no access to health care, but remains extremely physically active and consumes a high fiber diet full of vegetables, fish and lean meat.

“Our sedentary life and rich diet rich in sugars and fats can accelerate the loss of brain tissue with age and make us more vulnerable to diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” Kaplan said.

When the main medical correspondent of CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, visited Tsimané at Rainforest Amazon, he was surprised to find that most of their calories come from carbohydrates.

Tsimané’s diet is straightforward and raw, with no sugars and added salts. Plants, cassava, rice and corn make up nearly 70% of their food consumption, with 15% derived from fat and another 15% protein.

Gupta pointed out that this severe fuel approach was born out of need, as farm feeding offers more predictability, especially during lean hunting seasons. The diet provides twice the fiber of the typical American diet and is rich in micronutrients such as selenium, potassium and magnesium.

When Gupta visited the tribe, he also discovered that permanent fasting was part of Tsimané’s culture – not a fashion practice, but one born of a lack of food. Experts say this is common in pre-industrialized societies.

“The lives of our pre-industry ancestors were pierced by limited food availability,” Irimia said. “People historically spent a lot of time practicing the necessity to find food, and [the Tsimane’s] Brain aging profiles reflected this lifestyle. “

Gupta observed that almost all Tsimané waking hours include staying or walking, with hunting and forage that last throughout the day. On average, they take about 17,000 steps daily while also rest at night.

Researchers suggest that the unique balance of Tsimané’s physical exercise can maintain the key of healthy aging.

They point out that in societies with abundant food and little physical activity, people often fight between what they know is best for their health and the desires they evolved over time.

“During our evolutionary past, more food and fewer calories spent to get it resulted in improving health, well -being and eventually higher reproductive success or Darwinian fitness,” Kaplan said.

“This evolutionary story chosen for psychological and physiological traits that make us want additional food and less physical work, and with industrialization, those traits lead us to overestimate the sign.”

According to Irimia, the ideal scenario for brain health and the risk of the disease is “sweet place” – a place where the brain is not provided with very little nor too much nutrition and nutrients, while also taking a healthy dose of training.

With global population aging, along with increased risk factors, researchers predict that the number of people with dementia will triple to more than 152 million worldwide by 2050.

“We are in a race for the solution to the increasing spread of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia,” Kaplan said. “Watching these varied populations adds and accelerates our understanding of these diseases and we generate new knowledge.”