Are You Healthier Than a Bolivian Farmer?

When we’re at the gym we tend to compare ourselves to the trainers or the toned bodies we see in posters. But when it comes to inspiration, we may want to look at a certain people that live in Bolivia and who seem to have figured out the key to a healthy heart.

A researcher named Gregory Thomas is obsessed with seeing how to keep our hearts healthier, to the point where he has even studied the arteries of ancient Egyptians to see if there is a secret. And he has maybe found it with the Tsimane who live in the Amazon and have incredible health.

How incredible? Well, according to this article:

Of Tsimane people over age 40, about 85 percent have no atherosclerosis. And nearly two-thirds over age 75 were apparently free of arterial plaque.

Compare that to Americans — who have exactly the opposite statistics. Nearly 85 percent of Americans over age 45 have atherosclerosis. And only 14 percent are free of the plaque.

And the article goes on to say, an 80-year-old Tsimane is like a 50-year-old American.

So, you’re saying, get to it — what are they doing that’s so special?

Well, this is where the bad news comes in. The Tsimane walk 7 1/2 miles a day, have a 70% fiber-rich diet, eat no transfats and their sugar intake is pretty much nil. So that means that they’re so healthy because they get a ton of exercise and eat a healthy diet.

So, it turns out that the secret of a healthy heart is accessible to you; eat well and get a lot of exercise. No magic Bolivian pill or weed.

– Shane M.