"Eskimo Diet" Lacks Support For Better Cardiovascular Health

[DEAD7]

Monthly Prescribing Reference reports that the "Eskimo diet" hypothesis, suggested as a factor in the alleged low incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Greenland Eskimos, seems not to be supported in the literature, according to a metastudy published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology (abstract). Researchers found that only one study directly assessed the prevalence of CAD or CAD risk factors, and that study showed that CAD morbidity was similar among Inuit and American and European populations. In most studies, the prevalence of CAD was similar for Greenland Eskimos and Canadian and Alaskan Inuit and for non-Eskimo populations. The original studies from the 1970s that formed the basis of the supposed cardioprotective effect of the Eskimo diet did not examine the prevalence of CAD. "The totality of reviewed evidence leads us to the conclusion that Eskimos have a similar prevalence of CAD as non-Eskimo populations," the authors write. "To date, more than 5,000 papers have been published studying the alleged beneficial properties of omega-3 fatty acids not to mention the billion dollar industry producing and selling fish oil capsules based on a hypothesis that was questionable from the beginning.

 

[wheywhey]

Oops. I always knew if I were an Eskimo I never would have lived to adulthood. Their diet is too acidic. When everyone said Eskimos have lower cardiovascular disease I just assumed that over the centuries that people who had the genetics to handle all that acid survived and people like me died off.

They can still eat their foods but they need to mostly eat dark greens and other alkaline foods. Also, I find it hard to believe they are eating a pure Eskimo diet. They are probably eating lots of grains and sugars which are also acidic and cause cardiac disease.

 

[Poppa_Dock]

What is the "eskimo diet" according to this? The only thing close to food the article mentions is fish oil.

 

[DANKTHRONE]

Nothing to support this assertion but wouldn't a traditional Inuit diet be more than 50% marine mammal meat? How on Earth would someone in modern America begin to replicate this?