----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd Moody" <[log in to unmask]>
>>  The theory predicts that the
> > Tarahumara should be dropping like flies from their high-carb, corn and
> > bean based diet.  But they are extraordinarily healthy.

Interesting discussion.

Just a thought here, concerning corn.  Could it be that the Tarahumara's
corn is an ancient cultivar?  I presume they don't buy modern strains such
as we are familiar with?  I would think the nutritive (non-nutritive?)
qualities might be different.  Could their corn not be a hybrid variety but
the direct seed descendant of the very corn that their tribe has eaten for
eons?  Could this make a difference?

My husband spent the early years of his life near the Gila Wilderness, which
was not protected in the late 40's and early 50's.  He and his brothers used
to explore/play in the ancient cliff dwellings.  He picked up some ancient
corncobs, which he's hung on to all these years.  You would barely recognize
them as corncobs.  They are tiny things, barely larger than the
circumference of my little finger and only about 2" long, max, and some
shorter than that.  It would have taken a veritable s***load of
"indigestible" corn to feed these people--OR, perhaps, corn actually formed
a very small part of the overall diet.  The surrounding forest would surely
contain lots of protein sources.  The narrow valley immediately in front and
below the dwellings is enclosed by bluffs on three sides (box canyon-like),
leaving only a very small area for cultivation.  When we visited there in
1979, the park service had identified the corn crib/storage room within the
dwellings and had a small pile of these tiny cobs displayed.  In the valley
below, the park service had planted a small patch of corn (and squashes, but
I don't remember any beans being there), to reproduce what the area would
have looked like when it was inhabited.  They may have been
agriculturalists, but with the small land mass immediately available to them
I would bet hunting/gathering still formed the backbone of their diet.

http://www.nps.gov/gicl/

No one knows what happened to the Mogollon Indians who lived there in the
late 13th & early 14th Centuries, though several theories have been
advanced--disease, famine, or being a conquered people.  Or did the corn do
them in?  :-(  In any event, the site was abandoned after a few hundred
years of habitation.  One thing's for sure--they would have had to have
strong, agile bodies to scale the vertical face of the cliff, even with the
notches they carved to supplement the natural pock holes and small
outcroppings.

Theola