On Wed, 30 Sep 1998, Elsie Steinwachs wrote:

> Having lived for long periods among Pacific Islanders and American Indians,
> I have come to the conclusion that everyone who is not somehow acclimated
> to the Western Diet ends up victimized by it.  The levels of diabetes,
> amputations and misery among older persons in assimilated people are
> incredible.  Of course, we don't know if they lived as long before the
> Western Diet became available, and we can't check their condition back then.

In some cases we can know, because the people are still around
who remember the older times.  We have further confirmation of
your hypothesis in O'Dea's work with the Australian aborigines.
As a general thing, longevity is not the variable to watch, since
it is affected by things other than health, notably by standards
of medical care.  The fact that Americans are living longer now
than they were just a generation ago does not necessarily
indicate that they are healthier; it may only mean that we are
able to keep more of them from dying of conditions that
previously would have killed them sooner.  The real question is
whether these people used to live without rampant diabetes and
its complications.  And we can probably answer that question
without too much effort.  If these people were always as sick as
they are now, they probably wouldn't have lasted this long.

Even most of us who are somewhat adapted to the Western diet are
victimized by it, because the adaptation is very partial.  But
there is enough to suggest *different* adaptation and for that
reason we shouldn't assume that what works well for one
population would work well for all.

Todd Moody
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