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Full Version: “Heart-healthy” indigenous group gained weight after adding cooking oil (diet styles)
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EXCERPT: The Tsimane' people in Bolivia have remained relatively untouched by the outside world for generations, thriving off of the land by practicing traditional forms of hunting, fishing, farming, and gathering food. For years, the tropical forest forager-farmers have been known to have remarkable cardiovascular health and low blood pressure – that is, until they added one ingredient.

Cooking oil. New research published in the journal Obesity suggests that in less than a decade, the Tsimane’ have experienced changes in their body mass index (BMI), including obesity and weight gain, after being introduced to cooking oil.

[...] “But that's only one part of their story," said study author Alan Schultz, from Baylor University, in a statement, noting that the findings present more questions than they do answers. ... subsistence diets often mirror other lifestyle changes and it can be difficult to separate the effects of the two.

Regardless, the study authors say that even small increases of market-based foods can make a difference in a population that once thrived only on subsistence eating. "Cooking oil adds so much flavor – we use it for a reason – but at 120 calories/14 fat grams per tablespoon, few foods can so easily alter your diet,’ said Shultz. But there are other factors as well. Shorter stature and greater muscle mass can lead to higher BMI values, the authors note. (MORE - details)