Beyond Carbs and Fats: The Real Cause of Chronic Diseases in the Modern World

Throughout human history, various populations have thrived on vastly different diets—some relying primarily on carbohydrates, some on plant-based saturated fats, and others on animal-based fats. Despite their varied diets, many of these traditional societies, such as the Maasai, Kitavans, Tukisenta, and Tokelauans, have lived largely free of modern chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. What's fascinating is that they also seem resilient to conditions like high blood pressure, cancer, and strokes, which are typically blamed on certain dietary components like animal-based fats and saturated fats in the Western world.

The Maasai: A Diet High in Animal-Based Fats

The Maasai, a semi-nomadic tribe in East Africa, consume a diet centered on animal-based products, including milk, meat, and blood. Remarkably, despite their high intake of saturated fats, the Maasai have shown low incidences of heart disease, strokes, and obesity. Dr. George Mann’s studies on the Maasai in the 1960s and 1970s revealed that these people had low cholesterol levels and a nearly non-existent rate of heart disease. Their high-fat diet doesn’t seem to affect their health negatively, and many researchers believe their active lifestyle and genetic factors help mitigate any potential risks associated with such a diet.

What is worth noting is that even with their high intake of animal-based fats, the Maasai don’t suffer from the chronic diseases that plague the Western world. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom, which holds that high saturated fat intake leads to diseases like diabetes and heart disease. It seems that the Maasai, who have maintained this diet for generations, are immune to these effects, likely due to the unprocessed and natural nature of their food.

The Kitavans: A Diet Rich in Carbohydrates

On the other hand, the Kitavans of the South Pacific consume a diet that is the complete opposite of the Maasai. Their diet is predominantly plant-based, rich in carbohydrates from foods like sweet potatoes, yams, fruits, and coconuts. Yet, they, too, have managed to avoid the chronic diseases that plague modern society. Studies conducted by Dr. Staffan Lindeberg in the 1990s found no incidence of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, or obesity among the Kitavans. Their diet, although high in carbohydrates, consists entirely of unprocessed whole foods without refined sugars or industrialized seed oils.

Interestingly, the Kitavans have a relatively moderate level of physical activity, comparable to that of the average person in the modern world. Yet, they experience none of the chronic illnesses we associate with sedentary lifestyles in the West. This suggests that the composition of their diet—natural, unprocessed carbohydrates—may be more important than the level of physical activity when it comes to maintaining good health.

The Tukisenta: A Diet Based Almost Entirely on Sweet Potatoes

In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, the Tukisenta people consume a diet where around 90% of their caloric intake comes from sweet potatoes. Like the Kitavans, the Tukisenta population is free from chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity despite their carb-heavy diet. Their health defies the modern low-carb craze, which paints carbohydrates as a primary villain in the development of chronic diseases.

Like the Kitavans, the Tukisenta's carbohydrate-rich diet consists of whole, unprocessed foods. They do not consume refined sugars, processed flours, or industrial seed oils, which are increasingly implicated in the rise of chronic diseases worldwide. This serves as further evidence that it is not carbohydrates themselves that are harmful; the quality and processing of these carbohydrates may be the real problem.

The Tokelauans: High Intake of Plant-Based Saturated Fats

In the island nation of Tokelau, the traditional diet is high in saturated fats, primarily from coconut. Coconut oil and meat are central to the Tokelauan diet, yet they, like the Maasai and Kitavans, exhibit a remarkably low incidence of chronic diseases. Dr. Ian Prior’s research in the 1960s and 1970s showed that despite their high-fat diet, the Tokelauans had no issues with heart disease, obesity, or diabetes.

Even though saturated fat is often blamed for these chronic conditions, the Tokelauan people present a strong case that natural, unprocessed fats—such as those found in coconuts—do not lead to these health problems. Again, it is likely that the absence of processed foods, particularly industrial seed oils, and refined carbohydrates, is a key factor in their health outcomes.

Smoking and Chronic Diseases

What’s equally interesting across these traditional societies is the role of smoking. In some of these populations, such as the Maasai and Kitavans, smoking is not uncommon, yet rates of lung cancer, heart disease, and other smoking-related illnesses are very low. While this is certainly not an endorsement of smoking, it does raise questions about why smoking appears far more harmful in modern populations. One hypothesis is that the combination of smoking with modern diets high in processed foods, particularly industrial seed oils and refined carbohydrates, significantly increases the risk of developing these diseases.

In the context of traditional diets, it seems that the natural protective factors found in whole, unprocessed foods may offer some degree of defense against the harms of smoking. However, smoking is always risky, and its impact seems exacerbated when combined with a Western diet.

Sun Exposure and Skin Cancer

Another point of interest is the amount of time these populations spend in the sun. Many of these traditional societies live in equatorial regions where sun exposure is intense, yet they do not suffer from high rates of skin cancer. This stands in stark contrast to modern Western societies, where skin cancer rates have risen dramatically despite increased use of sunscreen and less time spent outdoors.

It is possible that their diets, rich in natural fats and low in processed oils, provide better protection against the oxidative damage caused by UV rays. This is another area where the modern Western diet, which is heavy in processed foods and industrial seed oils, may increase vulnerability to disease, even in areas like skin cancer, where sun exposure is usually blamed.

Weston Price’s Work on Tooth Decay and Jaw Development

The work of Dr. Weston A. Price provides additional insights into the benefits of traditional diets. In the early 20th century, Dr. Price, a dentist, traveled the world studying Indigenous populations and their dental health. He found that populations eating traditional, whole-food diets had excellent oral health, with little to no tooth decay and well-developed jaws. This was in stark contrast to populations consuming modern diets high in processed foods, who suffered from rampant tooth decay, crowded teeth, and underdeveloped jaws.

Price’s findings highlight the importance of diet not only for preventing chronic diseases but also for proper physical development. The absence of processed carbohydrates and industrial seed oils in traditional diets seems to promote better health outcomes across the board, from dental health to chronic disease prevention.

Conclusion

The traditional diets of the Maasai, Kitavans, Tukisenta, Tokelauans, and other similar populations offer a powerful lesson: it is not the macronutrient composition of the diet (whether high in fat or carbohydrates) that determines health outcomes, but the quality and processing of the foods consumed. These populations, despite their varied diets, remain free of the chronic diseases that plague modern Western societies. This evidence strongly suggests that processed foods, particularly refined carbohydrates and industrial seed oils, are the primary drivers of chronic disease, not natural animal fats or plant-based saturated fats.

Whether consuming high amounts of carbohydrates like the Kitavans or saturated fats like the Maasai, these people remain healthy without the presence of processed foods. This contrasts sharply with modern Western populations, where chronic diseases have skyrocketed in tandem with the rise of processed food consumption. The key to good health may not be in avoiding carbs or fats but in returning to a diet rich in whole, natural foods. Traditional diets. As always, I recommend eating a whole foods diet devoid of processed carbohydrates and vegetable oils that include animal-based foods along with their inherent fat.