A Word About Tribes

In modern times, it's very difficult to find "pure" societies that have changed little or not at all in the last 40,000 years, and still possess much of their given environment intact. In Chapter II, I mentioned a book called The Paleolithic Prescription, in which scientists were able to find a group of "untainted" hunter-gatherer societies and study them extensively. Add to that the wealth of information scientists have compiled about the Hunzas, Georgians, Tibetan tribes, Titikakas, Armenians, Abcasians, Azerbaijanis, Gauchos, Vilcabombe Indians, and others—from these tribal exemplars we gain a genuine look at how it used to be for all of us, when we were settled in our most appropriate environments.

These "pure" hunter-gathere' fisherman, and agrarian societies are exactly matched to their environments, whose characteristics spawned their inhabitants' genetic makeup. These tribes still practice the same eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits that their ancestors practiced thousands of years ago. Each of our ancestors was in a similar setting at one time, practicing the same habits and rites of life, generation after generation. Nowadays, in our "anything goes" society, we are living completely outside of our primal nourishing elements and the natural patterns of life and wellness.
What do you think the scientific research on these unchanged ancient tribes demonstrates? An absolute lack of diet-related disease and results of longevity well over 100 years old for most individuals. Based on his studies of these tribes and his own clinical experience, Joel Wallach, D.V.M, N.D., believes our proper lifespan to be 130 to 140 years; such longevity can be achieved, if the diets ingested are appropriate. I agree with Wallach 's findings. Even the researchers living in the Arizona Biosphere, under ideal conditions, were proj ected to have over 160 years of life expectancy, if they maintained their place in the controlled environment (based on uCLA computer predictions) i

When examining long-lived primal tribes up close, researchers have found that their people simply don't suffer from osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, allergy syndromes, arthritis, cancer, and many more across-the-board diet-related diseases. in fact, the vast majority of these tribal people are energetic, active, productive, and disease-free . . . up until the day they die, which is nearly always from natural causes (such as old age). (By the way, the diets and behaviors of the tribal people studied did not fit squarely into the "40-30-30 zone" classification.) Most of these tribal people pass away due to ever so slight nutrient deficiencies that finally "catch-up" with them, after they are well into their 100's. An example of this phenomenon is typified by the bone tuberculosis that has taken the lives of some Hunzas (who are most often centenarians when they die); this disease is linked to an ever so slight protein deficiency, manifesting itself over hundreds of years.

Wow! To think the average American only lives to be 75.4 years old. The majority of that 75 years of life is plagued by a host of varying diseases, obesity, low energy, and all kinds of routine symptoms, from headaches to constipation to fatigue to indigestion to joint pains, and so on. While your average Hunzan is out in the fields, able to work ten to twelve hours a day consistently, well into his/her hundreds, and is naturally thin, optimistic and energetic, the average "old" American can barely get out of their chair to go to the restroom. While Georgians are reaching their sexual peak well into their 40's, 50's, and beyond, the average "middle-aged" American regards complete sexual fulfillment as a pleasant memory at best, or obtains virility and libido through drugs '

At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, "In order to be healthy I'll have to move to Lake Titikaka and do as the Titikakas do." The disease-free status and longevity success of these tribes confirms completely the need to do as our ancestral roots dictate.

But if you do move to Lake Titikaka, it might not help your wellness status, thanks to one problem you may not have thought of: your Metabolic Type does not match that of the Titikakas. Your tribal ancestry follows a line of people who lived in an entirely different environment, under entirely different circumstances, which have genetically formed your constitution accordingly. Your primal tribe may have been carni-vegans who subsisted on completely different foods than the Titikakas do. However, if you were a genuine Titikakan who left the tribe to become a lawyer in New York City over the past fifteen years, and then moved back home due to your brand new set of society-imposed diet-related illnesses, you would be happily rewarded with optimum health again in a very short period of time. You'd be back in your primal element doing what your genes were designed to do.

Because we can't all return to our tribes or countries of origin, we must utilize Metabolic Typing to reveal the essence of how our bodies function and what they specifically require to operate at peak efficiency, no matter where we are in the world. When we know our "type" we can efficiently organize our diets (and lives) very closely to the way it used to be for our ancestors, who rarely strayed from their tribes or countries and who typically practiced life in harmony with their environment '

Outside of the U.S., many countries fare much better when it comes to overall health status. Japan, for instance, is one of the top seven healthiest countries in the world, and for good reason: even with all of the health-inhibiting factors of modern civilization (such as stress, pollution, drug dependence, etc.), the Japanese adhere closely to the ritualistic life patterns of their ancestors. This is true for many Asian countries where tradition reinforces the diet and lifestyle practices of their country's past. in essence, these peoples are doing more of what their specific body type was designed to do and enjoy the absence of most diet-related diseases.