Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 October 1991 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

By Terry Shintani, M.D.

Mythology surrounding food influences ancient Hawaiian diet

In past articles I have discussed how the traditional Hawaiian diet ean prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. I have pointed out that it is rich in nutrients such as beta-carotene and vitamin C.

In ancient Hawai'i, however, food was not known for its nutrients but rather for the spiritual value and the mana, or life force, contained within them. In fact, food was thought to be the personification of the gods or their descendents. I heard Claire Hughes, a native Hawaiian nutritionist, describe this in an interesting way. She said that in this sense, the Hawaiians would symbolically "eat their gods." She points out that if this sounds strange to you, consider that Christians do the same when they take eommunion and "eat the body of Christ." Here are some examples of the mythology behind the foods of ancient Hawai'i. Kalo was believed to have the greatest life force of all foods because it eame from the body of the first-born son of Papa, mother earth, and Wakea,

father heaven. Haloa-naka,'as he was named, was buried and out from his body eame the kalo, taro plant. The next born child of Papa and Wakea was Haloa who became the progenitor of all the people of the earth. Thus, the kalo plant is the descendant of the gods, and the brother to humanity. As such, it took a central plaee in the diet and culture of the Hawaiian people. Another example is in the ulu, breadfruit tree. According to Hawaiian mythology, Ku saved his family during a famine when he planted himself into the ground and his head sprouted into a breadfruit tree. 'Uala, sweet potato, was considered to be an embodiment of Lono in his kinolau, or animal form, Kamapua'a. These are three of the foods that formed the central part of the diet of old Hawai'i. They also happen to be excellent foods for lowering cholesterol, losing weight, and helping to prevent cancer. All of them are high in complex carbohydrate or starch, whieh shouId be eaten more often, according to the surgeon general. They are also high in fiber whieh may help to prevent certain kinds of cancers including eolon cancer.

Perhaps best of all, they are low in fat and help promote weight loss. By percentage of calories, kalo is 2 percent fat, ulu is 2 percent fat and uala is 1 percent fat. Please do not compare this to 2 percent milk because as I have mentioned in the past, the label 2 percent milk is misleading as milk is reported in percentage of weight. By calories, 2 percent milk is actually 35 percent fat or 17.5 times more fat than kalo. Whether you eat these foods because you believe that the mana of these foods were consumed and thus gave people their life force or whether you do it because of the nutritional value, the result is positive. These foods kept the Hawaiians a healthy thriving race of people for centuries and will contribute to your own good health today. And whether you look at the traditional Hawaiian diet from the perspective of nutrients or mythology, try to remember that these foods are not only foods for the body but also foods for the spirit. Dr. Shintani, physician and nutritionist is the director of preuentive medicine at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. A majority of its board and its 18,000 clients are of native Hawaiian ancestry.

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