Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2015 — Traditional diet high in nutrition [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Traditional diet high in nutrition

By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D.

Does it matter what foods you eat and when you eat them? Absolutely, without question! You see, the body that you have today will be completely replaced in about 5 to 7 years. This means all body tissues are continually being broken down and made anew. For example, eaeh blood eell lives only 120 days. And, the tissues that line your entire digestive tract are renewed every 3 to 5 days. The skin that covers your body is totally renewed every 7 years. Thus, to assure the best and healthiest renewal, all raw building materials or "nutrients" must be available. Fortunately, required nutrients are found in foods that are available every day. Our responsibility is to eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods in amounts that will yield the nutrients required by the body. Several medical tests reflect how well we are doing in supplying raw materials to the body. Doctors routinely measure blood levels of hemoglobin. Most of the body's iron is found in hemoglobin and mueh smaller amount is part of the myoglobin in muscles. If blood hemoglobin levels are low. . .whieh happens during pregnancy or rapid childhood growth . . . this may be due to a low iron diet. Assuring a good source of dietary iron is also critical, as iron absorption from food is complicated. Only 25 percent of the iron from animal flesh, or heme iron, and 17% of non-heme from cereals and vegetables is absorbed. Total iron absorption depends on several dietary factors. Sources of

heme iron contain MFP, a dietary factor, that promotes absorption of both heme and non-heme iron when eaten at the same time. Vitamin C and other acid foods eaten with nonheme iron sources will also boost iron absorption. Detractors of nonheme iron absorption are phytates that are natural components of whole wheat, rice andlegumes, and in vegetable proteins of soybeans and nuts. The ealeium in milk and the tannic acid in tea and coffee as well as grains, oregano and red wine also hinder iron absorption. Osteoporosis (rapid bone loss) is one of the most prevalent diseases of aging occurring in an estimated 45 to 50 million in the United States, mostly among women over 50. Osteoporosis is a contributing factor in at least 1.5 million broken hips, vertebrae, wrists, arms and ankles eaeh year among elderly in the U.S. Bone loss is difficult to diagnose without special testing thus, it goes often undetected until significantly progressed. Building of bone occurs in childhood and adolescence during periods of rapid growth. That is why rich sources of ealeium are really important in diets of ehikken, for women during childbearing years, and throughout life. The diet of our Hawaiian ancestors contained no milk. Yet, they had strong, well-developed bones. How did that happen? They ate many cups of greens and seaweed every day. And, they ate the crispy bones of fish. So, there was ample ealeium in the diets of men, women and children. Regarding sources of iron, greens and seafood are rich sources of iron (both heme and non heme-iron) and poi is a fair source as well. Detractors of iron absorption were not a part of the traditional diet (phytates, coffee etc.; paragraph 2, above). Thus, undoubtedly, considerable amounts of the iron from the traditional Hawaiian diet were absorbed. In addition, the traditional diet for pregnant women emphasized vegetable sources of iron and ealeium throughout pregnancy. Makua and kupuna wāhine assured these foods were available. Something of even greater importance for our ancestors was the total absence of foods of "low- and no-nutritional" value that we eat and drink in prodigious amounts today. ■

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