How Eskimos survive by eating as much fat
In icy Greenland, indigenous Inuit have great variety on the table: fish, seals and whales with plenty of saturated fat. However, they have adapted to the unhealthy menu thanks to evolution.
Genetic analyzes presented in Science magazine reveal that Inuit -the Eskimos of Alaska, Canada and Greenland; carrying mutations that protect against heart disease.
Mutations, which are expected to appear before about 20,000 years involved in lipid metabolism and reduce "bad" cholesterol LDL, while also seem to explain the low stature of indigenous Greenland.
"Our study provides perhaps the most extreme examples of genetic adaptation to a particular diet," he told Reuters o Rasmus Nielsen, University of California at Berkeley, head of the large research team.
"The mutations we identified show compensate physiologically high intake of animal fat," he said.
The survey compared the genomes of 191 Inuit, 60 Europeans and 44 Han Chinese. The genetic variants identified are all Inuit, but it is much rarer in Europe (only 2%) and Chinese (15%).
The findings may now offer new data on the utility of fatty acids omega-3 in fish oils. The idea that fats are useful in the prevention of heart disease originally arose from the observation that the heart is rare in Inuit despite increased fat uptake.
The new study indicates that Inuit metabolize different omega-3 and therefore these fats is not necessary to benefit people with different genetic profiles.
In icy Greenland, indigenous Inuit have great variety on the table: fish, seals and whales with plenty of saturated fat. However, they have adapted to the unhealthy menu thanks to evolution.
Genetic analyzes presented in Science magazine reveal that Inuit -the Eskimos of Alaska, Canada and Greenland; carrying mutations that protect against heart disease.
Mutations, which are expected to appear before about 20,000 years involved in lipid metabolism and reduce "bad" cholesterol LDL, while also seem to explain the low stature of indigenous Greenland.
"Our study provides perhaps the most extreme examples of genetic adaptation to a particular diet," he told Reuters o Rasmus Nielsen, University of California at Berkeley, head of the large research team.
"The mutations we identified show compensate physiologically high intake of animal fat," he said.
The survey compared the genomes of 191 Inuit, 60 Europeans and 44 Han Chinese. The genetic variants identified are all Inuit, but it is much rarer in Europe (only 2%) and Chinese (15%).
The findings may now offer new data on the utility of fatty acids omega-3 in fish oils. The idea that fats are useful in the prevention of heart disease originally arose from the observation that the heart is rare in Inuit despite increased fat uptake.
The new study indicates that Inuit metabolize different omega-3 and therefore these fats is not necessary to benefit people with different genetic profiles.
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