While the Waorani consume plants and animals based on the presence of phytochemicals, nearby communities such as the Santa Teresa Kichwa consume peccary regardless of the phytochemical smell or flavor. As the Santa Teresa Kichwa use modern seasoning, they are able to drown out the phytochemical flavor of the meat and therefore are not motivated to only consume it at certain times. Therefore, the Santa Teresa Kichwa also serve as a good source of comparison for the Waorani diet.
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A New Era in Understanding - Last Look Back Revolutionizes the Unrecognized Other Half of the Field of Nutrition
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Diet has always been a Medicine that Linked all Living Creatures Together in an Ecosystem driven by the "Phytochemical Highway".
Dietary Content is at Least Half about Mutualism not Individual Survival.
While living with the Waorani, our researchers noticed an incredible lack of many chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and eye disease. It is our theory that this lack of disease is directly linked to their wild ecosystem diet, and one of our goals is to examine this link before their way of life is disrupted by the introduction of agriculture and technology
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As the Waorani have maintained the wild diet of their ancestors, they provide us with a unique opportunity to discover how the paleolithic peoples the Paleo Diet is based on actually subsisted. Rather than farming or keeping livestock, the Waorani forage and hunt seasonally, even if plants and animals are available for consumption year-round. For example, the Waorani only hunt peccary during the time of the season when they consume Mansoa alliacea (wild garlic); the phytochemical garlic smell is detectible in the peccary at this time, and the meat is flavored by the Mansoa alliacea. At other times of year, the diet of the peccary repels the Waorani from consuming its meat.
As the Waorani have maintained the wild diet of their ancestors, they provide us with a unique opportunity to discover how the paleolithic peoples the Paleo Diet is based on actually subsisted. Rather than farming or keeping livestock, the Waorani forage and hunt seasonally, even if plants and animals are available for consumption year-round. For example, the Waorani only hunt peccary during the time of the season when they consume Mansoa alliacea (wild garlic); the phytochemical garlic smell is detectible in the peccary at this time, and the meat is flavored by the Mansoa alliacea. At other times of year, the diet of the peccary repels the Waorani from consuming its meat.