AHS17

Responding to the presence of AHS 2017 in Seattle, this presentation highlights ancestral health paradigms that can be gleaned from the indigenous history of the Pacific Northwest and Alaskan territories. It surveys the interaction between ecology and nutrition in the region from 21,000 years ago to the present. It raises important questions about ancestral health principles and shows how they can be approached by synthesizing the indigenous history of the region with the latest literature in biological science and evolutionary medicine. That synthesis, in turn, helps us to examine a number of controversial theories and debates, including: different theories for the migration of indigenous peoples to North American from 21,000 years ago, and the evolution of nutritional needs during that period; the purported role of ketosis in fat-adapted communities in Alaska and beyond; the relative importance of Omega 3 Fatty Acids versus saturated fat intake in historical populations; the potentially overlooked role of Resistant Starch sources in fat-adapted communities; the overlooked importance of semi-digested lichens in human health (!); and the health consequences following a move away from long-evolved ecological and nutritional frameworks.