Columbus Day and Diabetes

As I write this blog entry, it is Columbus Day. I woke up this morning wondering if it was a federal holiday and who might have the the day off.

Then I started to think about Christopher Columbus. Of course my mind wandered to a favorite subject of mine--indigenous foods, specifically pre-columbian Native American foods.

The term "pre-columbian" refers to the time before Columbus arrived in the Americas. I have found studying these foods not only interesting but also beneficial to me as far as helping to control my diabetes.

It can be hard to locate specific recipes for pre-columbian foods as oral history was favored over written.? Many dishes are lost forever. However, we know some basics. They used local in-season whole foods. Fruits, leafy greens, vegetables, nuts and seeds were main foods. Even if far from large bodies of water, they often traveled long distance or traded for dehydrated sea foods (such as fish and seaweed) The main methods of cooking were baking, steaming, and boiling.

When I consider my own area, Southern Arizona, I look to the traditional foods of two tribes who are likely descended from the pre-historic Hohokam civilization--the Akimel O'Odham (formerly known as Pima) and the Tohono O'Odham (formerly known as Papago). Each of these tribes are experiencing serious diabetes epidemics. Diabetes was not known in these peoples until relatively recently (1950's-1960's), a time when their food traditions drastically changed. However, it has been discovered that a return to traditional foods such as mesquite meal, tepary beans, chia seeds, cholla cactus buds and prickly pear cactus pads helps to stabilize and control blood sugar levels.

The Akimel O'Odham have large communities in the U.S. and in Mexico. Their community is literally split by the U.S./Mexico border. Studies have found that there is much lesser incidence of diabetes in those who reside in Mexico who have retained many traditional food customs,ways of life and who don't have as many convenience foods available.

It has been very fulfilling to learn about these foods and to try them. I hope to share more on this subject with you soon and hope many of you are inspired to learn more and embark on your own food adventures. Let me know if you have any questions or your own experience and knowledge to share.

I highly recommend looking further into the food history of these tribes and the tribes in your local area. If you are new to the subject, you might like to learn about the three ingenious basic ingredients of many of the traditional cuisines (beans, squash and corn) commonly called the Three Sisters, thought by some to be the basis of one of the most perfect diets in history. There is still much to learn and some confusion as many traditional Native American foods rank high on the Glycemic Index scale yet seem to beneficial foods, as seen in the Pima Paradox.? Hopefully more attention to this subject may bring more answers.

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