CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Since 1990, researchers from the Louisiana State University have analyzed the coronary arteries of 23,000 deceased persons from 16 countries. The interim results reveal that the Greenlanders have the lowest rate of atherosclerosis among all those tested. Some of the fascinating early results are as follow:

1. The Inuit who ate a modern diet had the same rate of this disease as ordinary Europeans and therefore the results were not based on heredity.
2. The Inuit who lived on a traditional diet of marine mammals (mainly seal) had, at the age of seventy, the same coronary artery elasticity as a 20 year old European.
3. Some European countries may eat more fish than is found in the traditional Greenland diet, but have a far higher incidence of atherosclerosis and, in general, higher levels of cholesterol.

At the National Hospital in Nuuk, a person with very high cholesterol was given various diets and medicines without major impact. When he was placed on a traditional Greenland diet (mostly of seal), his cholesterol level fell dramatically in one month.

Dr. E. Jorgenson of the Center of Arctic Environmental Medicine in Denmark recently presented the initial results of the Orsoq Seal Research Project, a pilot study on the effect of seal oil on human health These preliminary findings indicate that the general population of Denmark, fed on a modern diet, was ten times more likely to develop cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases that Greenlanders on their traditional diet of seal, a food high in omega 3 "Inuit Whaling", Inuit Circumpolar Conference, June 1992, special issue. Gerth Mulved and Henning Sloth Pederson, Doctors of Medicine Dronning Ingrids Hospital.

Dr. Garth Mulvad and Dr. Henning Pederson of the Department of Medicine. Dronning Ingrids Hospital in Norway recently noted that fish eating nations have, on average, a higher cholesterol level than the Inuit. However, they suggest that a diet including marine mammal oils decreases cholesterol levels. There is a growing body of evidence showing the positive effects of omega 3 in our diets. In a 1950’s study conducted at Camp Hill Hospital Halifax, Nova Scotia, the effect of seal oil on patients with atherosclerosis and hypercholesterolemia was studied... The results showed that taking seal oil reduced cholesterol by 20%. (Ackman, Safety of Seal oil as Nutritional Supplement, Proc, NS Inst. of Sci. (1997) - Vol. 41, part 3, 103-114)

In a new study, the world-respected scientist Sonja L. Connor noted that omega 3 PUFAs will lower the plasma triglycerides even more remarkably in "healthy" people. For primary prevention, she suggested 2-3 grams of Omega 3 per day!