The Hunza cuisine, also called the Burusho cuisine (), consists of a series of selective food and drink intake practiced by the
Burusho people (also called the Hunza people) of northern
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. Alternative medicine and
natural health advocates have argued without providing any scientific evidence that the Hunza diet can increase longevity to 120 years.
The diet mostly consists of raw food including nuts, fresh vegetables, dry vegetables, mint, fruits and seeds added with yogurt. The cooked meal,
daal included with
chappati, is included for dinner.
Longevity myth
In the 1930s, Swiss-German physician Ralph Bircher conducted research on the Hunza diet.
[McColl, Robert W. (2005). ''Encyclopedia of World Geography: Volume 1''. Golson Books. pp. 439-440. ] In his book about the Hunza, Jay Hoffman argued that, by the ratio to cats, dogs and horses, humans should live up to 120 to 150 years, and argues the Hunza diet to be the key to this longevity. Such ideas also promoted by natural health advocates have been discredited. There is no reliable documentation validating the age of alleged Hunza supercentenarians.
False claims about the Hunza people living to be hundreds of years old in perfect health from their diet of "
natural foods" were promoted by
J. I. Rodale and
G. T. Wrench.
The claims had no basis in fact and were refuted by a team of Japanese researchers from
Kyoto University
, or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan.
The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...
in 1960 who had examined Hunza inhabitants. The medical team found rampant signs of poor health amongst the Hunza, including
goitre
A goitre (British English), or goiter (American English), is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly.
Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are ...
, malnutrition,
rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...
, tuberculosis and high levels of infant mortality.
In 2005, the ''Encyclopedia of World Geography'' stated that "to date there is no credible evidence that determines that the Hunzakut diet of old, not to mention the current diet of the past four decades, contributes to longevity."
Another myth associated with the Hunza people is that because their diet is alleged to be high in
apricot seeds they are free from disease. This has proven to be untrue as medical scientists have found that the Hunzas suffer from a variety of disease including cancer.
See also
*
Longevity myths
Longevity myths are traditions about long-lived people (generally supercentenarians), either as individuals or groups of people, and practices that have been believed to confer longevity, but which current scientific evidence does not support, ...
*
Pakistani cuisine
Pakistani cuisine (, Roman Urdu, romanized: ''pākistānī pakwān'') is a blend of regional cooking styles and flavours from across South Asia, South, Central Asia, Central and West Asia. It is a culmination of Iranic, Indic & Arab culinary ...
References
{{reflist
Further reading
*Kinji Imanishi. (1963)
''Personality and Health in Hunza Valley'' Kyoto University.
Gerontology
Hunza
Longevity myths
Nutrient-rich, low calorie diets
Pakistani cuisine