Chronic health effects of dispossession and dietary change: Lessons from North American hunter‐gatherers

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Abstract
There is growing evidence that many widespread health problems such as cancer, non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes (NIDDM), and cardiovascular disease have ecogenetic, etiologies, in other words, genetic predispositions activated by environmental factors. This paper explores the role of diet through the case of Inuit and North American Indian hunter‐gatherers, who have undergone significant recent dietary change, and simultaneously experienced changes in morbidity patterns. Recent clinical and epidemiological studies suggest the possibility that hunter‐gatherers enjoy advantageous metabolic adaptations which can become life‐threatening when the customary diet is replaced by a store‐bought regimen of refined starches, sugar, and saturated fats. If this is true, the health impacts of relocation and “development” on such peoples could be severe and persistent.