An indigenous tribe in the heart of the Bolivian jungle may provide clues to how long a person can live. Scientists claim they are the healthiest people ever studied.
The Tsimane community is one of the last groups of people on the planet to live a full subsistence lifestyle of hunting, foraging, and farming. Less than 10 percent of their daylight hours are spent in sedentary activities, compared to 54 percent in industrious populations, and they have little access to processed foods, alcohol, and cigarettes.
For decades, scientists have marveled at the astonishing heart and brain health of the Tsimane tribe, who are deep-rooted in the Amazon rainforest, 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of La Paz, Bolivia’s largest city.
There have been no reported cases of Alzheimer’s among the tribe’s 16,000 members, while research has shown that older members of the tribe have 70 percent less brain atrophy than their peers in industrialized countries.
A decrease in hypertension, diabetes and heart problems was also observed.
The Tsimane farming-foraging community (pictured) from lowland Bolivia was once said to have the ‘healthiest hearts ever studied’
A team of researchers led by University of New Mexico anthropologist Hillard Kaplan has been studying the tribe for two decades.
They found that the Tsimanes are constantly active, hunting animals, planting food and weaving roofs.
An average hunt for the tribe lasts more than eight hours and covers 18 km.
Meanwhile, only 14 percent of the calories they consume come from fat, compared to 34 percent in the U.S., according to the study conducted by the BBC.
Their diet is also high in fiber, with 72 percent of their calories coming from carbohydrates, compared to 52 percent in the U.S.
In addition, they usually get their protein from the animals they hunt, such as birds, monkeys and fish. Furthermore, they do not use frying in their cooking.
Scientists conclude that such lifestyle habits could hold the key to longer lives in Western societies.
Normally, fats, cholesterol, and other substances build up in people’s blood vessels. These substances can cause their arteries to thicken or harden as they age, causing atherosclerosis.
The Tsimane and Moseten hunter-gatherer communities in the Bolivian Amazon have a dementia rate 11 times lower than the US, a study finds
The Tsimane are a tribe of about 16,000 people who live along the banks of the Maniqui River in the Bolivian Amazon.
But a 2017 study published by The Lancet found that 65 percent of 705 Tsimanes over the age of 40 had coronary artery calcium (CAC), a sign of clogged arteries that puts patients at greater risk of heart attack.
For comparison, 80 percent of Americans show symptoms of CAC.
Professor Kaplan concluded: ‘The arteries of a 75-year-old Tsimane look more like the arteries of a 50-year-old American.’
However, the study is partly limited by the fact that Tsimanes do not keep track of their age, as many have difficulty counting.
Scientists often use the ages of their children to calculate data about tribe members.
A 78-year-old Tsimane named Juan told the BBC: ‘Now the hardest part is my body. I can’t walk far anymore… it takes two days at most.’
Despite their remarkable brain and heart health, Tsimane populations have low life expectancies due to other threats in their environment.
When Professor Kaplan began his research, their life expectancy was just 45 years, but it has now risen to 50 years.
The tribe of more than 16,000 is extremely active in their daily lives, hunting and fishing, and eats a diet low in fats and sugars. Pictured: A Tsimane child climbs a tree in search of a coconut
Bolivian doctor Daniel Eid Rodríguez, a medical coordinator for the researchers, told the BBC: ‘These people who reached the age of 80 were the ones who managed to survive a childhood full of diseases and infections.’
Tribe members were found to have high levels of pathogens and inflammation, suggesting they are constantly fighting infection.
It is speculated that this constant exposure to infections could also benefit their long-term health.
However, some aspects of the Tsimanes’ way of life are changing. Several wildfires in the region in 2023 destroyed nearly two million hectares of jungle and forest, causing animals to leave.
It has made hunting in the region more difficult, BBC defeated.
The tribe also begins using boats with outboard motors, which reduces the amount of rowing they do before – one of the most strenuous activities they are used to.
Tsimane Hilda, who is said to be 81 years old, told the newspaper: “I am not afraid of dying because they are going to bury me and I will lie there… very still.”