The global incidence of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases has increased markedly in recent decades, largely attributable to widespread adoption of Western dietary and lifestyle patterns that are in stark contrast to ancestral patterns – a phenomenon referred to as the mismatch hypothesis. Findings from a recent study demonstrate that a mismatch between the ancestral and modern lifestyle patterns contribute to increased risk for chronic diseases among the Turkana people.
The Turkana in the arid regions of northwestern Kenya. The traditional Turkana diet, consisting primarily of meat, milk, and wild foods, is heavily influenced by their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. Recent economic changes in Kenya have driven some Turkana to rely on a market economy, and many Turkana now live in urban areas where they have adopted industrialized lifestyles. These sudden shifts in lifestyle patterns among a single population with the same genetic background provide a unique opportunity for studying the mismatch hypothesis.
The study involved more than 1,200 adult Turkana residing in more than 40 locations across Kenya. The Turkana under study comprised three distinct groups: those who practiced the traditional pastoralist Turkana lifestyle in the Turkana homelands, those who didn’t practice the traditional pastoralist Turkana lifestyle but remained in rural areas, and those who had relocated to urban areas. The study drew on interviews and biomarker data (body mass index, waist circumference, cholesterol, triglycerides, body fat percentage, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels) from the Turkana.
The data revealed that the Turkana who lived in rural areas (regardless of lifestyle) had more favorable metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers and had lower rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome than those who lived in urban areas. The authors of the study attributed these differences to alterations in diet among urbanites (increased consumption of calorie-dense foods, such as carbohydrates and fats) and lifestyle changes.
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