What an awesome thread. My father's family is mixed, but he's 1/2 Eastern Band Cherokee, 1/4 Piegan Blackfeet. My mom has mostly European (German, Welsh) heritage but her grandmother was part Shawnee. Either way, I've ended up with a family history on both sides of type II diabetes. I've always wondered if there was a link between significant Native American heritage and PCOS.
I've always assumed that Native Americans have higher incidence of Type II diabetes because until a couple hundred years ago most tribes had adapted to a diet that rarely if ever included refined sugar and processed grain. It was a good thing that your body started storing during summer as you might need your fat reserves during winter. Nobody is suited the all the processed food we eat these days, but for the most part Native Americans weren't practicing any widespread agriculture so the population was not biologically compatible with the food available after that. (The same way some Asian populations have high incidence of lactose intolerance.)
I'd love to read up on this. Does anyone have links to any articles? |