Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 3, 1 March 2002 — Look to the ancestors for answers [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Look to the ancestors for answers

By Claire Hughes , Dr. P.H., R.D., Department of Heaith

Our Hawaiian ancestors held important keys to their heahh that go largely unnoticed today, The traditional practices of lomilomi, family prayer, ho'oponopono, and timely treatment of illness with traditional herbs, were vital keys to good health, Other equally important factors were the very high daily output of physical exercise neces~ sary in farming, fishing, and eanoe building and the wonderful traditional diet, This simple diet was comprised of food that was raised at home and fish caught in the elean oeean, These practices not only kept the family healthy and fit, they also assured maximum physical growth, Hawaiian ancestors were tall, The ali'i and mō'ī were even taller than the average person back then, This is attributed to consistent access to adequate food, Countless descrip~ tions by early visitors to the islands document the imposing stature of our ancestors, īt is imperative that we recapture these elements of goodhealth, as Hawaiians today are not making progress in preventing health problems, The U,S, secretary of health announced last week that gains have been made in heahh by all of the nation's minority groups, except Alaska Natives and American īndians, īt would appear that Secretary Tommy Thompson does not have good heahh data on Hawaiians, whieh most likely is due to combining Hawaiian data into the statistics for Asian Americans,

This practice hides the true status of Hawaiian heahh, When Hawaiian data is separated, Hawaiian death rates from heart disease, diabetes and cancer are the highest among Hawai'i's ethnic populations, While Hawaiians do not have the highest prevalence rates of cancer, diabetes and the many different diseases of the heart, we die from these heahh problems at higher rates than others do, Remembering and adopting the ways of our ancestors would go a long way towards restoring the heahh of Hawaiians today, The traditional Hawaiian diet is ideal to help prevent heart disease, cancer and obesity, Modern science has discovered that dark, leafy greens, like lū'au, palula and pōpolo

are rich in nutrients that strengthen the immune system and help to ward off cancer, Cancer is our most feared illness because it is very complex, we don't understand h very well, and doctors don't have a cure yet, However, medical science is making great progress and we are learning ways to avoid developing cancer, The best protection against eancer is to eat a variety of vegetables and fruits daily, Such a plant~based diet, similar to that of our ancestors, is high in fiber and vitamins A and C, Broccoli, spinach, water~ cress, carrots, cauliflower, squash, all cabbages, papaya, mango, banana, and guava, ean all be eaten

raw or minimally cooked for the highest concentration of these protective vitamins, These simple rules ean help you fight cancer: ♦ eat a low fat diet, whieh means cooking the traditional way — steaming, baking and roasting — and eating more fish and skinless ehieken, ♦ eat foods high in fiber, such as leafy greens, kalo, potato, cooked dried beans and whole grains, such as brown rice and whole wheat products; ♦ eat a variety of vegetables, fruits and grains, at least five-cup servings daily; ♦ find some sort of enjoyable physical exercise to perform regu~ larly, be it walking, swimming, biking, walking the dog, or working in the yard, Our ancestors did not indulge in fried foods, tobacco or aleohol, and we would do well to follow their example, While this may mean major lifestyle changes for some, these changes ean be implemented bit by bit, Walking stairs instead of taking the elevator; parking a little further away from the store and walking a few extra steps; adding one serving of vegetable every day for a week; adding two servings the following week — these would be simple steps on the way to good health, Before you know it, you'll be able to feel and see changes in your body that are so rewarding, you will want to stay on this plan for good health, ■

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