American Indian columnist says return to traditional foods is answer to some diseases

• It has been apparent for well over a decade that when indigenous peoples shift from their traditional diet to a ''modern'' highly refined carbohydrate diet they become exposed to a range of degenerative diseases.
• This disease is epidemic among all indigenous peoples in North America (and many other parts of the world) and seems especially destructive among desert populations.
• No one knows for certain how long this might take, but it is clear that not enough time has passed to render these foods safe for indigenous consumption.
• A range of groups such as Native Seed Search (which has a group, Desert Foods for Diabetes) and Tohono O'odham Community Action have mobilized to promote nutrition education among the people.
• The ''cure'' for the malady has been with them all along.
• Given that a pathway to health is known, one might expect it would be easy to make changes that could reverse the unhealthy trend, but the problem can be daunting.
• People who include such high-fiber beans have been known to reverse their symptoms, but knowing what to do isn't the same as being able to do it.
• The preferred lifestyle changes that would help reverse the trends are predictable: traditional foods, increased exercise and avoidance of harmful foods and habits.
• All foods that are gathered from the natural world, such as cacti and wild berries, are what have been designated ''slow foods.'' They have not been cultivated.
• For people who are in a hurry this seems to be a good thing, but for people who are sensitive to rapidly absorbed carbohydrates, they produce a higher level of blood sugar than did the wild foods.
• In the days before the epidemic Indian people didn't need to think about what they needed to do.
• Something like a mini cultural revolution needs to happen along the line of the Red Road or the Weight Watchers culture.