The Bolivian Amazonian tribe holds the key to aging at a slower rate: its inhabitants have the healthiest minds and hearts ever studied.

A team of international researchers was able to come to an interesting conclusion. I decided to be natives Tsimané from the Bolivian Amazon They have certain characteristics that they test Less cerebral atrophy From their American and European counterparts. Also, they have a healthier heart.

Reduce The size of the brain over the years is 70%. Slower than western residents. An accelerated loss of brain volume could be a sign of dementia. Cognitive and functional impairment.

The study was published in Journal of Gerontology, Series A: Biological and Medical Sciences.

Although people in industrialized nations have access to modern healthcare, they are more stable and follow a diet rich in saturated fats. By contrast, Tsimané have little or no medical care Very physically active Eat a high-fiber diet that includes vegetables, fish and lean meats.

“Tsimané has provided us An amazing natural experience Over the Potential adverse effects Study author André Eremia, academic assistant in Gerontology, Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering said at USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology And the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

These results “indicate that brain atrophy may be significantly reduced through the same associated lifestyle factors,” added Irmia.

The researchers enrolled 746 adults Tsimané From 40 to 94 years old in his studies. To conduct the brain scans, they provided transportation for the participants from their remote villages to Trinidad, Bolivia, the nearest city. The trip took two days, with both river and road transportation.

The team used the scans to calculate brain volumes and then examined their association with age. Later Compare these results with those of three industrial societies in the United States and Europe.

Although the researchers determined that the tribesmen had high levels of encephalitis, which is generally associated with the brain atrophy of Westerners, it had no apparent effect on their brains.

Additionally, as they explained, this implies a Reduced risk of heart disease.

“Our inactive lifestyle and diet rich in sugar and fats may accelerate the loss of brain tissue with age and make us more vulnerable to diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” said Hillard Kaplan, professor of health economics, one of the study authors. And anthropology at Chapman University, which has studied the Tsimane River for nearly two decades.

“Tsimané can serve as a base for Healthy brain agingRevilla Kaplan.

“This study shows that Tsimané stands out not only in terms of heart health, but also in terms of brain health. The results indicate broad opportunities for interventions to improve brain health, even in populations with high levels of inflammation,” Kaplan adds.

This is not the first time that the natives of Tsimane have captured the attention of scholars and the scientist since a previous study was published By The Lancet in 2017, He actually investigated the heart of the ethnic group. Analysis demonstrated that Tsimané had a lower prevalence of coronary arteriosclerosis than any population known to science, and that they had few risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

It’s very likely a very low rate for Heart disease out of nearly 16,000 Tsimané is related to their pre-industrial subsistence lifestyle of hunting, gathering, fishing and agriculture.