Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A short article but info filled. The Amish do not drink or smoke. They do a lot of physical work, like most of our ancestors did. They grow their food without chemicals and they eat meat, healthy fruits and vegetables, and pure dairy. Nothing processed.
I just thought of something else. They don't drive cars either, they still use horse and buggy. Therefore they're not exposed to harmful petroleum fumes from gas and oil. They live rural so the air is clean.
I don't know about their life expectancy since they don't use Rx drugs. Maybe their babies die just as the babies of our ancestors did. But if they manage to live through childhood they are healthy. It must be impossible to figure out whether that's due to natural selection or if it really is the lifestyle. It seems that their quality of life and their health are better than that of most other Americans though. If you're going to live to be 90, better to still have the ability to be mentally and physically active than to be home bound and on numerous pills, in pain, waiting to die.
It has been said that the causes of cancer - or lack thereof- can be attributed to several factors; lifestyle (smoking & drinking, etc), a percentage is environmental, and a percentage is genetic. I believe Mormons have less cancer as well.
People have always gotten cancer. They've found it in mummies and in very old corpses so it's not just unprocessed food, etc.
It could also be partly due to them just getting lucky and having good genes in relation to cancer. They are a heavily inbred group, which actually puts them at higher risks for certain health issues. But perhaps they share genes that also put them at lower risk for cancer.
Quote:
The founder effect is quite pronounced in Anabaptist populations. For example, most of the more than 40,000 Hutterites in North America can trace their ancestry back to a group of 89 founding members
It could also be partly due to them just getting lucky and having good genes in relation to cancer. They are a heavily inbred group, which actually puts them at higher risks for certain health issues. But perhaps they share genes that also put them at lower risk for cancer.
I thought of that too. This groups descends from a population of one hundred people and maybe those 100 people didn't have many cancer genes.
Of course people have always gotten cancer but it's kind of interesting to study isolated cultures who don't have much cancer and try to figure out why. Seems like a combination of food, exercise, clean air, and possibly genes. Just by not smoking or drinking they're reducing their cancer risk and by not eating processed foods that come out of a box, their diet is better without junk food.
But, they are NOT cancer free. The Amish have unusually high rates of breast cancer and juvenile leukemia. This is well-documented. Overall cancer rates are lower. I don't think it's a secret that healthier living keeps the immune system stronger. They are physically active, low-tech, less stress, cook from scratch with locally sourced fresh food they grow themselves. There are no magic pills or elixirs that can compete with a healthier diet/lifestyle.
Of the 24 types of cancer studied, the incidence of seven of them – cervical, laryngeal, lung, oral cavity/pharyngeal, melanoma, breast and prostate – was low enough compared with the Ohio rate to be statistically significant.
Of the 24 types of cancer studied, the incidence of seven of them – cervical, laryngeal, lung, oral cavity/pharyngeal, melanoma, breast and prostate – was low enough compared with the Ohio rate to be statistically significant.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
