Traditional Diets of the Pacific and Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

Traditional diets of the Pacific have been historically associated with very low rates of coronary heart disease. Both Pacific rim and Pacific island diets are uniformly very low in fat (approximately 10-15%) and high in complex carbohydrate, dietary fiber, and foods of plant origin. With the high burden of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease in most modernized nations, it may be time to look at these traditional diets of the Pacific as one model for the prevention and reversal of these diseases.