With the pandemic bringing the entire world to a standstill, people all around the world are doing everything they can to keep themselves healthy. The old saying, “Health is Wealth” has only now truly sunk deep into the hearts of the people.
With so many factors in this modern world affecting the longevity of a person’s life, there is something truly mysterious about the Hunza people. Situated in a remote, pristine area of northern Pakistan, the Hunza valley is home to locals who grow their own food and utilize fresh glacier water for drinking and bathing.
Known as the “Shangri-La of the Himalayas, the valley is surrounded by the Himalayan mountains and has long been recognized as the home of a culture of longevity.
An Isolated region with High Life Expectancy:
In the early 1970s, National Geographic ran an extensive series of articles investigating claims of long-lived people around the world. The Hunza people, who lived in the Hunza Valley in Northern Pakistan, were one of those peoples.
Several researchers and physicians have traveled to Hunza to study the health and the longevity of the people residing there. In the 1920s, the eminent British physician and nutrition researcher Sir Robert McCarrison was the first to conduct scientific studies on the Hunzas and their diet.
He reported, “My own experience provides an example of a race unsurpassed in the perfection of physique and in freedom from diseases in general. . . I refer to the people of the State of Hunza. . .amongst these people the span of life is extraordinarily long.”
Upon examination, evidence has been found that the men in Hunza land live to be 120 and even 140 years old. While men are found to live long, it is also found that the Hunza women can conceive between the ages of 60 and 90 – a claim most women would find incredibly hard to believe.
How is this even possible?
A lot of questions have already boggled our minds about the possibility of this longevity. Due to the geography and the unique environment of the Hunza Valley, the people of Hunza naturally live a very healthy lifestyle.
The people of Hunza live very active and vigorous as they work the terraced fields tending to their gardens carefully raising their organic foods in the fresh mountain air and sunshine.
“….I had the definite impression of an unusual number of very vigorous old folk clambering over the steep slopes that make up this mountainous land. It was the fitness of many of the elderly rather than their extreme ages that impressed me.”
The Hunzas consume a mostly plant-based diet, eaten raw. Consuming an abundance of organic fruits and vegetables, Apricots are considered to be the staple of the Hunza diet. It is said, the Hunzas go for several months in a year on a diet consisting purely of apricot juice.
They are said to not suffer from cancer, due to their consumption of vitamin b-17, also known as amygdalin, found in apricot seeds. Leafy green vegetables are also an important part of the Hunza diet.
Conclusion:
Whether the Hunza longevity is exaggerated or not, there is undoubtedly one lesson we can take from the Hunzas lifestyle- that they lead a healthy life leveraging all the beautiful produce that God has gifted them!
Written By - Daniel Deepak Charles
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