Transcript - Healthy Weights Connection

Traditional Food:
Nutrition and Culture
Bernadette deGonzague, M.Sc., RD
Southwest Ontario Aboriginal
Health Access Centre
Aboriginal people in Canada
• Over 1 million people in Canada with Aboriginal
identity (Métis, First Nation or Inuit)
• Affected by disproportionately high rates of type 2
diabetes, obesity and arthritis
• Health affected by poverty, unemployment,
homelessness, trauma, racism, lack of accessible
health services
• Cost of fresh, healthy market foods in remote and
rural areas.
Traditional Food
Defined as “all food within a
particular culture available
from local natural resources
and culturally accepted, as
well as the activities
associated with procuring it.”
Kuhnlein, HV. 1998
Traditional food systems
affected by:
Residential schools
Environmental changes and
pollution
Legal and political issues
Socio-economic issues
Traditional food affects health
As changes in lifestyle and diet occur,
traditional food use declines and pre
packaged food and ‘fast’ food increases;
Infectious disease decreases and chronic
disease increases: i.e type 2 diabetes
Cultural sustainability and loss of cultural
connection
Diet and Health: Cultural Considerations
Spiritual
Physical
Emotional
Mental
Cultural Value of Traditional food
Provides people with healthy food
Keeps people “in tune” with nature
Favors sharing in the community
Is an essential part of the culture
Is a way to practice spirituality
Contributes to humility
Promotes traditions
Builds pride and confidence
Contributes to children’s education
Provides skills in survival
Provides education on natural environment
deGonzague, et al. JADA 99(6)
Comments re Cultural Significance
 “These foods kept us alive many years agosupper was out there in the woods”
 “Most foods eaten were traditional, lived in bush,
no electricity, no stores...”
 “I think the sickness is coming from all the
chemicals and preservatives in the canned
food, we need to go back to the old ways of
eating”
deGonzague, et al. JADA 99(6)
Comments re Cultural Significance (cont.)
 “Indians hunt for food, not for trophies...”
 “Many elders alive today went to residential
schools and lost knowledge and skills; difficult now
to recover”
 “When a natural food is harvested have patience to
teach your children, use sparingly, not waste, be
careful gathering maple syrup.. conserve all
things, teach them this and it helps them
appreciate. Don’t get tired of talking to your kids”
 “When I eat traditional food I know who I am."
deGonzague, et al. JADA 99(6)
Ojibwe Seasonal Pattern of
Food Use
Summer
Fish, small game and birds; wild
berries, vegetables
Fall
Wild rice; cultivated corn, pumpkins,
potatoes; waterfowl, game, tree nuts
Winter
Dried berries and vegetables; large
game, fish, dried wild rice
Spring
Maple sugar; fish; dried berries and
meats; ferns and young shoots,
morels, fiddleheads
Traditional Food Preferences
Most
Least
Wild rice
Deer
Fish
Frybread
Duck
Berries
Pheasant
Porcupine
Partridge
Wild Turkey
Bear
Skunk
Beaver
Turtle
Porcupine
deGonzague, et al. JADA 99(6)
Advantages of Traditional Food
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High nutrient density
Low saturated fat
High fibre
More species diversity
Economic benefit
Associated activity
Cultural identity
(Calloway, 1974; Kuhnlein, 1983)
Nutritional Importance of
Traditional food
• Calcium:
– White lyed corn (wood ash)
– Salmon/fish bones, fish head soup
– Dandelion greens, sunflower seed, burdock root
– Nettle, purslane, maple sap
• Iron:
– Organ meats, wild meats, birds
– Clover root, Lamb’s quarters, Burdock root, Fiddleheads
– Jerusalem artichoke
– Maple sap
• Folic Acid:
– Corn, greens
– Wild rice
– Marine mammals
Nutritional Importance of
Traditional food
• Vitamin C
– Raw fish eggs
– Mattak (raw whale skin)
– Berries, choke cherries
• Protein
– Wild meats, fish
– Nuts, seeds
– Wild rice
• Omega-3:
– Arctic char, seal, whale, salmon and other fish
Traditional methods of Food Preparation
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Preservation: Drying, smoking
Boiling, stewing, roasting
Teas
Salt and sugar: sea salt, maple and birch
saps
• Flour: cattails, acorns, corn
• Knowledge re edible vs. poisonous fungi
Smoking
Moose meat
Whitefish
• Oulachin grease is still
made each spring
Along the river shore are found stink-boxes and cookboxes, wooden bins used for storing and cooking ooligan
to make grease. Ooligan remain important to the Nuxalk
diet, and grease is regularly used to accent the flavour of
other foods. It may be served over dried salmon, halibut,
berries, or potatoes, filling the air with a wonderful,
unmistakable scent of health and well-being.
Corn soup
Corn Bread
Factors Preventing More Frequent Consumption
of Traditional Food
Time: work/school/family
Can’t get out (physical reasons)
Lack equipment
Contamination
Poor availability of animals, fish
Legalities/regulations
Cost of fuel/equipment/processing
Knowledge of how to prepare foods
Vegetables and Fruit
Intake very low among most Aboriginal people
- High cost in remote communities
- Environmental contaminants limit intake in
some areas
- Berries: used in feasts and ceremonies
- Traditionally very widely used
- Community gardens can be encouraged
Grain Products
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Bannock/oven bread/scone
Corn Bread
Wild rice
Almond Flour bread
Encourage whole wheat
products and use of whole
wheat flour in baking
Milk and Alternatives
• Lactose intolerance common
• May need supplementation
Traditional sources of calcium:
Wild Plants, seaweed
Bannock made with baking powder
Fish with bones, fish head soup
Bones of small and large animals
Shellfish
Nuts, beans
Meat and Alternatives
Traditional meats and wild game
Fish and shellfish
Lean meat and poultry
75g cooked (2 ½ oz)/125mL (½ cup)
Eggs 2
Beans - cooked 175 mL (3/4 cup)
Peanut Butter 30 mL (2 Tbsp)
Eat at least two Food Guide Servings of fish each week.*
* Health Canada provides advice for limiting exposure to
mercury from certain types of fish. Refer to
www.healthcanada.gc.ca for the latest information. Consult
local, provincial or territorial governments for information
about eating locally caught fish.
For strong body, mind and spirit, be active
every day.
• Respect your body... Your choices matter
• Following Canada's Food Guide and limiting foods and drinks
which contain a lot of calories, fat, sugar or salt are important
ways to respect your body. Examples of foods and drinks to limit
are:
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pop
fruit flavoured drinks
sports and energy drinks
candy and chocolate
cakes, pastries, doughnuts and muffins
granola bars and cookies
ice cream and frozen desserts
potato chips
nachos and other salty snacks
french fries
• alcohol
When cooking or adding fat to food:
• Most of the time, use vegetable oils with unsaturated fats. These
include canola, olive and soybean oils.
•Aim for a small amount (2 to 3 tablespoons or about 30-45mL)
each day. This amount includes oil used for cooking, salad
dressings, margarine and mayonnaise.
•Traditional fats that are liquid at room temperature,
such as seal and whale oil, or ooligan grease, also
contain unsaturated fats. They can be used as all or
part of the 2-3 tablespoons of unsaturated fats
recommended per day.
•Choose margarines that are non hydrogenated or small amounts
of butter if preferred
Recommendations for Nutrition Education
 Emphasis on reduction of saturated fat and
sucrose;
 Health value of traditional food;
* Promotion of foods high in nutrients at risk
(folate, iron, calcium);
 Increase consumption of high fibre grains and
vegetables (wild rice, co-op gardens);
 Promotion of physical activity EVERYDAY
Everything counts!!
‘Short’ list of traditional foods
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Corn
Beans
Squash
Wild rice
Sumac
Sunflowers
Wild ginger
Clover
Rosehips
Berries
Cattail
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Bear
Buffalo
Caribou
Muskrat,
squirrels
Partridge,
Quail
Deer, Moose
Turkey, ducks,
geese
Fish, Frog
Rabbits
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Wild sage
Acorns
Maple sugar
Cedar tea
Wild onions
Elk
Fiddleheads
Mushrooms
Morels