2000 Physical Examinations of Native Americans (1898 – 1905)

Dr Aleš Hrdlička, was a world-renowned Czech anthropologist and physician.

They were tall and strong.
Only fibroid tumours found
No sign of cancer of any kind
Only three cases of heart disease
Varicose veins are rare
No appendicitis, and no peritonitis

European Americans struggle to believe that the indigenous population were bigger, fitter and stronger than they were.

There are dozens of examples from around the world. We can only see what we choose to see. Too often we believe that "It's not about us."

The average Plains Indian male of the early and mid-19th century stood 172.6 centimeters tall (about 68 inches), more than 1.6 centimeters taller than the average European American male of the time (171 cm.), and taller still than Europeans.

The Health of Plains Indians

Dr Aleš Hrdlička -

Despite the wars and hardship they experienced, and the constant threat of smallpox and other epidemics, the nutrition of the nomadic Plains Indians tribes was among the very best in the world. Average height is an excellent measure of the general health and nutritional status of a population, and recent studies have shown that in the 19th century, the equestrian tribes of the Great Plains, including the Lakota, the Cheyenne, the Comanche, and the Blackfeet, were the tallest people in the world.

Much of the credit for this goes to the superior nutrition of the Plains Indian tribes. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle of the Plains Indian tribes resulted in an extremely varied and nutrient-rich diet. But the carbohydrate content of the diet was small, so these people lived their lives in ketosis. (Ketosis is using your fat burning metabolism rather than your glucose burning metabolism.)

Grass-fed bison meat was dense with important nutrients, including high levels of iron, protein, vitamin E, vitamin B-12, and others.

Plains Indians, like wolves and other animal predators, preferred older animals, due to the higher nutrition levels of the meat. They also made extensive use of organs, blood, bone marrow, and other parts in their diets. Neglected in modern American cuisine, these parts remain a staple in traditional diets around the world due to their extremely high nutrition levels. Marrow soups are a good introduction to these kinds of "by-products."