The document discusses traditional Tohono O'odham foods and their nutritional benefits compared to modern processed foods. It provides nutritional analyses of several traditional foods like wihog (mesquite pods), bahidaj (lamb's quarters), giad (amaranth), and wiyo:di (acorns). These analyses show that traditional foods have higher fiber, lower glycemic indexes and loads, and more beneficial nutrient profiles than modern foods like bread and Snickers bars. Hunter-gatherer diets also had lower cholesterol and sodium than the modern American diet.

1. HA:SAN’S GARDEN AND NUTRITION PROGRAM Ha:sa ñ Preparatory and Leadership School

2. As a whole First Nations people suffer from a higher incidence of diabetes than the general population. The Tohono O´odham have the highest rate of type 2 diabetes in the world with more than 50% of those over the age of 35 having the disease.

3. Some nutritionists and healthcare officials believe that the diabetes epidemic in First Nations can be mostly attributed to the shift away from traditional plant and animal foods towards the processed foods of the modern American diet.

4. The pre-1492 First Nations people were living with 2 conditions: one, nobody was telling them what to do; and two, they were living communally. The communal group was responsible for life and death-everything that ever happened to you they noticed. John Mohawk - Seneca

5. So if a food made you sick the communal group noticed. If another food made you thrive, they noticed that too. Food was seen as medicine. In a hospital the food they feed you is not medicine, it makes you sick, keeps you in the hospital and makes the hospital more money. John Mohawk - Seneca

6. In the past food choice was motivated by which foods helped people thrive instead of which foods are going to make money. That is the big difference. Today the value of food is predicated by profit but the value of heritage foods was weighed upon life force. John Mohawk - Seneca

7. BREAD VS. WIHOG from: nutritiondata.com and from: L. Rockwell. 1999. Good Enough to Eat: A Kid’s Guide to Food and Nutrition. HarperCollins Publishers, New York. WIHOG GI = 25 Amylose soluble fiber  blood sugar  insulin levels  BREAD GI = 70 Amylopectin soluble fiber  blood sugar  insulin levels 

8. CARROT VS. SNICKERS from: nutritiondata.com and from: L. Rockwell. 1999. Good Enough to Eat: A Kid’s Guide to Food and Nutrition. HarperCollins Publishers, New York. Carrot GI = 47 carbs = 5g GL = 2 blood  sugar levels insulin  secretion Snickers GI = 55 carbs = 64g GL = 35 blood  sugar levels insulin  secretion

9. bahidaj wiyo:di kiaki or giad wihog onk i:wagi

10. NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL FOODS from: P. R. Krausman et al. 1990. Nutritional Composition of Desert Mule Deer Forage in the Picacho Mountains, Arizona. Desert Plants 10(1): 32-34. BAHIDAJ 18% protein 44% fiber 38% sugar seeds 30% fat

11. NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL FOODS from: W. C. Hodgson. 2001. Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. WIHOG (100g edible pod) 47.9g carbs 33.1g fiber 19-22g sugar Glycemic Index (25)

12. NUTRIENT QUALITY: Mesquite vs. Beans (100 gram serving, nutrients in grams) from: nutritiondata.com  mesquite  pinto beans  kidney beans carbs magnesium iron calories

13. NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL FOODS from: nutritiondata.com GIAD - amaranth (195g or 1 cup) Amino Acid Score (101) 4.4 mg Mn (220% DV) 14.8g Fe (82% DV) 1.5g Cu (76% DV) 18.1g fiber (73% DV)

14. NUTRIENT QUALITY: Amaranth vs. Wheat (1 cup equivalents, nutrients in % of Daily Value) from: nutritiondata.com fiber copper mang. iron  amaranth  wheat flour (white, enriched)  wheat flour (whole-grain)

15. NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL FOODS from: nutritiondata.com WIYO:DI-acorns (1 cup dried kernels) Amino Acid Score (122) Glycemic Load (4) 1.6mg Vit. B 6 (80% DV) 1.6mg copper (80% DV)

16. NUTRIENT QUALITY: Acorns vs. Wheat (1 cup equivalents, nutrients in relative values) from: nutritiondata.com  acorns (dried)  wheat flour (white, enriched)  wheat flour (whole-grain) A. A. S. G.L. Vita. B 6 copper

17. NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL FOODS from: nutritiondata.com ONK I:WAGI - Lambsquarter (180g or 1 cup) Amino Acid Score (129) 14071 IU Vit. A (281% DV) 0.9mg Mn (47% DV) 66.6mg Vit. C (111% DV) 464mg Ca (46% DV)

18. NUTRIENT QUALITY: Lambsquarter vs. Greens (1 cup equivalents, nutrients in relative values)  lambsquarter  Iceberg lettuce  spinach A. A. S. Vitamin C Mang. copper

19. CHOLESTEROL LEVELS (mg) from: S.B. Eaton et al. 1988. The Paleolithic Prescription: a Program of Diet and Exercise and a Design for Living. Harper and Row, New York . ETHNIC GROUP COUNTRY AVG. SERUM CHOLESTEROL Hadza Tanzania 110 Inuit Canada 141 Kung! Botswana 120 Aborigine Australia 139 Pygmy Zaire 106 Caucasian America 210

20. WILD MEAT vs. DOMESTIC (1 pound of raw shoulder meat, nutrients in grams) from: nutritiondata.com lamb pork beef deer bison rabbit caribou  protein  fat  saturated fat

21. NUTRIENTS (mg) from: S.B. Eaton and M. Konner. 1985. Paleolithic Nutrition: a Consideration of its Nature and Current Implications. New England Journal of Medicine 312 : 283-289. choles. sodium calcium Vitamin C  hunter-gatherer  modern American  recommended

22. TOTAL DIETARY ENERGY from: S.B. Eaton and M. Konner. 1985. Paleolithic Nutrition: a Consideration of its Nature and Current Implications. New England Journal of Medicine 312 : 283-289. carbs fats proteins alcohol  hunter-gatherer  modern American  recommended