On the border between India and Pakistan is the Hunza River Valley. And this area bears the mysterious name “oasis of youth.” Why exactly this? The fact is that the representatives of the people (Hunza) living in this valley are long-livers. They are always young and rarely get sick. Hunzakut women can boast of an excellent figure and the ability to bear children even at 60–65 years old!
Version 1: Amazing Facts
1.What is the history of this people? Externally, the Hunzakuts resemble Europeans. Based on this observation, most historians believe that the first Khunzakut communities were founded by merchants and soldiers of the Macedonian army. Precisely those that remained in the valley during the campaign across the Indus River.
Khunzakut people
2. How long do the people of Hunza Valley live? As a result of a population census conducted in 1963 by a French medical expedition, it was found that on average representatives of the Hunza people live up to 110 - 120 years. And in 1984, at London Heathrow airport there was amazing case. The emigration service workers were perplexed when the Hunzakut, Said Abdul Mobut, who arrived to them, presented his passport with the date of birth indicated on it - 1823. According to the mullah who accompanied the 160-year-old Mobudu, the latter was considered a saint among the Hunza people, who are famous for their longevity . Despite such a respectable age, Said Abdul Mobut remained sane and in excellent health.
3. What diseases did the Hunza tribe never know? ? According to geocancerology (the science that studies cancer throughout the world), only this population is completely free of cancer. This was announced at the International Cancer Congress held in Paris in 1977.
4. How hardy are they? The Hunza people are people with a high degree of ability to work and endurance. They easily cover distances of 100-200 kilometers, climb steep mountains, and always remain cheerful. They have no such thing as quarrels, impatience or nervousness.
What is the secret of the longevity and youth of this people?
The Hunzakuts themselves say that for this it is enough to adhere to a vegetarian diet, work hard physically and move more.
Long-lived - 110 years
1. The basis of the Hunzi diet is fruits, vegetables and grains. In the summer they eat everything raw, bake flatbreads from grains and cook soups, and in the winter they hold in high esteem dried apricots, sprouted grains and small quantities of feta cheese. In general, the apricot for the Hunza people is the most important fruit, which is eaten whole, with skin and seeds. They get protein mainly from beans, barley and wheat.
2. The second important component of the Hunza diet is moderation. Due to the fact that there is little land suitable for cultivation, they are forced to moderately consume their food reserves, which run out by the end of winter. And then comes a period that the Hunza call “hungry spring,” when they eat practically nothing and drink apricot drink. This kind of fast, elevated to a cult, lasts about 2 months and is considered strictly obligatory. On average, Hunza consume 1933 kcal per day, which includes 50 g of protein, 365 g of carbohydrates and 36 g of fat.
Main factors favoring longevity
According to the military doctor Robert McCarrison , who lived near the Hunza valley for about 14 years and studied the lifestyle of this people, it is nutrition that contributes to the longevity of the Khunzakuts. Even life in a mountain climate cannot save a person with poor nutrition. Evidence of this is the people living next door to the Hunza, but eating traditionally, which is why they suffer from many diseases and live much shorter lives than the Hunzakuts.
R. Bircher in the book “The Hunza - a people who know no disease” noted that the most significant factors contributing to healthy longevity are the following:
Hunzaku girl
—vegetarian diet, which is dominated by raw vegetables and fruits;
— growing food on your own land without chemicals and preparing dishes in a way that preserves the maximum amount of nutrients and nutrients;
- extremely rare consumption of salt, sweets and alcohol;
- practice of regular fasting.
Of course, other factors also influence health and longevity, but, as mentioned above, nutrition plays a major role here.
Version 2: are Hunzakuts really that healthy or is it just a myth?
Recently, more and more notes from various bloggers have begun to appear, expressing doubts about the impeccable health of the Hunzakuts. On this site we try to share only objective information, so we analyzed this issue and laid out all the known information about the Hunzakuts for your consideration.
So, all the information given above (about the exceptional health of this people) is taken from two sources:
- From book Ralph Bircher, who devoted years to researching the way of life of the Hunzakuts. The book is called “The Hunzakuts, the people who know no disease” in the original - Hunsa, das Volk, das keine Krankheit kannte). 1942
- From labor Jerome Rodale "Healthy Hunzakuts", created on the basis of British military sources. The book was published in 1947.
These people studied the records of various travelers, doctors and, in general, everyone who had ever been in the valley of the Hunza mountain river. In particular, work military doctor Robert McCarrison (sometimes his name is written as Mac Carrison) - "Disease Research at Defieciency. Oxford Medical Publications, London, 1921″.
McCarrison was in this region according to various sources from 7 (from 1904 to 1911) to 14 years and offered his medical services to people in Gilgit. It is he who writes that he did not find any digestive disorders, appendicitis, stomach ulcers, cancer or colitis in representatives of the Hunza people. I also found no infectious diseases, rheumatic diseases, damaged teeth or mental illnesses. He writes only about isolated cases of eye inflammation, probably caused by the darkness that reigns in their houses in winter. The doctor walked the length and breadth of the valley, even lived in houses with Hunzakuts. From 1913 to 1928, McCarrison headed the then existing Health Research Institute in India. Is there any reason not to trust the results of this doctor’s research?
John Clark - the man who found diseases among the Hunzakuts
However, in 1950, another researcher came to the Hunzakuts - an American John Clark who lived in their area for about 1.5 years. The main goal is to search for minerals, as well as volunteering. The result was the book “Hunza. Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas" ("Hunza - Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas"). In it he says that he tried to treat the Hunzakuts ( despite the fact that he was not a doctor!) and diagnosed some of them with malaria, dysentery, helminthic infestations, ringworm, skin rashes and eye diseases. At the same time, he claims that during a short period of stay in the river valley, he managed to receive a record number of patients - 5,684 patients. Are such claims credible? It's up to you, dear readers, to decide.
Let us also note the fact that Hunza neighbors, living in approximately the same climatic conditions, which may allow them to eat meat much more often due to less isolation, susceptible to a wide variety of diseases and their life expectancy is half as long.
But none of the researchers doubt that the Hunzakuts are an unusual people. They are really forced raw foodists and vegetarians, they eat mainly the fruits of plants, since cattle breeding in their region is difficult (almost complete isolation from the world, mountainous terrain, no forests, almost no fertile soils (those that exist are allocated for fruit plants and growing vegetables And they do not suffer from many diseases characteristic of people of modern civilization.
The article was written by: Karna, Margarita.
The tribe settled on the banks of the river of the same name. The conditions in which these people live are quite harsh. The nearest settlement is located one hundred kilometers from them.
Longevity is the main phenomenon of the Hunza tribe. The average life expectancy exceeds one hundred and ten years. Some residents even manage to live to be one hundred and sixty, which is surprising.
At the age of forty, many in the tribe look like boys or girls. Some women manage to give birth to children at the age of sixty and still have a slim and attractive figure.
general information
The Himalayas on the map represent a system of mountains where the Hunza tribe was located. These people represent Indo-Europeans. The population is about twenty thousand. The exact place of residence is considered to be the highlands of Kashmir, which is controlled by Pakistan. The Hunza River, namely its banks, play the role of home for this people. There is a huge valley around, which is different. Because of its appearance, it was called Happy.
The main activity that the Hunza people engage in is working on the land. In addition, residents make long climbs into the mountains. By the way, the Hunzakuts (as they call themselves) consider vegetarianism, constant physical activity and a rich diet to be the basis for their longevity.
The Hunza people are endowed with an attractive and friendly appearance. Residents always welcome new guests and demonstrate their cordiality in every possible way, despite the fact that living conditions are cruel. They live in small houses that only have a hole for the smoke to escape. Together with people, there are also pets in the dwellings, which are separated by a partition. Perhaps, thanks to such cramped conditions, they are warmer, since the houses are practically not heated due to the small amount of firewood. And the cold period is generally about two to four months. The rest of the time the Hunza people spend in nature, working and relaxing in the fresh air. Residents wash in cold water, which is very clean in those areas.
People's life
Councils of elders are the basis of the nation. Residents practically do not commit crimes, so there is no need to create prisons. Hunzakuts get sick extremely rarely, so there are no hospitals either. The Hunza people are the only ones who are not susceptible to cancer. The strongest epidemics also did not harm the population, while many other nations simply died out.
It is curious that the tribes living next door in almost the same conditions cannot boast of the same health. Toothache, which is common for many civilized people, is something unusual for the Hunzakuts. Loss of vision is also unknown to this people. They don’t even suffer from sagging skin, bone pain and other inconveniences that are common for many old people.
In addition to resistance to disease, the long-lived people are very hardy. It is common for a man to go, for example, to a market a hundred kilometers away along difficult paths and return a day later. Residents often act as guides for tourists. The Himalayas on the map occupy a huge area and are visited by many climbers, who also often resort to the help of local residents.
The reason for longevity and health
The first mentions of the people appeared in the stories of a doctor from Scotland, who worked among these people for about fourteen years. The world's longest-livers made a strong impression on the doctor with their features. Many scientists and travelers subsequently began to study the tribe. The result of the research was the conclusion that what is in the special diet.
Of course, many immediately objected that no matter what diet you resort to in a metropolis, you still won’t achieve such results. Most people believe that in order to have such health, it is necessary to live in this valley. However, other nationalities that live nearby cannot boast of such a strong body, and their average life expectancy is several times less. For a long time, a variety of specialists could not explain this phenomenon.
The Hunza tribe had only one difference from their neighbors - the absence of proteins in their diet. This is explained by the fact that the Hunzakuts are vegetarians. No matter what conditions a person lives in, the correct diet is considered. Therefore, it is not surprising that the life expectancy of these tribes differs.
Mac Carrison, a doctor studying this people, returned to the UK and decided to conduct several experiments on animals. He divided them into two groups. The first part of the animals ate food that is familiar to most human families. The second received food from the Hunza people. The result of the study was the appearance in the first group of diseases to which people are susceptible. The second part of the animals, which ate the same way as the Hunza tribe, remained completely healthy. And it was a miracle.
The Hunza people often faced a lack of food, so they always tried to save money. Mostly vegetables and fruits grow in the valley, which are the basis of the diet. Livestock is represented only in the form of those animals that bring one benefit or another. They kill him only in case of old age, that is, when the cattle no longer belongs to the owner. It is in such rare cases that residents can consume meat. However, this product is extremely low in fat.
Flatbreads and various soups are the daily food of the people. They are made using grains. Also added to this is a fairly large amount of vegetables and fruits. The people also have milk, but they consume it rarely and in small quantities, since in this area there are practically no meadows where animals can be grazed.
Salt in food is used in small quantities, sugar is not produced at all. Nevertheless, even such meager food is quite enough for a full life for the people.
Basic foodstuffs
Moderation is the basis of health
Due to periods of hunger, Hunzakuts have to distribute food so that it lasts for a long time. The people have very little land that can be successfully cultivated, so the diet largely depends on natural conditions. If in summer people rarely face problems of lack of food, then in cold weather they often have to save.
The months closer to spring are especially hungry. During this time, residents are forced to fast. This continues for about two months. This period is marked by an almost complete absence of food. The basis of the diet is a drink made from dried apricots. Over time, such a fast grew into a cult, which is very strictly observed.
Basic nutrition rules
So, having considered what products the world's centenarians consume, we can highlight the basic principles that the Hunzakuts adhere to. They can even be called a certain set of rules. Why do these people live so long? Raw foodists, according to statistics, have better health. This is the main reason for longevity.
- Eating meat is only allowed on religious or very important occasions. A particularly important detail is that it must be prepared immediately after killing the animal. Meat does not last long.
- The diet is based on fruits and vegetables. They are consumed raw. Vegetables can occasionally be stewed.
- Consumption of salt, sugar and other seasonings should be limited.
- Only black bread is used in food. Flour, like meat, is not stored for a long time; it is used for baking immediately after receipt. It is recommended to add sprouted grains to the diet.
- Milk and any dairy products should not be consumed in large quantities.
- The consumption of alcoholic beverages is especially prohibited. The population only drinks wine on special occasions, which is made from grapes grown in the valley.
How do Hunza centenarians live?
The Hunza Valley does not have any wealth, so the people live very poorly. No one will want to voluntarily exchange their usual life and go there. Hunzakuts live in rocky areas where there are neither fertile soils nor forests. In addition, there is often a lack of moisture. It rains mainly in cold weather and in small quantities. In general, water is very valuable there, and they treat it very carefully.
Due to the lack of pasture, animals do not grow very large. Cows produce little milk, which contains almost no fat. Goats and sheep generally do not please their owners with milk. The meat of this animal contains a lot of sinew and little fat.
Therefore, people often have to simply survive, especially in winter. At this time, the population is mainly in their small homes, which are even deprived of windows, since it is very important to retain heat. It is quite difficult to stock up on firewood - there are no trees nearby. The Hunza tribes heat their stoves mainly with small branches and leaves. They also cook food on them. You won’t find the usual furniture in such houses. Almost all family members sleep and eat together. Livestock are also forced to live in adjacent rooms, which are separated by thin partitions.
This alone will scare off many people. Even ensuring hygiene in such conditions is quite problematic. Due to the lack of fuel, we have to wash and wash in cold water. Anyone who wants to live in the valley will have to forget about soap. Due to the lack of fat, there is simply nothing to make it from.
Well, to all that has been said, it is worth noting that these people lack education. Most residents cannot read or write. Only children of high-ranking families can receive a diploma. The people do not have their own distinct culture, poetry, or painting, which even neighboring tribes are endowed with. These people are quite uneducated. The Hunza people boast only a few musicians who come from other tribes.
It is not customary in the tribe for marriages between members of the same family. In general, in accordance with the history of the people, no other people’s blood flows in their veins.
Health concept
Above are the conditions and foods that the Hunza people believe are important for long life. But now it is necessary to determine what health means for this tribe.
- High level of work. They demonstrate it not only in work, but also in entertainment. Hunzakuts are very hardy, they show themselves in every possible way during labor. The people of this tribe can easily cover vast distances. It’s not a problem for him to climb up the rocks into the mountains.
- Love of life. Despite the difficult living conditions and hard work, the Hunzakuts do not lose heart. Even after a difficult climb up the mountains, they laugh and tell jokes.
- Residents never get angry or quarrel among themselves. It is very rare to see someone nervous or impatient with their family. Local people endure pain very steadfastly.
Tourism
The first people to come to the valley were mainly doctors and researchers who wanted to understand the secret of longevity. It is believed that the place was opened to ordinary people thanks to hippies, who in the 70s of the last century began to actively visit Asian countries in search of something new. It became especially popular in Western countries. For example, Americans today call apricot Hunza Apricot. However, hippies, first of all, came here not for exotic fruits, but rather for Indian hemp.
The grass is grown here not for smoking, but for adding to various dishes. Most travelers come here to taste juicy apricots, which cannot be found in other countries. The place is also popular for many climbers and history buffs.
One of the legends is the story that this tribe was founded during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great. The commander's fighters formed a small state here. They lived according to strict rules. Residents always carried weapons with them and did not part with them even during meals and entertainment.
In our country little is known about this people. The Hunza Valley has been the subject of dispute between Pakistan and India for over sixty years.
The Soviet Union tried not to get involved in the dispute and kept its distance. For example, in dictionaries the name of the area is there, but where it is located is not indicated. On many world maps you can easily find location designations, but not on maps issued in the USSR. Accordingly, mentions of the nationality were avoided in the media. Nevertheless, almost everyone in Hunza knows about Russia.
It is quite difficult to prove whether he really had a hand in the emergence of this nationality. According to other sources, the foundation occurred thanks to the once united Russian people. Nevertheless, there is still some mystery in the appearance of this tribe.
The language that is considered national is Burushashi. Until now, scientists who study the Hunza people have not been able to find similarities with any language. In addition, many residents speak English.
The religion practiced by over ninety percent of the valley's population is Islam, but with a twist that includes many mystical and mysterious aspects. While in Hunza, tourists will not hear the call to prayer. This is a voluntary matter, and everyone chooses their own time for worship.
The Hunza River in the old days represented the dividing line between the princely states of Nagar and Hunza. There was often enmity between them. It was especially manifested by the theft of children and women with their subsequent sale into slavery.
In 1963 of the last century, an expedition of doctors from France visited the valley, which was amazed by the health and life expectancy of the population. Soon a conference on cancer was held in Paris, at which it was stated that these people were not susceptible to cancer. This was discovered by a special organization that conducts research in all regions of the world.
In 1984, an amazing incident occurred. One of the residents of the Hunza Valley arrived at the UK airport. When he presented his passport to the emigration service, he led everyone to confusion. The document indicated the year of birth in 1823, respectively, the old man was one hundred and sixty years old. The accompanying person said that the elder was considered holy by the Hunza people. At the same time, he had no memory lapses, and he remembered his entire life perfectly.
On the border of India and Pakistan is the Hunza River Valley, which is called the “oasis of youth”. Local residents (they are called Hunza, or Hunzakut, after the name of the river) rarely get sick and look very young. But the main thing is that the vast majority of them live to be 110 years or more! Scientists have been struggling with the mystery of this phenomenon for a long time - especially since the representatives of the 90,000-strong tribe do not look like people of neighboring nationalities and look very much like Europeans.
Did they come from Dagestan?
The Hunza tribe lives where the three highest mountain systems in the world meet - the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakoram. Geographically, these places belong to the northern regions of Pakistan. The tribe has its own Burushaski language, which differs from the languages of neighboring peoples. The Khunzakuts profess Ismaili Islam (a Shiite branch dating back to the end of the 8th century), so there are no calls for general prayer; turning to God is considered a personal matter for everyone.
According to local legends, the Hunzakuts descend from a group of soldiers from the army of Alexander the Great, who remained in these places after the Indian campaign and took local women as wives. This version is confirmed by many works of ancient eastern philosophers and poets - such as Tabari, Ferdowsi or Nizami.
Another thing is surprising: according to historical research, Alexander the Great’s route to India passed through the North Caucasus. Here his troops were joined by a large group of Avars who lived in an area called Khunzak, or Khunzakh. Most likely, it was this group of warriors who, after the end of the Indian campaign, remained in the river valley, which they called Hunza. In
in any case, researchers note the similarity of both peoples - Avars and Hunzas. Both of them have a lot of apricots in their diet. They are close to the European type and are distinguished by longevity and good health. Even the national dances of these peoples are similar - a demonstration of military skill with daggers in the teeth.
Traveler at 160 years old
Hunzakuts swim in icy water even in 15-degree frost. Their women over 50 look like girls, and at 65 they often give birth to children.
For the first time, British Colonel John Biddulph, who lived in these places at the end of the 19th century, spoke about the tribe of centenarians. He was the author of the voluminous work “Tribes of the Hindu Kush,” in which, along with other nationalities, he described the Hunzakuts.
The Hunza people became even more famous after the English military doctor Robert McCarrison, who practiced in these places, published his memoirs at the beginning of the 20th century. According to him, in seven years of work he has not met a single Hunzakut in need of long-term treatment. The most typical were patients with bone fractures and eye inflammation. At the same time, representatives of neighboring tribes encountered tuberculosis, typhus, diabetes, plague and cholera.
In 1963, the Hunzakuts were visited by a French expedition, which included doctors, biologists and ethnographers. They discovered that the valley had a single eight-bed hospital with no patients at the time. The French conducted a census of the tribe's population. Information about people's births is preserved in mosques. According to them, the average life expectancy of the Hunzakuts exceeded 110 years!
Numerous hippie groups visited here in the late 1970s. True, they came here not for health recipes, but for the abundantly growing Indian hemp (locals grow it as an additive to various dishes). Nevertheless, information about the tribe of centenarians spread throughout the world.
In April 1984, the newspaper Eishauvik, published in Hong Kong, published a story about a journey to England by a Hunzakut named Said Abdul Mabud. When he presented the documents to the staff at London Heathrow Airport, it turned out that this man was born in 1823 - that is, he was more than 160 years old. The elder was in good physical shape and perfectly remembered many events of the mid-19th century.
The main thing is not to use soap
The phenomenon of longevity of mountain people has attracted the attention of scientists. Most of them believed that the secret lies in proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle: Hunzakuts almost never eat meat, and consume vegetables raw. They do not have bad habits (in particular, drunkenness and smoking are sharply condemned in the tribe). Their valley is isolated by mountains, thanks to which epidemics common among other tribes do not reach the Khunzaits. The water in these places has a low deuterium content (back in the 1960s, scientists came to the conclusion that a large amount of this isotope contributes to the occurrence of various diseases and initiates the aging of the body).
Representatives of the Hunza people work a lot physically. They are not characterized by strong nervous experiences, there is practically no crime in their society - accordingly, there are no police or prisons in the valley. Elderly people enjoy unquestioned authority.
Hunzakuts live in stone houses without windows (smoke from the hearth comes out through a hole in the ceiling - it is this circumstance that causes problems with the eyes, which are corroded by combustion products). The cattle are kept in one part of the house. They wash only with cold water and do not use soap at all.
At the same time, some researchers question the works of Robert McCarrison and other scientists. First of all, because due to the difficulties of movement in the mountains, patients simply could not be brought to doctors. Moreover, Muslim women would not go to male doctors with their problems. Some doctors testify that during their acquaintance with the Hunzakut tribe, they encountered diseases such as malaria, dysentery, skin rashes, etc. among the local residents. That is, the picture of overall health and longevity of the Hunza people does not look so cloudless.
Rats that didn't get sick
Nevertheless, several arguments can be made in favor of the fact that the phenomenon of longevity of the Hunza people really exists.
First, the genetic health of the tribe's inhabitants. It is well known that marriages between relatives have a bad effect on the physical and mental health of their descendants. But the Hunzakuts are proud that there is no blood of foreign peoples in their veins. For many centuries they have been marrying relatives. But the people are by no means dying out. That is, there are some conditions that support his physical and spiritual strength.
Secondly, there is data from objective examinations. In 1977, the France Presse news agency reported that, according to extensive medical research, among all the peoples of the world, a complete absence of cancer is observed only among representatives of the Hunza tribe. Why them?
Finally, we cannot help but talk about an interesting experiment conducted by Dr. Robert McCarrison. Once he was assigned to test the effect of vitamins on Graves' disease. The experiments were carried out on rats. McCarrison also decided to find out how nutrition affects them. Laboratory animals were divided into three large groups. The first ones were called “Whitechapel” (a region of London), they received food according to the European model. Their diet included a large variety of foods, but the rats received them in processed form: white bread, sugar, canned vegetables, etc. After some time, the animals began to get sick often and show aggression towards each other.
The second group was dubbed “Hindus” - they were fed the food of the inhabitants of this country, the main components of the diet were rice and bananas. These rats were healthier than the first ones, but also susceptible to disease.
Finally, the third group of animals was called "Hunza". They ate the same things as the people of the long-lived tribe: any greens, unprocessed wheat and barley, potatoes with skins. The rats did not get sick at all and behaved peacefully.
All this once again confirms that the secret of the long life of the Hunzakuts exists and lies in their diet and lifestyle.
Seven bones a day
This is also confirmed by modern scientific works. Research into vitamin B17 (also called amygdalin and laetral), which prevents the formation and development of cancer cells, is now very promising. This vitamin is mainly found in almonds, as well as peach and apricot kernels. Due to the fact that these products contain toxic cyanides, it is recommended to take them in small doses, spreading the daily dose throughout the day.
It was already mentioned above that the Hunzakuts, like the Avars, actively eat apricots and their kernels. Moreover, the fruits are not processed, except perhaps dried in the sun. According to scientists, it is enough to eat the kernels of seven apricot kernels a day to ensure that your body never develops a cancerous tumor.
By the way, after the Chernobyl accident, some children who were exposed to radiation were brought to the Khunzakh region of Dagestan for rehabilitation. According to their parents, it was apricots that helped the children recover.
In the Hunza Valley, a species of apricot very similar to the Dagestan variety grows. But at the same time, plants need a climate to which they are accustomed. It is known that after the incident with the rehabilitation of children, many wanted to plant Dagestan apricots in other parts of the world, but they took root only in the highlands.
The existence of a tribe of long-livers once again proves the simple truth that our health and longevity directly depend on food and lifestyle. Yes, clean air, special water and steep mountain slopes that provide high walking loads are not found everywhere. But in matters of nutrition, everyone can imitate the Hunzakuts, so as not to get sick at any age and enjoy life.
At the end of 1964, the Nedelya newspaper, a weekly illustrated supplement to the Izvestia newspaper, published an essay about the mysterious people of the Hunza Valley living in northern Pakistan. The essay was later reprinted in various regional publications, and the whole story became a legend. And even got into the “Encyclopedia of Longevity”.
Every year, two strong mountain men descend from the mountains of the far north of India and travel a long way on foot to Bombay, to visit the Aga Khan. These are messengers of the mysterious Hunza people, who live in a Himalayan valley at an altitude of two thousand meters. A strange sight is presented by these two people, quite cheerful after a thousand-kilometer journey through a country where deserts give way to mountains and mountains to wild jungles. According to a thousand-year-old custom, Hunza envoys come to Bombay to give away all the wealth collected by their people, who do not seek happiness in money Health is a cult, a matter of concern, the only asset of the Hunza. This is the strange secret of these people, which scientists have been trying to uncover for several years.
Scottish doctor Mac Carrison spent fourteen years in northern Kashmir among the people living next to the Hunza. Just a crevice, at the bottom of which a mountain river flows, separates two communities from each other. while on one bank he often had to treat residents of the most severe illnesses, on the other there was not the slightest sign of illness. The first thing that surprised him was the lack of therapy, even the most primitive one. As if since hoary antiquity, the Hunza people had never been treated, and the life expectancy in the small valley was 110 - 120 years. Toothache and visual disturbances are unknown here. Women look beautiful and maintain a graceful figure until the age of fifty. Observing the inhabitants of the valley, Carrison became convinced that the Hunza are not superhumans, their body is not particularly different from ours. Once exposed to normal conditions, they become vulnerable to disease. At the same time, the air and water of the valley cannot be considered very healthy either. Many other tribes live there in a completely disastrous state, suffering from tuberculosis, typhoid, and diabetes. Huneu, without any doubt, is distinguished from others by its way of life, elevated to the rank of religion, and especially by everything related to diet.
For fourteen years Carrison observed the life of the mountaineers. Returning to his homeland, he published a book, which was initially met with some distrust.
Years have passed. Ethnographers and Orientalists published very interesting data on the Hunza, but the Second World War suspended their work, and only thanks to the Belwefe expedition in September 1963, new light was shed on this problem. Belvefe's expedition consisted of twelve people. It included three doctors, a biologist, an ethnographer and a botanist. They found the “happy valley” completely unchanged. The only concessions for the time were a school and an eight-bed hospital. It was created by a young Pakistani doctor, Ali Akhtar, who was both desperate and delighted that he did not have a single patient. Belvefe became convinced that the secret of the longevity of these people lies in the discipline of nutrition, true national valor. Its categorical commandments boil down to the following: little meat, except on holidays; vegetarian food, mostly raw vegetables, boiled water and no stimulants - no alcohol, no tobacco.
The main component of the diet is fruit. Cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, melons, pears, apples, and grapes grow in the valley. After harvesting, some of the fruit is dried on straw beds and stored for the winter.
Hunza is an agricultural people with complete food autarky (autonomy). Except for a little salt, they never buy anything outside their valley. The three to four months when the plantations do not bear fruit are called “hungry spring.” And then the expedition members made a stunning discovery: during these months, the Hunza do not eat.
At least according to our standards. Only once a day, the Hunza take a glass of a nutritious drink made from fruits and mountain water. Analysis of the drink explained everything: it was a real rich cocktail, containing almost all the vital nutrients. The Hunza prepare their “wonderful medicine” mainly from apricots. Every Hunza fruit is treated with respect. They eat the kernel of the stone or press it into oil, and the wood is used for firewood, since the valley is poor in fuel. This “fruit of health” is the true good genius of the people, as confirmed by his proverb: “Your wife will refuse to follow you where the apricot trees do not bear fruit.”
To be beautiful, healthy and strong until the end of one's days, to have a spirit of justice and tolerance - means for the Hunza people to lead an existence worthy of living on earth.
David DEBARC (from the French magazine Constellation)
"CONSTELLATION" ("Constellation" - "Constellation") monthly French magazine.
There are articles circulating online talking about the Hunza tribe, which supposedly has phenomenal health and longevity. One of the articles can be found, an even more mythologized version.
But this is, of course, a fiction. The journalists who wrote the articles did not bother to check the information and chased the sensation and the next stories about miracles.
The Hunza tribe is an interesting tribe, but also very primitive. For example, they do not have a clear concept of time and they even did not understand the concept of measurement in general. Everything was built and sewn inaccurately for them, and they didn’t even see it as a problem.
They “measure” years not only by duration, but also by wisdom. And if a person is considered wise, then this adds “years” to him - and that’s how they end up with people who are 120 years old. In other words, this is not real age.
Dr. Clark also exposes the myth that the residents are vegetarians. It's just that the vast majority of travelers come to the Hunza Valley during the summer season. However, at other times of the year, the Hunza eat meat. Another thing is that this area is so poor that they eat it extremely rarely, because they simply cannot afford to eat it more often.
So, the Hunza tribe is very interesting for its history and tradition and its relative isolation from modern civilization. But, alas, they do not have any special health or longevity. These are fairy tales for adults.
Sources:
- Dr. Clark's book is available
- You can read basic information on Wikipedia.
- A detailed analysis with links to historical data and numerous research trips to the Hunza Valley.
