FROM THE ARUSHA NEWS REPORTER IN MOSHI
Traditional foods eaten around Mount Kilimanjaro reduced inflammation markers within two weeks in a dietary trial, highlighting the potential health value of indigenous meals.
Published in Nature Medicine recently, the study recruited 77 healthy young men from Moshi town and nearby rural communities.
The researchers included Godfrey S. Temba of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) University, Tal Pecht and Quirijn de Mast of Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Participants switched between Kilimanjaro heritage-style meals and Western-style foods while controls maintained their usual diets.
Those adopting traditional meals showed reduced inflammatory markers. Participants switching to Western-style meals developed increased inflammation and weaker laboratory immune responses to microbial stimulation.
“Africa’s rich diversity in traditional diets offers unique opportunities to gain valuable insights into how food influences health,” de Mast said in a university statement.
The traditional menu included vegetables, fruits, beans, brown rice, millet, sorghum and limited meat. Some biological changes remained detectable four weeks after the intervention.
However, the short trial involved only healthy young men and did not establish whether the diet prevents chronic diseases over the long term.
