Lancaster County, PA – Study: Amish Community Immune to Heart Disease

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    2 elders of the Amish communityLancaster County, PA – When it comes to genetics, some people are born lucky.

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    University of Maryland researchers identified a genetic mutation that protects the heart against the effects of a high-fat diet. The mutation was found in members of the Old Order Amish – a religious sect that does work the old-fashioned way, shunning electrical devices and motorized vehicles. Most of them are farmers and they eat a diet rich in artery-clogging saturated fats.

    Certainly, the hard manual labour of the Amish lifestyle partly offsets the potentially harmful effects of their fatty diet.

    But the new study, published today in the journal Science, reveals some of them are also born with added genetic protection.

    “We found that 5 per cent of the Amish have a gene mutation that speeds up the breakdown of triglycerides, which are fat particles in the blood,” said lead researcher Toni Pollin.

    What’s more, the mutation is associated with an improved ratio of “good” and “bad” cholesterol, as well as less plaque buildup in blood vessels. All combined, these factors would reduce people’s chances of developing cardiovascular disease, regardless of what they ate.


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    30 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Is that the Amish Rebbe and his son.

    murray
    murray
    15 years ago

    I don’t see anything about their deep religious commitment, sence of community and family…………stuff that might not sound real scientific, but could be a factor?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    So is gene mutation a good thing or not?

    mother
    mother
    15 years ago

    that explains 5%. Diet explains the rest. Eat like your bubbie.

    Yitzchok
    Yitzchok
    15 years ago

    Yea rite! Put them on the Jewish diet of Chopped liver, Galle (p’tcha) shmaltz herring, kishke, fatty pastramy from gottliebs, rugelach, and kugel, and then let me know what their tryclicirides look like. “Tyere breeder” our children need us. Put down the kugle and go for a walk instead.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Duh!! If any of you worked physically the way they work the land, you would never have heart disease either! Exercise is even more important than diet. Additionally, they eat very few processed foods, so the body isn’t full of junk like partially hydrogenated fats, white sugar, white flour, etc.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    A diet rich in saturated fats is actually good for your health (thats what the latest studies show!!!
    As long as its organic its the best!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    That only sets off a fraction of the Amish genetic mess they put themselves in, due to their small numbers and constant inbreeding.
    If they had heart disease troubles too, there wouldn’t any of them be around at all by now.

    robroy560
    robroy560
    15 years ago

    Maybe they are lucky… I’m still watching what I eat and I’m getting out for exercise. I’ll pass on the schmaltzy cooking from my Eastern European heritage.

    Methinks, as others have said, it’s their physical labor and lower stress. Very few influences from the outer world. I wonder if they go crazy over shidduchim.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Bubkas and Baloney

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    The real reason they have no heart disease is that they fold their jackets “right over left”. Thus the seam of the jacket closest to the chest is on the side farthest from the heart. This protects them from the seamy side of life. So now what about those beckeshe wearing chasidim . . .

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    If you only eat traditionally on Shabbos and Yom Tov, and eat healthy the rest of the week, and do excercise, you will also be healthy.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    They don’t have to worry about paying sichar limud!