Human Consumption

We have now moved on to a new PBL. Human Consumption:

How do plants consumed in the diet (the full range including calories, nutrition, seasoning) relate to plants consumed as medicine (the full range including internal, topical, inhaled)? What factors determine whether a plant is a medicine, food, poison, cosmetic, etc?



We now have new groups and I will be working with Dane and Marisa for this problem. Today we met at Hamilton library to share some of our research and put the final touches on our LOs an SQs. 


Here are our completed LOs and SQs for this problem:

Student Learning Objectives:

1)  Identify traditional Hawaiian Spices and foodstuffs.

2) Identify introduced spices and foodstuffs.

3) Analyze the impact of Post-discovery spice and foodstuffs on the Hawaiian diet.


Scientific Questions:

1)  What traditional Hawaiian Medicines are widely being used today?  What are their current uses?

2) Focusing on introduced spices and foodstuffs, how have these impacted the health of Hawaiian natives and their descendants?

3)  What changes have been made to methods of treatment in traditional Hawaiian medicine due to modern-day lifestyles and diet?

I have been researching some articles and books on the topic of Hawaiian plant uses. Here are some notes and excerpts I took:

-Spices by Etkin

spice flavor comes from volatile essential oils: mostly terpenes.

Hot compounds are nonvolatile thus distinct from flavor.

Volotiles and pungent spices tend to have strong antimicrobial activity as do constituents that include aldehyde –CHO or hydroxl –OH groups.

Spices are used most in hot climates for their antimicrobial properties

Ancestors diets contained many unprocessed vegetables, containing the nutrients and phytochemicals needed to prevent cancer.

O’odham Indians of the American southwest 50% of adults have diabetes.

-La'au Hawaii by Isabella Aiona Abbot

The lapita people spread through Polynesia and on to the Hawaiian islands bringing with them a transported landscape.

List of Polynesian introduced plants to Hawaii

Banana, Mai’ a

Betel nut

Betel pepper

Breadfruit, ‘ulu

Coconut, niu

Gourd, ipu

Hau

Kamani

Kou

Kukui

Milo

Noni

Ohi’a ‘ai

‘ohe

sago palm

sugarcane, ‘ko

paper mulberry, wauke

Tahitian chesnut

‘ape

awapuhi

kava, ‘awa

kudzu

Polynesian arrowroot

Pia

Pulach

Turmeric, ‘olena

Taro, kalo

Ti

Sweet potato, ‘uala

Yams (5 species)

(Abbot, 3) 

Hawaiians lived mostly on agriculture based diet, less so on fishing.

Hawaiian diet differed from the Polynesian diet.

Limu, kalo, and ‘uala were the major staple crops of the Hawaiian diet.

‘uala and kalo provided carbohydrates and high-quality vitamins and minerals.

-Obesity and cardiovascular risk intervention through the ad libitum feeding of traditional Hawaiian diet by Terry T Shintani, Claire K Hughes, Sheila Beckham, and Helen Kanawaliwali 0 ‘Connor

The Waianae Diet Program

a pre-Western-contact Hawaiian diet to reduce chronic disease risk factors in Native Hawaiians.

Correlation between modernization of diets and rising health problems wheter cardiovascular or obesity.

the Native Hawaiians have the shortest lifespan of all ethnic groups in Hawaii. Their lifespan is also among the shortest in the United States.

The traditional diet of Native Hawaiians (consumed before Western contact) was high in fiber, high in complex carbohydrates, high in the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids, low in fat, and low in cholesterol.

Ten men and 10 women aged 25-64 y were selected for study. One individual was unable to complete the program because of viral illness. All were considered obese based off of the body mass index or BMI scale.

Weight Loss : .8 kg (range 2-15 kg), or 6.4% oftotal weight, injust 3 wks.

Cholesterol: Total serum cholesterol concentrations decreased an average of 14.0%.

Blood Pressure: The average systolic blood pressure decreased 7.8% and the average diastolic pressure decreased 1 1.5%.

Served: taro (a starchy root-like potatoes), poi (a mashed form of taro), sweet potato, yams, breadfruit, greens (fern shoots and leaves of taro, sweet potato, and yams), fruit, seaweed, fish, and chicken.


-Early Plant Introductions in Hawai'i by Kenneth M. Nagata

From England  and  transported on 28  May 1825:
1 Anona cherimolia (Annona cherimola Mill.)
1 Anona species
1 Psidium pomiferum (P. guajava L.)
1 Psidium Chinese
1 Psidium species from  Maranha
1 Eugenia aquea
1 Demacarpis longum {Euphoria longana Lam.)
4 peaches or nectarines (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.)
2 walnuts {Juglans regia L.)
2 figs (Ficus carica L.)
1  plum {Prunus sp.)
1  apple {Pyrus malus L.)
2 cherries {Prunus sp.)
8 grapes {Vitis? vinifera L.)

Plants from  Rio de  Janeiro:
7 Myrtis virides  Lacram- to {Eugenia viridis Berg.)
7 Myrtis species nova
3 Mangifera indica
1 Laurus persia {Persea americana Mill.)
5 Citrus nobilis {Citrus reticulata Blanco)
12 oranges raised from seed {C. sinensis (L.) Osbeck)
2 figs {Ficus carica L.)
8 Eugenia jambos
30 coffee plants {Coffea arabica L.)
1 Datura arborea
8 grapes, Valparaiso {Vitis? vinifera L.)

(Nagata, 41)