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How do Inuits get their five-a-day?

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Inuits, colloquially known as Eskimos, have an unusual animal-based diet due to the Arctic environment of their homes.

Asked by: Anne Barker, Colchester

The traditional Inuit diet does include some berries, seaweed and plants, but a carnivorous diet can supply all the essential nutrients, provided you eat the whole animal, and eat it raw. Whale skin and seal brain both contain vitamin C, for example.

But an Inuit diet isn’t any healthier than a modern Western diet. Inuits have similar levels of coronary heart disease and a somewhat higher incidence of osteoporosis and stroke, since they get a higher proportion of their calories from animal fat and have limited access to dietary calcium.

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Luis Villazon

Q&A expert

Luis trained as a zoologist, but now works as a science and technology educator. In his spare time he builds 3D-printed robots, in the hope that he will be spared when the revolution inevitably comes.