The Tsimane people from Bolivia have the world's healthiest hearts. They have almost no risk of heart disease. Their plant-based diet and physical activity mean they also have low blood pressure, and low levels of cholesterol and blood glucose. They have a strong cardiovascular system. This avoids many of the major killers, like heart attack, stroke and diabetes. An 80-year-old Tsimane person is the same cardiovascular age as an American in their mid-50s.
A researcher said: "Coronary [disease] could be avoided if people adopted…elements of the Tsimane lifestyle, such as keeping their cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar very low, not smoking and being physically active." He said the Tsimane have very little coronary disease, but noted this was difficult to achieve in the industrialized world. He advised people to change, "to forestall a condition we thought would eventually effect almost all of us".