North American and Andean Indigenous Plant-Based Foods and Their Contemporary Scientific Rationale for Health Improvement

Abstract

Plant-based food systems have been an integral part of human ecology since the dawn of domestication across all continents from over 12,000 y ago. This served the needs of human health and wellness from whole plant form to the use of parts in a range of water-based extracts to dry form or fermentation-based applications. This conference paper focuses on some examples of plant-based foods in the Americas that have been used since ancient times among indigenous North American and Andean societies. In contemporary times, different factors have decrease in their consumption, leading to several diet-related health impairments such as noncommunicable chronic diseases and nutritional deficiencies. This challenge is also compromising the preservation of indigenous food diversity which also includes all the indigenous concepts associated with traditional food systems from both regions of the Americas. The objective of the current paper is to summarize the scientific advances building from the conference presentation regarding the nutritional and health-relevant potential of some indigenous foods from these regions to contemporary health challenges. Some indigenous food concepts and examples from North America such as the Three Sisters crops, wild rice, and some native berries, and diverse Andean grains have been discussed. In addition, some initiatives aimed at preserving indigenous food diversity and associated food systems in each region have been integrated. The scientific evidence presented here is increasingly validating the knowledge of indigenous people from across Americas linked to the consumption of native foods for maintaining good nutrition and health, which in turn would reconnect indigenous communities with their culture and traditions. More scientific research and efforts from multiple stakeholders, and primarily involving indigenous communities, are needed to continue the revitalization of indigenous food systems.