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Instead of chasing the next trendy diet to lose weight, why not turn to the past for answers?
A new study suggests the traditional diet of people in Papua New Guinea, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, could be the key to better gut health, slimmer waistlines and lower chronic disease risks — without the need for calorie restrictions.
The catch: You’ll need to ditch dairy, beef and wheat.
What’s more, the researchers are opening their cookbooks to share recipes from the diet they developed, inspired by the eating habits of the people from the island, so we can all make the change ourselves.
Western diets are notoriously low in fiber and loaded with ultra-processed foods, saturated fats and added sugars. They’ve been linked to skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and are wreaking havoc on our delicate gut microbiomes.
By contrast, the indigenous people of rural Papua New Guinea primarily eat plant-based foods rich in fiber but low in sugar and calories.
Previous research has found that the population boasts a more diverse gut microbiome than their western peers, along with lower levels of chronic illness.
Inspired by these findings, Jens Walter and his colleagues developed the Non-Industrialized Microbiome Restore (NiMe) diet, designed to replicate the eating patterns of Papua New Guinea’s rural populations.
“Industrialization has drastically impacted our gut microbiome, likely increasing the risk of chronic diseases,” said Walter, professor of ecology, food and the microbiome at University College Cork and lead author of the study.
“To counter this, we developed a diet that mimics traditional, non-industrialized dietary habits and is compatible with our understanding on diet-microbiome interactions,” he added.
The NiMe diet, which is primarily plant-based, is packed with fruits, vegetables and legumes, with just one small serving of chicken, salmon or pork daily. It excludes dairy, beef and wheat — foods that aren’t part of the traditional diet in Papua New Guinea.
To test the diet’s effectiveness, researchers recruited 30 healthy Canadians and had them follow the regimen for three weeks.
Meals included millet porridge for breakfast, quinoa tabbouleh salad loaded with vegetables for lunch and salmon with Brussels sprouts and sweet potato for dinner. Snacks featured almonds, dried apricots and mandarin oranges.
Notably, the 2,500 calorie meal plan delivered a staggering 45 grams of dietary fiber per day — well above the 25 to 30 grams recommended for US adults and far more than the 15 grams Americans get on average a day.
After just three weeks, “we saw remarkable results,” Walter wrote in an accompanying editorial.
The diet successfully restored aspects of the gut microbiome that play a key role in disease development, notably reducing pro-inflammatory bacteria.
“This study shows that we should always consider that we are eating for two: our body and its community of microbes,” Walter said. “It can have a profound effect on our health.”
The NiMe diet also led to a 17% reduction in participants’ “bad” cholesterol, a nearly 7% drop in blood sugar and a 14% decrease in C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation and heart disease.
And though participants didn’t consume fewer calories, they still experienced some beneficial weight loss.
“Together, these changes would likely reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, which have now become epidemics in developed countries like Canada,” said Anissa Armet, a registered dietician and and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta, who co-led the study.
It might even be able to lower your chances of developing certain cancers. Previous research has found that the western diet’s effect on our gut microbiome could be leading to inflammation that ages cells and fuels colorectal cancer growth.
Armet noted that the researchers plan to conduct further studies to explore whether the diet can benefit people already dealing with chronic diseases like diabetes.
“These findings could shape future dietary guidelines and inspire the development of new food products and ingredients, as well as therapeutics, which target the microbiome,” said Paul Ross, director of APC Microbiome Ireland, who was not involved in the research.
Ready to try it? Here’s a tasty recipe to get you started
If you’re curious about giving the NiMe diet a try, you’re in for a treat — Walter and his colleagues are sharing recipes from the meal plan on social media and have even published a free online cookbook.
“It is important to us to make these recipes freely available so that everyone can enjoy them and improve their health by feeding their gut microbiome,” said Armet.
One of those recipes is yellow pea soup — perfect for meal prepping ahead of time for lunches or weeknight dinners.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups raw yellow split peas
2 tbsp olive oil
½ cup carrots, chopped
⅓ cup celery, chopped
3 Tbsp onion, chopped
1 ½ tsp minced garlic
1 ⅓ cups canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
½ tsp low-sodium vegetable bouillon
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
⅛ tsp (0.25 g) cayenne pepper
Directions:
Rinse yellow split peas with cool running water to remove any dirt or debris.
Add the rinsed peas to a large pot and cover with cold water, leaving about 2 inches of water above the peas.
Bring to a boil and cook on medium heat until softened. Drain any remaining water and set aside.
While peas are cooking, heat olive oil in another large pot on medium-high.
Once hot, add carrots, celery and onion. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.
Add garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the white beans, vegetable bouillon, salt, black pepper, cayenne, cooked yellow peas and 600 mL of water.
Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes until vegetables are soft.
For a smoother texture, blend the soup with an immersion blender. Serve warm.
