Healthiest hearts in the world found

Researchers have found that a South American tribe with a highly active lifestyle has the healthiest arteries of any population yet studied.

The Tsimane people, who live in the Bolivian Amazon, spend most of their time hunting, fishing, farming and gathering wild fruits and nuts, and follow a carbohydrate-based diet containing little protein and fat. Scientists who examined hundreds of men and women from the group found that almost nine out of 10 had clear arteries showing no risk of heart disease, the Telegraph reported.

Almost two thirds of people aged over 75 were nearly risk free and just eight per cent had a moderate-to-high risk level. One 80-year-old had arteries resembling those of Americans in their mid-fifties, it said. The Tsimane people are inactive for only 10 per cent of the day. Men spend an average of six to seven hours a day engaged in physical activity, while women are active for four to six hours, said the researchers. The Tsimane diet largely consists of non-processed carbohydrates high in fibre, such as rice, plantain, manioc, corn, nuts and fruits.