The Real Cardiologists Were Wearing Fur and Eating Seal Blubber
We’ve been told for decades to fear fat—especially animal fat. We were taught that cholesterol is the enemy, butter is bad, and saturated fat is a one-way ticket to cardiac arrest. But if that were true, someone forgot to tell the Eskimos.
Because here’s the thing: the Inuit (formerly known as Eskimos) have lived for centuries on a diet made up of nearly 80% fat—most of it from whale, seal, walrus, and even polar bear. Yet when early explorers and researchers observed them, they weren’t riddled with heart disease. They weren’t dropping dead from clogged arteries. In fact, heart disease was virtually non-existent.
These people consumed minimal to zero plant foods, almost no carbohydrates, and had cholesterol levels that would make your cardiologist prescribe statins on sight. And yet—they were healthy, strong, lean, and metabolically sound.
It’s enough to make you question everything you thought you knew about fat.
1. 80% Fat, No Heart Disease—The Inuit Mystery
Early studies of Inuit populations living traditionally revealed something shocking to Western medicine: a complete absence of cardiovascular disease despite cholesterol levels that would trigger alarm bells in the modern world. Their diet? Around 75–80% fat, with the rest mostly protein. Zero seed oils. Zero Cheerios. Zero oat milk.
Instead, they thrived on blubber, organ meats, and fatty cuts of wild animals—foods rich in saturated fat, omega-3s, and fat-soluble vitamins. Their metabolic markers were excellent. Blood pressure was stable. Inflammation was low. And not a statin in sight.
So why hasn’t this been front-page news?
Because if fat isn’t the enemy… the pharmaceutical industry loses a $30+ billion statin market.
2. Indigenous Tribes Around the World Thrived on Animal Foods
The Inuit aren’t the only ones who tell a different dietary story. Across the globe, ancestral populations consistently prized animal foods over plants—not the other way around.
From the Maasai of Kenya, who drink raw milk and blood, to the Plains tribes of North America, who followed the buffalo and consumed it nose-to-tail, traditional cultures prioritized animal-based nutrition as the foundation of strength and survival. Plants were fallback foods—eaten when meat wasn’t available or used medicinally in small amounts.
And spoiler alert: these weren’t sickly people. They were strong, resilient, and free from the chronic diseases that plague modern societies.
No calorie counting. No MyFitnessPal. Just real food, eaten with reverence.
3. Animal Foods Were Prized for Fertility, Vitality, and Strength
In every indigenous culture studied by Dr. Weston A. Price, animal foods were the sacred cornerstone of fertility, childbearing, and regeneration. Liver, bone marrow, fish eggs, raw milk, and fatty meats were fed to couples preparing to conceive, pregnant mothers, and growing children.
Why?
Because these foods are loaded with fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K2, plus highly absorbable minerals like iron, zinc, and selenium. They support hormonal balance, fetal development, and neurological health—things that plant-based foods simply can’t do as efficiently.
You won’t see broccoli in a fertility ritual—but you will see fresh liver or salmon roe.
4. Eskimo Facial Structure Was Near-Perfect
One of the most striking observations made by early dentists and anthropologists: the facial development of the Inuit was exceptional. Wide cheekbones. Strong jaws. Full dental arches. No braces needed. No wisdom teeth removals.
These weren’t cosmetic advantages—they were signs of proper development fueled by nutrient-dense diets, especially during early childhood. The fat and organ-rich Inuit diet provided the building blocks for strong bones and properly formed skulls, something that’s increasingly rare in the modern world.
Compare that to today’s narrow palates, crowded teeth, and mouth-breathing epidemics—and it’s hard not to see the connection.
5. Lessons to Learn from the Eskimos
The modern obsession with plant-based everything has missed something vital: humans are wired for animal-based nourishment. The Inuit remind us that:
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Saturated fat is not the enemy
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High cholesterol does not equal heart disease
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You can thrive on zero carbs
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Organ meats and blubber are sacred, not scary
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Facial development and fertility reflect nutritional quality
The truth is, many modern health problems—rampant obesity, metabolic dysfunction, fertility decline, and chronic inflammation—did not exist in traditional, meat-heavy societies. They appeared alongside refined carbohydrates, seed oils, processed foods, and pharma-fueled nutritional dogma.
The Bottom Line: Maybe It Wasn’t the Fat After All
For decades, we’ve been chasing the wrong villain. We blamed butter for what the bagel did. We feared steak while swallowing breakfast cereals “approved by heart foundations.” But real-world evidence—from the Arctic Circle to the African savannah—tells a different story.
The people who ate the most animal fat were often the healthiest, strongest, and most disease-resistant. They didn’t avoid cholesterol—they celebrated it. And they didn’t need multi-billion-dollar industries to tell them what to eat—they just followed nature.
So here’s your permission to stop fearing fat. Ditch the canola oil, toss the margarine, and bite into that tallow-rich Carnivore Bar with pride. Because sometimes, the cure is what we’ve been avoiding all along.
Sources (MLA Style):
- Bang, H. O., and Dyerberg, J. "The composition of food consumed by Greenland Eskimos." Acta Medica Scandinavica, vol. 200, no. 1–2, 1976, pp. 69–73.
- Price, Weston A. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. 8th ed., Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, 2008.
- Mann, G. V. "Atherosclerosis in the Masai." American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 95, no. 1, 1972, pp. 26–37.
- Fallon, Sally, and Enig, Mary G. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. NewTrends Publishing, 2001.
- Ravnskov, Uffe. The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease. NewTrends Publishing, 2000.