TY - JOUR T1 - The introduction of refined carbohydrates in the Alaskan Inland Inuit diet may have led to an increase in dental caries, hypertension and atherosclerosis JF - Open Heart JO - Open Heart DO - 10.1136/openhrt-2018-000776 VL - 5 IS - 2 SP - e000776 AU - James J DiNicolantonio AU - James H O’Keefe Y1 - 2018/06/01 UR - http://openheart.bmj.com/content/5/2/e000776.abstract N2 - Recently, DiNicolantonio found evidence that an increase in the intake of refined carbohydrates and sugar may have lead to the increase in the incidence of atherosclerotic disease in the Greenland Inuit.1 Thus, we sought to determine if a similar event occurred in the Alaskan Inuit, and in particular, the Alaskan Inland Inuit.The traditional Alaskan Inuit lived a semi-nomadic life hunting and catching fish, marine mammals and birds. However, beginning around 1920, a group of Alaskan Inuit slowly developed a permanent settlement in the mountains coming to live in Anaktuvuk Pass in 1950.1 In 1953, a post office was established as well as a ‘white trader’ store. Bang and Kristoffersen of the Gade Institute from the Department of Pathology and School of Dentistry in Norway performed two studies from two different time periods on the diet and dental health of the Alaskan Inland Inuit. They analysed the diet in 1955–1957 by ‘weighing of all the food eaten by each person for two consecutive days once a month during a 2-year period. At that time, samples of the food were analysed in order to determine the content of fat, protein and carbohydrate, as well as the total caloric intake of each individual’.1 In 1965, the dietary intake was conducted by the ‘interview method’ plus personal observations when visiting all of the families during meal times. Bang and Kristoffersen ‘…contacted all of the Eskimos involved in the study questioning each individual in detail about what food and roughly how much of each food item he consumed in the course of the year’.1 The authors noted a dramatic increase in carbohydrate intake of ‘nearly 50%’ and a decrease in the intake of protein ‘by about 50%’ from 1955 to 1957 to 1965.1 This rise in the intake of … ER -