Hunza: a people who never get sick, don’t know about cancer, and live to around 120 years old.

No matter what people say about culture, spirituality, and the importance of inner beauty, nothing grabs their attention like the idea of eternal life, youth, and beauty. Therefore, everything related to those who have somehow achieved this becomes the subject of close scrutiny. In this case, we are talking not about individuals, but about an entire people — the Hunza.

What do people say about the Hunza?

Without going into anthropology, linguistics, and history, I will only say that this people live in the high mountains of Kashmir, speak a local language, and have no writing system. They have recently adopted Islam.

In general, there is nothing special about them, and no one would know anything about them if it weren’t for the fact that these people calmly live up to 120 years old, hardly ever get sick, are as playful as goats at 80 years old, women give birth even at 60 years old, and they look very young. Some even live up to 160 years old, and this is not so rare.

Hunza people mainly eat bread, apricots, and avoid animal food. They are also very restrained in their diet. Their mood is always great, and even the valley where they live is called the Happy Valley.

They are beautiful, slim, extremely peaceful, and hospitable. The water they drink is known for its healing properties, and they hardly eat white flour, sugar, and salt. Even their religion, as many claim, is a special type of secret Islam. The Hunza people do not even have minarets, which is why they are criticized by other Muslims.

Where is the truth, and where are the myths?

Unfortunately, people tend to pay special attention to the facts that confirm their own point of view, often regardless of whether those facts are true or not. This also happened with the Hunza people: they only became widely known when there was a boom in the West for healthy lifestyle, nutrition, and vegetarianism.

But if you take a closer look, you will find that a significant portion of the researchers who studied the “Hunza phenomenon” never actually visited them, working exclusively in their own offices and relying on scattered information from those who may or may not have been there. Moreover, half of these “researchers” turned out to be propagandists for vegetarianism.

As a result, a significant amount of information about this people turned out to be a myth that falls apart if you look at the data collected by those who actually lived, worked, and studied with the Hunza people. Let’s briefly go through some of them.

The Hunza people hardly ever get sick

In reality, there are almost no hospitals there, so there is no one to register the health status of the population. The doctors who have been there have recorded a good level of health for such poor conditions, but nothing more.

About a fifth of the population suffers from some sort of illness, and every fiftieth person is disabled, mostly people of middle age. The diseases are mainly caused by an unbalanced diet. Problems with vision, teeth, and rickets are common.

Where is the truth and where are the myths?

Unfortunately, people tend to pay special attention to facts that confirm their own point of view, often disregarding whether the fact is true or not. This is what happened with the Hunza people: they only became widely talked about when there was a boom in healthy lifestyle, diet, and vegetarianism in the West.

However, if you take a closer look, you will find that a significant portion of the researchers who studied the “Hunza phenomenon” never actually visited them, working exclusively in their own offices and relying on scattered information from those who may or may not have been there. Moreover, half of these “researchers” turned out to be advocates of vegetarianism.

As a result, a significant part of the information about this people turned out to be a myth, which crumbles to dust when you look at the data collected by those who have actually lived and worked among the Hunza. Let me briefly go over them. The Hunza hardly ever get sick

In reality, there are almost no hospitals there, so there is no one to register the population’s health level. The doctors who had been there registered a good level of health for such poor conditions, but nothing more.

About a fifth of the population suffers from one ailment or another, and every fiftieth person is disabled, mostly middle-aged. Diseases are mainly caused by an unbalanced diet. Vision and dental problems, as well as rickets, are widespread.

The Hunza live long because they are vegetarians

The Hunza are not vegetarians, if only because they keep domestic animals. However, due to the lack of suitable grazing land, their number is small, and people are forced to eat meat only in small amounts and only a couple of months a year — in winter, when tourists who could see it are usually not around. But almost everything is eaten, except perhaps for horns and hooves.

The Hunza have unique foods in their diet

They are unique only for a supermarket in Syktyvkar. Otherwise, their diet is ordinary, not different from the diet of neighboring peoples, who are not known for excessive health or longevity.

The Hunza are the most peaceful people in the world, and they have no leaders

The Hunza had leaders (amirs), and their peacefulness was so great that in the 19th century, their main source of income was raids and slave trade, and in this respect, they were a real disaster for their neighbors. But what can you do: extreme poverty, barren land, and lack of modern subsidies can lead to such things.

Hunzas practice a secret form of Islam

In reality, this is just ordinary syncretism, a blending of religions: Islam and everything else in the vicinity, plus their own pagan traditions. There are no minarets here simply because the Hunzas can’t even build a normal house. A significant number of them live in homes that are even flooded with black water. What use would they have for minarets?

During their rituals, they even drink the blood of sacrificial animals, which is not at all in line with Islamic practices. By the way, it’s also not very vegetarian.

The Hunzas are remarkably beautiful, slim, and hardworking.

If you find yourself in this region, you won’t be able to tell the Hunzas apart from representatives of other ethnic groups. Take a look at Afghans, Pakistanis, or northern Indians — it’s all the same. As for their slimness, when you have limited food and need to move a lot, it’s hard not to be slim. It’s the same for their neighbors.

As for their incredible work ethic, Sherpas have them beat in that regard.

Women in Hunza give birth even at the age of 60

With such high fertility rates, the Hunza people should have populated a large part of Hindustan. However, they are a small community. Recent statistics have shown that they get married very early and also give birth at a young age. As expected, most births occur in women under the age of 26, and there are no recorded cases of women giving birth at the age of 60.

Infant mortality rates were once as high as 150 deaths per 1,000 live births, but have decreased by almost 10 times due to “medical intervention.”

The Hunza people live up to 120–160 years.

The most interesting part is yet to come, and this is where the Hunza people did not lie. However, they did not lie about anything else either: all these myths were created by Western mystifiers.

But here’s the catch. Firstly, statistics have only been collected relatively recently. The Hunza people do not have a writing system and have not created any metrics. However, like other peoples, they created a calendar in which the year lasts exactly from winter to summer solstice. After the last one, the second year begins, which ends with the winter solstice.

In other words, in the Happy Valley, one year lasts for two. This needs to be taken into account when hearing about the unreal qualities of the Hunza people.

In fact, they do not live up to 120 years, but rather up to 60 years, and sometimes up to 80 (only a few people who have crossed the age of 90 have been officially confirmed, that is, 180 Hunza years). Men remain active at 70–80 years old because they are actually 35–40, and it’s not that difficult to give birth at the age of 60 when you are actually only 30.

So let’s keep a level head. If you want to be slim, don’t overeat and move more. If you want to live long, do the same and don’t be lazy about getting regular checkups. If you want to possess incredible wisdom, start by remembering what you were taught in school. Unfortunately, the Hunza people don’t measure up to superhumans, and neither do most of us.