The decreased caloric intake and increase in non-motorized modes of transportation following Cuba’s economic crisis from 1989-2000 lead to a decrease in heart disease and diabetes, a University of Michigan study finds.

Until its collapse, the Soviet Union provided Cuba with cheap oil and fuel. These resources gone, Cubans ate an average of 1,063 few calories, drove less, and walked and biked more. Obesity dropped from 14% to 7%. Deaths related to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke fell.

In other words, eat less, burn more.

Move over South Beach, here comes The Castro Diet! All it requires is 11 years of economic deprivation.

[Study Abstract]
Economic crisis in Cuba leads to dramatic health improvements [University of Michigan]
(Photo: The Real Cuba)

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