What Do the Inuit Eat?
Quick Answer
Traditionally, the Inuit eat a diet that consists mainly of fish, sea mammals and land animals. Roots, greens and berries are a small part of the Inuit diet. Modern Inuit people have adopted westernized eating habits.
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Full Answer
Several tribes make up the Inuit people, also referred to as Eskimos. The Inuit live in areas such as Alaska and Northern Canada, which have extremely cold temperatures during a large part of the year. They are experts at hunting and fishing, living off of what is readily available in their immediate area.
Favorite foods of the Inuit include beluga whale, seal, fish, crab, walrus, caribou, moose, duck, quail and geese. In the summer, they incorporate some roots and berries into their meals. Due to the harsh arctic climate, the Inuit eat mostly meat and fish. Plants are missing from their diet because they do not grow in such harsh conditions.
Many people wonder how the Inuit could survive without eating a nutritionally balanced diet that is common in other cultures. Researchers discovered that the animals and fish the Inuit subsist on contain a variety of nutrients the human body needs for survival. The Inuit consume the organs along with the fresh meat.
Modern Inuit eat a mixture of traditional foods and westernized foods.
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