The Famines We Inherited: The Colonial Famines We Were Never Taught About and Their Impact on South Asian Health

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My father didn’t know. My relatives didn’t know. My medical colleagues didn’t know. My children didn’t learn about it in school in the United States or England. Until 2018, when I shared my research and started writing about South Asian famines and their effect on the health of modern South Asians, no one I asked knew that there had been at least 25 major famines in South Asian history, that they happened during the relatively short 190-year period of British Colonial rule. or that ancestors that survived, and we in later generations, may have adapted genetics that are in conflict with modern diets and lifestyles.

This historical revelation can be overwhelming; the impact of it today can be scary, but this knowledge is essential and it can ultimately be empowering. The sacrifice and survival of our ancestors are deeply moving and can inspire us to make informed health choices.