By Raquel Bagnol*
Betel palm nut fruit. Photo: 123RF
Opinion - Did you know that betel nut chewing was a social activity that played an important part in the daily lives of the early Micronesians?
Archeologists noted the high rate of betel nut chewing among the early Micronesian populations. It was a pastime that brought people together, to engage in social conversations and create bonding among friends.
Betel chewing also had a spiritual component. Some believed that it helped build a connection to spirits and supernatural beings.
Modern medicine warns that frequent betel use can lead to oral disease and cancer. But in the old days, betel nut chewing was known to prevent or reduce dental cavities and counteract the high sugar and starch content of the staple foods of the early Micronesians, such as taro, banana, yam and breadfruit.
Betel chewing was also believed help suppress the people's appetites during droughts or when crop yields and food supplies were low and to reduce fatigue during long-distance sea voyages.
In an article on Guampedia titled 'Passion for Pugua', the author Candice Arceo wrote that betel nut chewing among Palauan men helps improve critical thinking, especially in group meetings, with many users reporting improved concentration and relaxation after chewing betel nut.
In their 2003 research titled 'The Prehistoric Chewing of Betelnut in Western Micronesia', archaeologists Scott Fitzpatrick, Greg Nelson and Ryan Reeves noted that betel nut chewing has been a cultural tradition in south and southeast Asia for thousands of years. The custom spread to Oceania around 6000 B.P. and western Micronesia at least 3000 years B.P.
Betel nut, scientifically known as Areca catechu, is a member of the palm family found in South and Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Oceania. It is the fourth most widely used stimulant drug in the world, next to caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
Betel nut chewers wrap the areca, or betel, nut in a pepper leaf with slaked lime. When mixed with these ingredients, habitual chewers experience a "calming, euphoric and sometimes a dizzying effect."
The authors said betel nut palms are a common fixture in household gardens in Palau and Yap. In 1995, over 76 percent of Palauans reportedly chewed betel nut, with an estimated market value of $9.2 million per year.
Over 10,000 years ago, remains of Piper betle vine and areca were found in deposits at Spirit Cave in Thailand, and in caves in Eastern Timor. Areca nut remains were also found in different sites from Kuala Selinsing in Malaysia and at the Dongan site in Papua New Guinea.
Archeologists also found betel-stained teeth from burial sites in the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
In Western Micronesia, archeological remains in the Marianas suggested that the early CHamorus also used betel nut to stain their teeth for aesthetic purposes.
The authors noted that earlier dental pathology analysis of 1483 teeth from 152 males and females at the Apurguan burial site on Guam showed 58.7 percent staining from betel nut teeth. The archeologists noted the recovered teeth were free of carious lesions.
Fitzpatrick and his co-authors quoted an account written by Captain Andres de Urdaneta, a navigator from Spain who made a stopover on Guam in 1526. Urdaneta described how CHamorus continuously chewed a certain leaf with one acorn mixed with lime, and how it made their lips red.
In Palau, Fitzpatrick noted that data recovered as part of the Compact Road project suggested that areca was present in Babeldaob around 4300 B.P. He added that human remains recovered from the excavation at at the Chelechol ra Orrak burial site in 2000 showed at least 25 individuals, with the earliest burials dated to around 3,000 years old.
Forty-one of the 67 permanent teeth recovered from the deposits at the Chelechol ra Orrak burial site showed betel nut staining.
Archeologists noted that high rates of betel nut staining observed in the teeth specimens recovered from ancient burial sites in Palau implied that betel nut chewing was as important in the social lives of early Palauans as it is today.
Data from the 2023 Palau Adult Hybrid/Community Health Assessment Survey showed that 46.7 percent of adults aged 18 and older in Palau chewed betel nuts every day in the 30 days prior to the research.
Of the current chewers, 83.4 percent reported adding cigarette sticks to their chew. The survey conducted on 1931 respondents also showed betel nut chewing is higher among adults 45-64 years old.
*Raquel Bagnol is a longtime journalist. She worked as a reporter for Marianas Variety on Saipan and Island Times in Palau.
-This article was first published by Pacific Island Times.