THEN
The Hawaiian word for health is ola. It also means life. Thus, the word health and life was one and same. Hawaiians obviously believed you could not have health without life, nor life without health. Ka poe kahiko (the old people of Hawaii) regarded the body, mind and spirit as one.

Each affected the condition of the other. If you abuse your body, you abuse your spirit and mind, and so on. Being healthy meant being physically, mentally and spiritually in lokahi or harmony. Source: Noted Hawaiian Scholar, Dr. George Kanahele, Pookela Hawaiian Culture Course.

Ancient Hawaiians were strong, sturdy and capable of bearing great fatigue. They were farmers, fishermen, hunters, and gatherers who enjoyed a diversity of foods.

For example, they planted and irrigated taro patches; cultivated crops such as yams, arrowroot, or breadfruit; hunted birds and pigs; gathered vines, ferns, herbs and medicinal plants from the forests; practiced both net and deep sea fishing; harvested shrimp, picked seaweed, and collected shellfish.

Their main sources of protein were fish, squid, limpet, crab and other seafood, chicken, and birds. The main leafy vegetables were taro tops (luau), and edible plants such as tree fern and fan palm. They ate bananas, coconuts, raspberries, strawberries, mountain apples and sugar cane. Seasonings came from kukui nut, seaweed, hoio fern and salt. They preserved food with salt and most foods were eaten fresh. They ate dogs and the alii (royalty) ate pig.