The ancient Hawaiians believed that one could neither have health without life nor life without health. The main source of protein in their diet was fish, squid, limpet, crab & other seafood, chicken & birds. Among leafy vegetables, they ate taro tops & edible plants such as tree fern & fan palm. Bananas, strawberry, coconuts, raspberries, mountain apples & sugar cane also formed a part of their staple diet. Seasonings came from kukui nut, seaweed, hoio fern & salt. The commoners ate dogs & the royalty ate pig.

Poi forms the staple starch of the Hawaiians; it represents Haloa, the ancestor of chiefs & kanaka maoli. The traditional Hawaiian diet was the right balance of high starch, high fiber, but low on saturated fat, sodium & cholesterol. They enjoyed a diversity of foods: from yams & breadfruit to herbs & medicinal plants, to harvested shrimps & collected shellfish.