Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Go Medieval

MAN Fertilitiy found this for me on the BBC. Does eating the glop they serve at the Renaissance Faire count?


Last Updated:
Tuesday, 18 December 2007, 01:11 GMT

Medieval diets 'far more healthy'
BBC's Robin Hood
The 'Robin Hood' generation did not go in for refined sugar
If they managed to survive plague and pestilence, medieval humans may have enjoyed healthier lifestyles than their descendants today, it has been claimed.

Their low-fat, vegetable-rich diet - washed down by weak ale - was far better for the heart than today's starchy, processed foods, one GP says.

And while they consumed more they burnt off calories in a workout of 12 hours' labour, Dr Roger Henderson concludes.

But the Shropshire GP accepts that life for even prosperous peasants was tough.

But after examining the available records, Dr Henderson suggests that medieval meals were perhaps even better than the much touted "Mediterranean" diet enjoyed by the Romans.

While this would have involved fish, fruit, whole grains and olive oil - as well as red wine - the rich often overindulged, while the poor may not always have been able to obtain them.

The average medieval peasant however would have eaten nearly two loaves of bread each day, and 8oz of meat or fish, the size of an average steak.

This would have been accompanied by liberal quantities of vegetables, including beans, turnips and parsnips, and washed down by three pints of ale.

Crucially, there was little refined sugar in their food, while modern eating habits are dominated by biscuits, cake and sweets.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you imagine, during the medieval times, they didn't have to buy "fancy" grass-fed beef at natural food stores, because, well, everything was grass-fed! And oh boy, the sugar, I am feeling it now. Way to much sugar as of late. I have been snacking on Paul Newman's oreo's ever since Sweet Pea was born. Time to put this new habit to rest, and yup, go medieval.

GreenFertility said...

Hm, that's odd, MAN FERTILITY has been eating packages of the Newman's ginger-os. They look yummy....but yes, give your ol' pancreas a rest, ok!?

Susan G said...

You don't have to go to the middle ages (or caveman times) to see how different people's food might be when not the SAD (standard american diet). Just looking at other parts of the world now will do it. Studies of breast cancer followed Japanese women in Japan, Hawaii and US west coast -- more sugar, fat, processed food, more cancer. But I'll vote for Newman's hermits!
Check my blog for a neat quote from Victorian times about green tea.

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