Here’s an interesting article that appeared on BBC news in December. It talks about the diet of Medieval people. These heavy laboring peasants would have done 12 hours of heavy labor per day, consumed roughly 30-50% more calories, nearly two loaves of bread, and three pints of beer. Those are pints, or roughly five 12oz servings! They also consumed only 8oz of meat, which by proportion to their total calorie intake would be 4-5oz by todays calorie standards. They make a strong point that they did not consume much in the way of our modern demon, refined sugar. Say goodbye to heart disease and diabetes. About a year ago Michael Pollan wrote an article for the Times which talked about eating and diet. His conclusion: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. This article more than most others I’ve read, puts debates to rest, and simplifies the debate to the essential concepts which are often lost to nitty gritty details that are in the end irrelevant.
March 3, 2008