The Roman Empire reached its zenith around 100 AD. (about 1900 years ago). Here is what is usually served on the table.
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When people talk about strange diets in the animal kingdom, some obvious examples come to mind – the koalas eat almost anything other than the eucalyptus leaves or the vultures that thrive on the Carrion that would send most creatures. But before we show the fingers on the dietary quirks of other species, we may have to look in the mirror.
People are the only animals that tear through layers of plastic to eat foods made months ago, containing ingredients that we cannot pronounce. We microwave dinners are made in factories thousands of miles away and drinks designed in laboratories to try like strawberries, despite the fact that they do not contain fruits.
As an evolutionary biologist, I often ask and often ask: Is that what we built to consume?
To understand what was really designed to eat our bodies, we must not start from the beginning. In fact, a more recent chapter in our history can be much more revealing – the Roman Empire, which reached its climax around 100 AD, about 1,900 years ago.
Let’s explore what the Romans ate – and why some of them are worth resurrecting the 21st century.
The amazing simple staplers of Roman diet
If you sat for dinner on a Roman islet (apartment building) or even a rural villa, you will not be served daily elaborately right. The average Roman working class actually ate what is now considered the original nutrition of the Mediterranean: high in whole grains, legumes, vegetables and olive oil.
Puls, the Roman food of the Roman, was a thick porridge made of wheat or Emmer barley. It was sometimes enhanced with fava lentils or beans, olive oil mice or herbal spices. Coarse bread, often sourdough, was also a given.
Today, we strip the fibers and micronutrients from our granules and consume them as sophisticated starfish. But then, whole grains were the rule. The basic benefit? The fibers that enrich our gut germicide and not only lift our health and immune system but also our mood.
Suffice it to say that Roman diet was not only practical, it was biologically elegant.
A forgotten Roman Superfood?
One of the most bizarre accessories in Roman cuisine was Garum, a fermented fish sauce, comparable to the favorite modern soy sauce or ketchup.
The seemingly difficult process of preparing the Garum for the layering of the fish with salt and letting it knead in the sun, produces an amazingly salty effect of UMAMI flavor and nutrients-especially amino acids, calcium and omega-3.
In the modern palate, it may sound uncomfortable, but Garum had a lot in common with today’s fermented foods: Kombucha, Kimchi and Miso. From a biological point of view, the fermentation process introduces beneficial bacteria and pre-reflect proteins, making them more bioavailable. These microbial dynamics are increasingly recognized as necessary for human digestion and immune health.
Much less meat than you think
Although Hollywood may suggest, most Romans do not celebrate roasted wild boars or endless plates of meat. Meat consumption was in fact a casual phenomenon, not everyday, especially for the poor and working classes. And when the meat was eaten, it was usually pork, followed by goat, lamb and then poultry. In part because of the value of cattle in agriculture, beef rarely found its way to Roman diet.
And this is exactly where the Roman diet deviates abruptly from modern western standards, where meat often dominates the plate. This can be a victory for the Romans from an evolutionary perspective. Despite our omnivorous dietary flexibility, our physiology, including relatively large bowels and dependence on fermentation of fibers, suggests a preference for heavy plant diets.
Consuming red and processed meat, regularly and indiscriminately, has been associated with increased risk of colon cancer and heart disease. The Roman balance of occasional meat, mainly vegetable fares, is more closely aligned with what our biology seems optimized.
The Light and Holder Circle
One thing to recognize is that Roman nutrition was shaped not only by culture but by availability and seasonality. The maintenance of food was primitive. People ate what they were in time, and often suffered periods of rarity.
This intermittent rarity may have caused mild forms of what we now call intermittent fasting. The lives of people in the Roman Empire can help to understand why this trending biohack has gained so much attention today. Our bodies evolved at a celebration and famine, a natural inevitable of the time. It is not strange because even today, in the era of abundance, evidence still suggests that diet by restricting time can support metabolic health, reduce inflammation and even promote cell repair processes.
In essence, the biological systems that made the ancient Romans resistant to food deficiency are the same systems that many modern people are trying to “activate” through deliberate fasting windows.
The Roman drink?
The Romans, throughout the division of the order, were integrated by the wine, a drink often mixed with water, herbs or honey. It was safer than only water in many cases and more nutritious than we think. Red wine contains polyphenols, particularly resveratrol, which has antioxidant and anti -inflammatory properties.
Taking this, their wine was very different from high alcohol versions, with sugar we find today. It was lower in alcohol content and was consumed in moderation as part of the meals.
In terms of a biologist, the Roman approach-a member of alcohol in a food frame-is healthier than the standards that fall from the fall that affects many societies today.
What lessons can we remove from the Roman Empire?
As we compare the diet of the Roman Empire with current food trends, some basic biological knowledge appears:
- Human bodies thrive on fibers-Rich, vegetables based on staples such as legumes, beans and vegetables that formed the Roman dietary base.
- Fermentation is not only cooking, it is organic. The Romans used Garum instinctively. Today, we redefine it as “gut -friendly”.
- Moderation in meat and alcohol Consumption is aligned with evolutionary and epidemiological data for long -term health.
- Circular availability of foodOnce a difficulty now imitates through intermittent fasting with amazing similar biological results.
In a world of protein bars, KETO designs and extremely processed of all, Roman diet offers a refreshing grounded model-one rooted in biology, simplicity and necessity. While we do not need to knead the fish intestines on our doorstep to be healthy, there is a lot we need to learn from a culture that, at its peak, is powered by tens of millions using viable principles.
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