"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 22:22:54 GMT, "Cookie Cutter"
> > wrote:
>
> >>The poor
> >> may have fared better nutritionally by foraging for field greens to
> >> add to grain than the rich with abundant supplies of meat and little
> >> else.
> >
> >Why would the rich not have anything other than meat? They would
> >have had a house full of servants who would have kept the house
> >well-supplied from a kitchen garden.
>
> Point taken. Although people tend to disparage 'low class' items and
> favor the rare and expensive. 'White' (refined flour) bread was an
> upper-class treat (see 'Heidi') Meat has often been a prized and rare
> addition to the diet. Yet low-class diets -- the beans & corn and
> squash of Central & South America, beans & rice in many areas, peas or
> lentils and rice (and veg) in Indian cuisine seems, by today's
> standards, a healthier diet than a tableful of roasts and sweets, as
> described in many medieval feasts. I believe the concept of 'salads'
> of raw greens were once thought poisonous. Specifics aside, we're
> told today that a 'healthy' diet consists of a balance of protein,
> fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc., etc. How many pre-20tth
> century diets were 'healthy' by contemporary analysis? How 'balanced'
> is balanced? Meat, veg and starch at every meal? A recommended daily
> allowance of everything every day? A pound of meat (in one meal) every
> 3 weeks and beans/grain the rest of the time? Veg in summer; grain and
> stored fat in winter?
>
> My belief (unsubstantiated by research) is that we have a fondness for
> calorie-dense foods -- fat & sweet -- because plain ol' calories
> supported life. A carrot is beneficial in terms of fiber and vitamin
> A, but it doesn't contribute much to keeping the internal fires
> burning. The Irish potato famine was devastating in part because many
> people were existing on a diet of potatoes and damned little else.
> They weren't particularly healthy, but potatoes supplied calories and
> most vitamins, and could support life for some time with occasional
> supplements of meat, fat, bread, and other veg.
>
> So how many balanced, nutrition-complete diets have there been in
> history?

How are you frogleg - haven't spoken to you for a while.....

What about diets from the Far East regions (coastal China, Vietnam, Myanmar
etc etc) where there were according to a number of contemporary reports,
meals of rice (not polished, generally), vegetables and fish; some accounts
of African diets - as far as I can recall - from again coastal regions; the
diets from the 'cradle of civilisation' - the 'Fertile Crescent', etc

Have some reading material at home - will find it if you're interested.

Cheers


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