Food, Fads, Diets, and Health

Anthropology of Food ANTH 2301 Food, Fads, Diets, and Health The Macrobians were a cultural group who lived in what is now southern Ethiopia. According to Greek historian Herodotus, they discovered a legendary "spring of youth" where individuals might wash and revert to their youthful appearance. This was recorded in the fifth century BCE. Herodotus had heard that the Macrobians ate just boiled fish and milk and lived to reach 120 years old. In an attempt to make sense of the stories he had heard, he reasoned that their longevity must have come from a certain diet and water. Although there have been claims of a hidden elixir or panacea for physical ageing and sickness before, this is among the earliest documented food myths. There would be many more. Venetian patron of the arts Alvise Cornaro wrote a best-selling book in 1558 called Discorsi della vida sobria, which has been translated into English under several titles, including Discourses on a Sober and Temperate Life and Sure and Certain Methods of Attaining a Long and Healthful Life. He asserts the following things concerning human health in this text: There are just two components to this sobriety: quantity and quality. The first, quality, is limited to abstaining from stomach-harming foods and beverages like alcohol. A person who follows these two rules can be considered to lead a regular and sober life. The second rule, quantity, is about not eating or drinking more than the stomach can easily digest. By the time a man reaches forty, fifty, or sixty, he should be an expert judge of both quantity and quality. This is so beneficial and effective that the humours in such a man's body become extremely homogenous, harmonic, and perfect; once this is achieved, the humours are no longer susceptible to corruption or disturbance from any other ailments. In "A Compendium of a Sober Life," Cornaro 1779 A lengthy list of pseudoscientists, tonic sellers, tinkerers, and even some thoughtful individuals may be found throughout history peddling diet plans and medical concoctions that promise to cure any conceivable health issue. Many of them used substances that are now known to be dangerous. Concerned consumers in the late 19th century had the option of trying Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, which was made of morphine and alcohol and was used to soothe teething children; Cocaine Toothache Drops; or Vin Mariani, a cocaine-infused wine that was used in Europe to treat depression, malaria, and appetite loss (Mitchell 2019). New diets meant to promote moral and physical well-being were frequently linked to new religious or philosophical groups. The Graham diet saw a spike in popularity in the United States throughout the 1800s. The mainstay of the diet was graham flour, which is derived from whole wheat berries together with their bran coating. Sylvester Graham, an evangelical clergyman hailed by Ralph Waldo Emerson as the “prophet of bran bread,” created it in the 1830s (Lobel 2012). Graham's diet, which was promoted as a cure-all for gluttony and sexual desire, had a number of components that now make up sensible dietary recommendations: Eat just two meals a day, in moderation; abstain from all meat, alcohol, and tobacco; and eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and graham crackers. In the middle of the 1800s, this diet gained enormous popularity, and it was endorsed by religious sects including the Shakers, Christian Scientists, and Seventh Day Adventists. The graham cracker is a testament to Sylvester Graham's influence on the modern American diet. The establishment of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948 brought about a profound shift in the way individuals view nutrition and health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) generated increased awareness of health inequalities across populations and a growing interest in the relationship between health and lifestyle by compiling comparative data on health and lifestyle from around the globe. People started to link nutrition to health after seeing that average life lengths and rates of chronic illness differed significantly among national and ethnic groupings. Maybe we might learn something from cultures where people lived longer and experienced fewer chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Thus, the spread of healthful eating started. Nowadays, the paleo diet and the Mediterranean diet are two of the most notable. The dietary customs of nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea provide the foundation of the Mediterranean diet. At a WHO conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1955, American scientist and nutritionist Ancel Keys made the formal presentation of it as a healthy eating style. Keys observed the associated health advantages of the specific culinary habits seen in the Mediterranean area. Consuming a lot of fruits, veggies, and olive oil while consuming little meat and saturated fats is one of these strategies. The Mediterranean diet is still advised today to lower blood cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health. According to data from a recent study (Ahmad et al. 2018) included 26,000 women, those who followed a Mediterranean diet had a 25% decreased 12-year risk of cardiovascular disease (The Nutrition Source 2018). Oded Borowski (2004), a Near Eastern archaeologist, has studied the history and origins of the Mediterranean cuisine. A variety of archaeological artefacts from all over the region and literary sources, particularly biblical texts, describe traditional Middle Eastern foodways that are strikingly similar to those that are still in use today: a diet mostly composed of cereal grains, herbs, fruit, bread, oil, and fish, with the occasional piece of meat. Additionally, a considerable deal of nutritional consistency in this region of the world is indicated by archaeological artefacts. The long historical history and cultural preference for these foods are demonstrated by food processing and subsistence tools like grinding stones, churns, nets, fishhooks, and sinkers; storage jars containing food residues of materials like grain, yeast, and wine; middens containing preserved food remains in ancient garbage; and animal fossils of a variety of freshwater and saltwater fish. Around the Mediterranean region, which includes the Middle East, North Africa, and southern Europe (especially Italy and Greece), this culinary tradition is still practiced today. The paleo diet, also known as the Palaeolithic diet, the Caveman diet, or the Stone Age diet, is another extremely well-liked diet in today's world. It is partly based on cultural and nutritional research. Gastroenterologist Walter Voegtlin, who claimed that our bodies—including our digestive systems—have evolved for a lifestyle centred around hunting and gathering, was the one who initially devised this diet in the 1970s. The foods that are typically associated with this hunting-and-gathering way of life—fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, nuts, and seeds—make up the paleo diet. One of the most well-known US medical research institutions, the Mayo Clinic, defines the paleo diet as follows: Reverting to a diet more in line with what early people consumed is the goal of the paleo diet. The discordance theory, which underpins the diet, holds that the contemporary food, which originated with farming techniques, is genetically unsuited to the human body. 2020 Mayo Clinic Employees, under "Purpose" Biological anthropologists have conducted extensive studies on Palaeolithic people's diets in many regions of the world. Through a variety of methods, a great deal about what these early humans probably ate may be ascertained. The study of animal fossils, human anatomy and physiology, ethnographic research on modern hunters and gatherers, artefact analysis, coprolites (fossilised excrement), and human skeletal and dental remains are a few of these methods. The specific kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish that were consumed in different cultures appear to have varied greatly, but overall, Palaeolithic diets and lifestyles were characterised by high levels of physical activity, high levels of food diversity, including some raw foods, and low levels of fat consumption. Not every paleo diet that is now popular adheres to these rules. Anthropological studies suggest that the Palaeolithic diet was composed of around 35% animal-based meals and 65% plant-based foods, yet many modern paleo recipes and regimens deviate from this ratio (Chang and Nowell 2016). Biological anthropologist Melanie Chang and Palaeolithic archaeologist April Nowell encourage anthropologists to participate more actively in contemporary discussions on Palaeolithic cultures and what they could reveal about a healthy human diet, based on their research on the paleo diet. Maybe there's still more to discover about the actual paleo diet. We may learn a lot from our predecessors regardless of the diets we follow now. Their dietary practices, way of life, and ancient wisdom provide windows into how our bodies have evolved as well as strategies for eating that extend life and improve health. While we look for methods to enhance our lives now, the knowledge provided by anthropology's study of many cultures and historical periods may be a useful addition to our own knowledge base.