Nutrition in classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is the period of cultural history spanning from the 8th century BC to the beginning of the Middle Ages (which began around 500 AD).

Nutrition consisted of simple fresh or preserved whole foods that were either locally grown or transported from neighboring areas during times of crisis.

People ate various types of food; consumers had choices from dairy (milk and cheese), fruits (figs, pears, apples, and pomegranates), vegetables (greens and bulbs), grains and legumes (cereal, wheat barley, millet, beans, and chickpeas), and meat (beef, mutton, fowl, mussels, and oysters).

Cereals, olives, wine, legumes, vegetables, fruit, and animal products could all be processed and stored for later use.

Climate often fluctuated in the Mediterranean region with varying temperatures and volumes of precipitation; these two factors also affected the quality of soil available to farmers.

[14] To combat hunger due to inadequate food supply people would eat twigs, roots of plants, bark from trees, and each other as a last resort.

He believed that in order to obtain the highest level of spiritual and physical health it was necessary to follow a lifestyle that included a vegetarian diet which excluded meats and other flesh foods.

[22] Early physicians studied the different ways foods would affect the humors of the body by restoring health or causing disease.