Food of the Ancients

We might also wonder just how their lifestyles might have differed from that of ours in this present day world ?

If we could go back in time and relive a period of our prehistoric ancestors who lived about 1,000,000 years ago, how different would it be ? One thing we do know for sure, it would have been a lot more of a labor intensive type of living compared to our predominantly leisure life we are accustomed to today. A study of ancient history tells us that it was at about this time that fire made its entrance into the simple life of man, at least having the ability to initiate the start of a fire from scratch. Before this period they had to wait for nature to do it for them, such as from lightning or other natural combustion. Soon thereafter and probably by accident, the art of at least partial heating of their meats and possibly fruits and vegetables occurred, probably because it made the food easier to chew, especially for the young children, though history cannot verify this occurrence, but it certainly did happen at some time period after fire was born. Anthropologists have found artifacts of bone remains from early man that show that many in their middle ages did suffer from various forms of arthritic conditions, which some medical professionals today believe is at least partially due to the lower enzyme content derived from the heating or cooking of foods.

Early human diet was also comprised probably of fruits, roots, nuts and vegetables that they found growing wild. Man, at that time did not possess the art of agriculture, therefore they had to be content with what was found growing in the wild. Virtually all protein sources came from meat, though nuts did supply their share. Agriculture and its great lifesaving benefits are supposed to have arrived on the scene in our history at approximately 10,000 BCE. Some experts believe that large scale agriculture took place at about 5,000 BCE.

This period issued a tremendous increase in the nutritional level of the local farmers and inhabitants who had over time obtained the knowledge of growing their own garden born foods. Because the soils were virgin, containing the highest levels of nutrients to support plant growth, there was very little lacking in the foods from the harvest.

What Was The Difference In Their Food ?

First and foremost, the foods that were served had not been processed as we know them today. Daily existence was very simple. The lands where they roamed were unpolluted, totally virgin and were never walked upon by any other human. The water was virtually totally pure and flourished with high mineral content. The water alone could give partial nourishment to the local inhabitants. Those early times were probably as close to the "Garden of Eden" as one could desire.