History of Health Food

Did you know that even the kings, queens, knights, and slaves of the ancient worlds were as health-conscious as your gym buddies? No kidding! Way before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World (and vivacious Pocahontas), the ancients already followed their own versions of today’s healthy eating and diet regimen. Read on and see how far ahead they were of their time.

In 400 B.C., the ancient Greeks developed a theory that in order to achieve and maintain good health, the body’s four humors— black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood—must be in balance. These four humors were the bodily fluids that the ancients connected with the elements and the seasons, and therefore contained specific qualities:

According to Plato’s teachings, good health can be achieved by eating the following healthy foods: milk, honey, fish, fruits, legumes and cereals. Indulgences such as wine, meat, and sugary foods should be taken only in moderation. The ancients believed that overeating results in ailments because the four humors are in chaos.

Ancient Egypt’s belief on good health served as a basis for holistic medicine. In the book The Kemetic Diet, author Muata Abhaya Ashby explains that the Egyptians believed that in order to achieve good health, one must feed not just the body but the mind and soul as well. They perceived physical illness as the result of impurities in the body that must be flushed out by drinking kamut (wheatgrass juice ) that served as the ancient version of the “Alkaline Flush.”

In the mid 19th century, William Banting published a pamphlet called Letter on Corpulence that talks about the author’s battle against obesity. As Banting grew bigger, he suffered physically and began to lose his sense of sight and hearing. His medical adviser, Dr. William Harvey, told him that his ailments were caused by obesity. Harvey gave him a specific low-carb diet and advised that his patient eat more vegetables, meat, and wine. Banting lost a lot of weight and regained his health.

The modern day’s concept of dieting was born and William Banting became the father of the low-carbohydrate diet. Soon, more physicians and dietitians followed suit. The world became more and more obsessed about weight loss as diet regimens became more and more complex.

The ancient’s take on good health and dieting is the basis for the modern day’s concept of balanced diet. In ancient times, good health was maintained by keeping the body’s four humors in harmony. Today, optimum health and a fit figure can be achieved through a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Unfortunately, the ancient way of dieting was not carried over to the present. Instead of restoring balance by working on the particular humor that’s lacking or exceeding, some of today’s crazy diets tell us to shun away from a major food group like carbohydrate, fat, and even protein. This could result in a hasty decrease in your weight in expense of your overall health.

Garlic is, perhaps, the healthiest food since time immemorial. In the ancient worlds, garlic was used to keep plague, scorpions, mosquitoes and even mythical creatures like vampires and evil spirits away. The herb was also believed to increase a man’s strength and therefore was fed to athletes, soldiers and slaves to raise efficiency. As a remedy, garlic was prescribed by physicians for the treatment of dog bites, asthma, leprosy, bladder and respiratory ailments.

Garlic’s strong smell kept it from being recognized by the Western cultures, particularly in 17th century England where garlic was labeled unsuitable for the ladies because of its stench. Nevertheless, the herb’s amazing health benefits and remarkable taste won over the Western palette.

Some of garlic’s amazing health benefits include treatment for colds, cough, toothache, warts, and other infections; being a preventive for certain types of cancers; the lowering of the risk of heart diseases and diabetes; and preventing hypertension.