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| Hi James,
Now, more than ever, there seems to be so much confusion as to what we should eat – what food is ‘good’, what food is ‘bad’.
With such a large reliance on processed food and massive marketing dollars spent by large food companies, we’ve lost touch with food culture.
In fact, we don’t have food culture.
People are truly confused as to how we should eat, and how to form meals.
So let's throw it back to 1893 before the era of fad diets, food fears, processed food and check out a meal plan for this upcoming week (2nd week of September) in 1893. Sometimes, looking back can inspire us to simplify our approach to food. |
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| Images from 'A bill of fare for every day in the year', 1893.
Our great-great-grandparents focused on whole, seasonal foods without overthinking every bite. Imagine planning your meals without worrying about the latest nutrition trends or scrolling through endless diet advice online.
Notable trends --
- ate 3 meals/day, no intentional fasting, but also did not frequently graze/snack (instead of 'breakfast, lunch, dinner' they called the meals 'breakfast, dinner, supper')
- no dietary extremes
- did not fear carbs (ate high carb)
- consumed mostly saturated fats, and ate relatively lower polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) (no vegetable oils, and didn't eat much nuts and seeds)
- consumed sugar & flour, ate dessert w/ supper
- consumed dairy
- consumed meat (typically the whole animal #NoseToTail)
- consumed bread
- consumed fruits & vegetables
Takeaways & some perspective --
- No extreme diets were followed or promoted, yet bodyweight & chronic disease (not referring to infection & acute) was not as big of an issue as it is now
- They ate higher calories than what many diet camps promote these days
- Yes, it is true that our grains, plants, etc. are now sprayed and often genetically modified, however, you can always find options that are not
- They naturally ate with the seasons due to availability, but still imported items (like chocolate, sugar and coffee) and did a lot of preservation (jams, jellies, canning, etc.) to enjoy that would not have normally grown in specific regions
- They did not concern themselves with rules such as “one meal a day” or following a strict “fasting window”, yet they did not have the same weight issues or gut problems we see today
- They did not concern themselves with anti nutrients, instead, food was prepared properly (which takes care of 99% of the concern with anti-nutrients & digestion issues)
LESS rules, LESS restriction, LESS fear is what we see when we view their menus.
Food sourcing and connection is important, but it’s also not going to kill someone to eat something that’s not seasonally grown in their own backyard.
Instead, buy from the best food source that you can and farmers that you trust, and avoid what you personally can’t tolerate (and recognize this is a personal issue & situation, not a universal thing we need to shame everyone else with).
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