[Paleopsych] The Scotsman: Glasgow's diet was healthier in 1405

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Glasgow's diet was healthier in 1405
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/print.cfm?id=610862005&referringtemplate=http%3A%2F%2Fthescotsman%2Escotsman%2Ecom%2Fscotland%2Ecfm&referringquerystring=id%3D610862005
5.6.4

    JIM MCBETH

    GLASWEGIANS in 1405 had a better diet than the citizens of 2005,
    eating their "five-a-day" 600 years ahead of its time.

    Even their light beer was healthier than sugar-laden fizzy concoctions
    that are today's favourite, according to new archaeological evidence.

    It reveals a diet of porridge and small amounts of pork and fish made
    medieval mealtime more nutritious than a visit to the chippy, the
    pizza parlour or the ubiquitous American fast food joints.

    And an absence of sugar in the diet meant medieval Glaswegians had
    better teeth. In addition, they could not smoke, a major cause of
    diseases that killed 119 out of every 100,000 men in the city last
    year.

    Experts agreed yesterday we could learn from our predecessors' eating
    habits as revealed by the council's new history and archaeology
    strategy.

    Glasgow is developing a mapped medieval trail from Glasgow Cathedral
    to the Clyde, the medieval hub of the city.

    By analysing cesspit material, archaeologists discovered medieval
    citizens ate a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables, cereals and fish. It
    is a long way in time and culture from modern Glasgow, where obesity
    is so commonplace because of a junk food diet of pizza, burgers and
    fish suppers that the Scottish Executive is considering opening an
    NHS-funded stomach-stapling clinic in the city.

    Professor Stephen Driscoll of Glasgow University's archaeology
    department, said: "Around 100 bodies examined showed good health and
    the teeth were worn rather than decayed.

    "The diet was healthier than today, with porridge, a little meat,
    fish, milk, cottage cheese and vegetables and fruits."

    At one excavation, in Bell Street, cesspit material revealed large
    quantities of seeds and fish remains.

    Councillor Catherine McMaster, on the working group for the medieval
    project, said: "It seems they were into 'five-a-day', 600 years before
    the rest of us. We modern Glaswegians could learn from it.

    "We hope to reveal more of the city's rich tapestry of history by the
    medieval trail, and it is ironic that it is already revealing that
    they probably ate better then."

    The "Glesca diet" is notoriously unhealthy, provoking the joke that
    whole generations were brought up on "chips and lemonade".

    In some areas, 80 per cent of children develop tooth decay by the age
    of five because of a high consumption of fizzy drinks.

    Recent research also showed that 63 per cent of schoolchildren in some
    areas were "less healthy eaters".

    Dr Frankie Phillips, of the British Dietetics Association, said:
    "There wouldn't have been too many obese people in medieval times.

    "We could certainly learn from some aspects of the diet that was
    uncovered."