Should We Revert To Eating The Way Our Ancestors Did?
They mostly ate ‘fresh’. Every meal had to be freshly prepared since there was no refrigeration. Some dishes were highly-spiced, oily and salty in order to preserve them, but these were taken only in small amounts (e.g. sun-dried fish or pickles). When they ate ‘day-old’ foods, they were usually fermented and full of probiotics (e.g. yogurt, dosa/idli). We eat food that has been frozen or refrigerated, but we still use a lot of spices & salt; we should cut down on the salt and oil.
Our ancestors mostly ate locally-grown, naturally fertilized (no chemicals) grains like rice, wheat, millet, etc., and vegetables like bindi/okra, palak/spinach, brinjal/eggplant, plantains, etc., and so their nutritional profiles were limited. We eat foods from all over the globe, but they are typically grown using chemicals and are sometimes genetically modified, so our nutritional profiles are larger. We should try to limit exposure to chemicals.
They ate seasonal fruit and took limited amounts of honey or jaggery on festive occasions. We take lots of refined white sugar at almost every meal, in various forms (e.g. desserts, colas…). We should avoid, or at least cut down on all this sugar and eat more like our ancestors.
They ate mostly vegetarian, with limited amounts of meat or eggs; we eat much larger portions of meat, and refined-grain-based staples like rice or rotis. We should eat more like they did.
They ate foods made with unrefined whole grains and lots of vegetables, and we should eat the same. Eat unpolished, brown or parboiled rice instead of polished, white rice; whole-wheat pulkas instead of maida-based bhaturas.
They took some whole milk, probiotic yogurt, low-fat buttermilk, ghee, paneer, etc., to balance their meals; we guzzle milk and take a lot of other dairy products. We should eat like them and cut down a bit.
They used limited amounts of unrefined, mechanically extracted oils, made from edible sources (e.g. coconut, sesame/gingelly) for seasoning their foods, and only took fried foods on festive occasions. We take lots of foods deep-fried in refined, chemically extracted oils made from inedible sources (e.g. cotton seed, rapeseed…) and we eat them almost daily. We should eat like them.
Our ancestors’ foods were limited by what was available locally. In some families, ‘foreign’ vegetables like potatoes, beet root, carrots, radish, corn, beans, etc. were avoided. Now, all sorts of vegetables and fruits from all over the world are marketed and readily available. We should eat differently from our ancestors; eating a larger variety of foods provides more micronutrients, minerals and antioxidants.
We should also look at their eating habits. They ate regular meals and did not eat after dark. We eat a similar number of meals, but sometimes late into the night. We should eat like them because digestion slows down at night.
Our ancestors fasted quite frequently. Fasting gives the organs a rest, and has been found to improve overall health and weight-loss. We never fast, perhaps we should give this a try.
There are things that are worth emulating, and others that can be changed to suit our current situation.
