# Medieval peasant vs modern American diet- which is healthier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349 "2017-01-27T23:20:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/21 "2017-01-29T02:23:58Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > There are a whole bunch of malnutrition-based illnesses like beriberi, kwashiorkor, scurvy, rickets, pellagra, Keshan disease, etc., that have virtually disappeared with modern diets. There is also the fact that various micronutrients and macronutrients are necessary to have a functioning immune system and self repair capabilities. Vitamin A, D, C, Iron, protein, selenium, copper etc. all play a role in the bodies ability to repair wounds and fight off infections. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/22 "2017-01-29T18:12:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > …It is 5 steps forward, 1 step back (since the modern diet causes obesity and metabolic disorders). I assume you’re including typical (excessive) portion sizes as part of a modern diet, rather than just the quality if the food its self. If people understand their caloric needs and adjust the amounts of foods available the eat accordingly, the modern diet shouldn’t cause obesity or disorders. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/23 "2017-01-29T18:43:57Z")
Modern, for sure. Even elites had to use salt and spices to cover the taste of spoiled meat. Out of season availability, fair distribution, protection from disease and rodents, hygienic cooking methods and access to water were surely issues in some places. 17th century Kings were thrilled to be drinking water with sugar, and Escoffier called this the finest drink ever. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/24 "2017-01-29T19:10:46Z")
According to [this article](http://hartbrad.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-typical-medieval-diet-its-not-what.html) medieval peasants had decent diets - when there weren’t famines due to war or climatic disturbances, and outbreaks of disease like dysentery and ergot poisoning due to contaminated food and water. Peasants would not have eaten nearly as healthy diets during winter and late spring, which is one huge advantage modern U.S. diets have - the availability of fresh greens and fruits. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/25 "2017-01-30T16:46:55Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > what fresh fruit would they be eating in the winter? (We didn’t hear about winter attacks of scurvy, probably because they preserved fruit.) Chestnuts and hawthorn haws are both high in vitamin C. Also winter greens (kale, cabbage) are rich in vitamin C… > [@](#): > > They had less food variety. This is wrong. If anything, they ate a \*greater \*variety of foods \*because \*they ate seasonally, practiced various forms of wild foraging and of the things they did grow, they had more varietals (where do you think all those “heirloom” varietals of everything from carrots to apples have their start? > [@](#): > > What about what they drank? The water couldn’t be trusted, so people had to drink light beer Yeah, [no](http://history.howstuffworks.com/medieval-people-drink-beer-water.htm), [this](http://leslefts.blogspot.co.za/2013/11/the-great-medieval-water-myth.html)is a [myth](http://www.medievalists.net/2014/07/people-drink-water-middle-ages/). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/26 "2017-01-30T17:33:50Z")
They might have had variety over the course of the year, but at any given time of year, you had few options available. Nowadays, if I want a vegetable with my dinner, I can get any vegetable I can think of, no matter what time of year. Back then, if you wanted a vegetable, it was whatever the fields were producing right now, if anything. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/27 "2017-01-30T17:57:53Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is a pseudo-science cite that isn’t accurate at all. The only thing that is accurate in the “article” is that dentistry is ancient practice. That doesn’t mean that most people required it though. Oddly enough, dentistry and even sophisticated brain surgery predate the wheel in parts of the world like South America. Those were anomalies however. Most people in pre-agricultural societies had very good teeth. > ] You are arguing “_pre-agricultura_l societies” Trancephalic is arguing: \* preindustrial \* He is correct: Plenty of\* preindustrial foods\* were worse for your teeth than candy. as side note: The OP is asking for: \* agrarian peasant in England from 1000- 1300 CE . - And yes, we eat far healthier. Now yes, you could go back then, as a noble or rich middle class, and eat better than today. But few did. Nobles ate all sorts of bad stuff. Gout and tooth decay were common, as well as a host of other dietary issues. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/28 "2017-01-30T18:53:16Z")
One other way the medieval diet was probably a little healthier - all the meatless days in the Catholic calendar. More fish in the diet as a consequence. > [@Chronos](#): > > They might have had variety over the course of the year, but at any given time of year, you had few options available. I disagree. Largely, this is because they ate many things we wouldn’t consider worth eating - so, for instance, not only chickens and ducks, but any songbird was fair game. And not just iceberg lettuce, but any reasonably palatable green. Very few of us still eat the green tops of our carrots, for instance. They did. And sure, they may only have had wrinkly apples and no cold-stored kiwifruit - but they had dozens of varieties of apple, we generally have 3 or 4 in any supermarket. Obviously, this doesn’t apply in times of famine. But ordinarily, there would have been quite a variety. Sure, we have refrigeration and the like, but for \*most \*people, that just means year-round bananas, not a diversity of fruits. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/29 "2017-01-30T19:20:39Z")
I dunno about the rest of you, but I could not survive on a diet of medieval peasant. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/30 "2017-01-30T19:46:56Z")
Absolutely a modern diet. No contest. Now if it were pre-agriculture hunter-gatherer (from a successful tribe in an area with plenty of game and no drought) versus a modern diet, it might be a more charitable comparison. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/31 "2017-01-30T20:45:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > One other way the medieval diet was probably a little healthier - all the meatless days in the Catholic calendar. More fish in the diet as a consequence. > I disagree. Largely, this is because they ate many things we wouldn’t consider worth eating - so, for instance, not only chickens and ducks, but any songbird was fair game. And not just iceberg lettuce, but any reasonably palatable green. Very few of us still eat the green tops of our carrots, for instance. They did. And sure, they may only have had wrinkly apples and no cold-stored kiwifruit - but they had dozens of varieties of apple, we generally have 3 or 4 in any supermarket. Obviously, this doesn’t apply in times of famine. But ordinarily, there would have been quite a variety. Sure, we have refrigeration and the like, but for \*most \*people, that just means year-round bananas, not a diversity of fruits. Well, people really ought to eat carrot greens–they are delicious and healthy–but it’s not true that the only alternative is iceberg. Perhaps you’ve noticed, for example, the vogue for kale? And my local Trader Joe’s carries at least 5-6 varieties of apple, often more. (And there is still regional diversity by the way–you can’t find Macintosh or Empire apples in CA. Maybe at a Whole Paycheck.) Also, I don’t think that eating songbirds is an indication of how great the choices were. If you were a noble, eating lark’s tongues was a delicacy. For a peasant, eating a lark was a sign that you didn’t have better, more calorie-rich choices–maybe because you already ate your chicken and ducks had gone south. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/32 "2017-01-31T04:03:17Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Modern, for sure. Even elites had to use salt and spices to cover the taste of spoiled meat. I believe that the idea that middle ages people were using spices in order to cover the taste of spoiled meat is a legend with no basis in fact. Meat has been very well preserved until very recently by salting or smoking it. And elites could very easily procure themselves fresh meat if they wanted to. You can slaughter an animal any time you want, if you have the money, so it would make few sense to assume that wealthy lords and ladies would find themselves forced to eat rotten meat (while somehow being able to afford extremely expensive spices to cover the bad taste). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/33 "2017-01-31T04:18:23Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Well, people really ought to eat carrot greens–they are delicious and healthy–but it’s not true that the only alternative is iceberg. Perhaps you’ve noticed, for example, the vogue for kale? “Most people” are not urban trendsters. “Most people” have the iceberg and tomato slice on their big mac or DoubleDown as their two a day, IME. > [@](#): > > And my local Trader Joe’s carries at least 5-6 varieties of apple, often more. (And there is still regional diversity by the way–you can’t find Macintosh or Empire apples in CA. Maybe at a Whole Paycheck.) Yet most people are going to get a Delicious… > [@](#): > > Also, I don’t think that eating songbirds is an indication of how great the choices were. I didn’t say they were _great_ choices. Just that they had them. ---
**Author:** ![jbaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/34 "2017-01-31T18:27:50Z")
As asked, the question is hopelessly one-sided: The modern diet is incomparably better, because there are consistently reliable sources of food and because modern food is hygienic. These advantages far outweigh any nutritional advantages that medieval peasants might have had. The more interesting question, I think, is whether the medieval peasant’s diet actually did have nutritional advantages (assuming no famine and disregarding hygiene). And in that regard, consider the peasant’s diet as it actually existed, and not what a nutritionally knowledgeable modern person would have eaten if taken back in time. Yes, the peasant had food that was all local and natural, with no added sugar, pesticides, or preservatives other than salt. But the peasant was likely overreliant on a small number of staple foods and probably ate too much salt, since that was the only preservative. The peasant was also at risk of scurvy, a scourge that has entirely disappeared from the modern world. I’m inclined to think that the modern diet, for all its flaws, was probably more nutritious. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/35 "2017-01-31T19:38:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There are a number of us here who turn out some killer brews. Does anyone use gruit in it? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/36 "2017-01-31T19:58:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > One other way the medieval diet was probably a little healthier - all the meatless days in the Catholic calendar. More fish in the diet as a consequence. But also [_fetal rabbits_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurices), which I’m sorry are just not healthy. They actually cause negative calories from all the vomiting because, y’know - _fetal rabbits_! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/37 "2017-01-31T20:08:30Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But also [_fetal rabbits_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurices), which I’m sorry are just not healthy. They actually cause negative calories from all the vomiting because, y’know - _fetal rabbits_! 😃 Many people eat well-developed duck embryos today, don’t really see the difference. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/38 "2017-01-31T20:21:44Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > “Most people” are not urban trendsters. “Most people” have the iceberg and tomato slice on their big mac or DoubleDown as their two a day, IME.Yet most people are going to get a Delicious…I didn’t say they were _great_ choices. Just that they had them. This is pretty absurd, and the implication outside of the enlightened “urban trendsters” nobodies eats vegetables is frankly ridiculous. You can walk into nearly any supermarket in America and find between four and six varieties of apple, depending on the season. Sure, certain varieties have advantages due to being long-lasting or easy to harvest, but that’s _not a downside_ except in the fevered imagination of food nuts. Fresh fruit you can actually eat beats imaginary food that doesn’t exist, no matter how good your imagination. Second, nobody in Medieval _anywhere_ had “dozens of varieties” of _anything_. Even in season, you would have access to one variety of apple, or any other fruit or vegetable, if you were lucky. If you didn’t happen to live near an orchard, then you might be able to gather some apples of a random tree that happened to be on your land, or barter with a trader. They were likely to be rather sour if not grafted by an experienced grower. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/39 "2017-01-31T20:29:55Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Does anyone use gruit in it? We have. It’s…interesting. For people who have been raised of hops in beer, it is definitely an acquired taste. Several commercial brewers make seasonal beers using spruce tips, gale, and in Scotland, heather. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349/40 "2017-01-31T20:52:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Many people eat well-developed duck embryos today, don’t really see the difference. Eww, me either! :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-peasant-vs-modern-american-diet-which-is-healthier/778349.md?page=3)