Famous health-promoting diet used by millions of people today existed 4,000 years ago: ScienceAlert

People lived in the Mediterranean region 4,000 years ago knew what was good for them. A new study found that ancient Syrians ate a similar diet to today Mediterranean cuisinewhich is now touted for its numerous health benefits.

“The old saying ‘you are what you eat’ really applies here,” says Benjamin Fuller, archaeologist and chemist at the University of Leuven. told Elana Spivack at Inverse. “The technique of stable isotope ratio analysis allows for the direct determination of the type of food groups actually consumed.”

The researchers used this technique on large data sets of archaeological isotope measurements to investigate the settlement history of Tell Tweini in Syria. During the Bronze and Iron Ages, this site was an important port for the Ugaritic Kingdom.

The dataset included isotope measurements of 410 plant seeds and 16 human and 210 other animal bones dating between 2600 and 333 BC.

Relatively low concentrations of nitrogen-15 isotopes were measured in the human remains, indicating occasional meat consumption. This suggests that the inhabitants of Tell Tweini used their domestic animals primarily for labor, milk and wool. Especially between 2000 and 1600 BC, their diet appears to have consisted largely of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, including plenty of olives and grapes.

“The human diet was relatively poor in animal proteins and appears to be comparable to today’s typical Mediterranean diet, which consists of bread (wheat/barley), olives, grapes, legumes, dairy products, and small amounts of meat,” Fuller and colleagues write in their article.

Although their dependence on plant consumption may have arisen out of necessity to release their animals for other purposes, the ratio of meat to fruit, grains and vegetables still proves to be the healthiest option todayboth for our own well-being and that of the environment.

High concentrations of carbon-13 isotopes in the preserved seeds suggest that the plants at Tell Tweini were well cared for and watered throughout the site’s history. The use of animal dung would also explain the high concentrations of nitrogen-15 isotopes in the plants.

Where the Tell TweiThe difference between the diet of today’s population and that of people in the Mediterranean is that during the Middle Bronze Age, despite the shorter distance from the coast and the large variety of fish found at Tell Tweini, people there do not appear to have consumed much food from the sea. Nor did they consume much food from other waterways.

Members of ancient society must have been able to produce enough food from their crops, which suggests that their land was fertile. This correlates with the region’s well-known olive oil production.

“Excavations at the site indicate that olive oil production became one of Tell Tweini’s main economic activities and that installations related to this activity were found in every house during the Iron Age,” explain Fuller and his team.

Shortly after 1200 BC, Ugarit collapsed. The kingdom’s demise was attributed to crop failures, social unrest and famine throughout the region, but soon afterward signs of oil production from Tell Tweini reappeared, with no signs of stress in the plant isotopes.

“We can conclude that the inhabitants of Tell Tweini coped very well with the increasing dryness during this period, in most cases even better than in other settlements of this period,” say the researchers.

These findings show that a Mediterranean diet has helped humanity survive for thousands of years. However, this diet also developed in a fertile environment with a relatively stable climate.

“Ugarit … experienced little resettlement following its destruction in the Late Bronze Age,” emphasize Fuller and colleagues.

“The question of whether less favorable environmental conditions compared to Tell Tweini or the lack of adaptation strategies among its inhabitants played a decisive role requires further investigation.”

This research was published in PLUS ONE.