Prehistoric Diet Research Paper

1. The prehistoric diet primarily consists of plants with some meat sporadically mixed in, it is truly only the food that could be hunted and gathered from the surrounding environment. Even hunting at this point was still a point of learning how to obtain food. At this point in time food was merely a means for survival, there were no known strong cultural, social, or religious ties to particular foods. The prehistoric diet culminated in the formation of social groups as it required organization to hunt larger animals. Today, I do not think it is advisable to follow the paleodiet. Although it may be healthy in that it removes refined sugars and unhealthy fats from everyday consumption, it is based on what prehistoric humans ate but our bodies have evolved and require different eating patterns to survive. It is a good idea to be mindful of how much and what kind of food you consume, however you shouldn’t limit yourself to a diet that was better suited for another species.

2. In early Egypt, we know that grains, cereals, beer, wine, fish, leavened and unleavened bread, honey, dairy products from cows, sheep, and goats,

The early Mediterranean diet is when food was not only associated with certain social levels but also had distinct geographical ties in many early civilizations. It was at this point in time when the food you ate defined your social status and where you lived, food was not only traded but also used as a currency. Various kinds of oils were highly valued during this period, so much so that it was the force of a trade between Hiram and Solomon (p. 56). Honey was also reserved for the wealthy upper class to consume, while the lower class consumed figs, however everyone ate dates and fish. Although the Egyptians had previously defined specific foods for specific social classes, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians had a much broader geographical range for trading and had also had created more attachments between social class and specific