Cooked starchy rhizomes in Africa 170 thousand years ago.

Plant carbohydrates were undoubtedly consumed in antiquity, yet starchy geophytes were seldom preserved archaeologically. We report evidence for geophyte exploitation by early humans from at least 170,000 years ago. Charred rhizomes from Border Cave, South Africa, were identified to the genus Hypoxis L. by comparing the morphology and anatomy of ancient and modern rhizomes. Hypoxis angustifolia Lam., the likely taxon, proliferates in relatively well-watered areas of sub-Saharan Africa and in Yemen, Arabia. In those areas and possibly farther north during moist periods, Hypoxis rhizomes would have provided reliable and familiar carbohydrate sources for mobile groups.

"Alone in a Sea of Rib-Tips": Alvenia Fulton, Natural Health, and the Politics of Soul Food1.

While the intersection between alternative medicine and the natural food movement in radical white communities of the 1960s and 1970s is well known, the connection between these traditions and the simultaneous revolution in the black foodscape has not received adequate attention. This paper addresses this gap by exploring how an alternative healer and minister from the rural South, Alvenia Fulton, rose to prominence in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s as one of the major figures in the transformation of the black diet by harnessing the star power of her celebrity clients. Fulton hybridized her apprenticeship in slave herbalism with concepts from white Protestant health food lectures into a corrective nutrition program to bring health and renewal to black communities that were struggling under the burden of structural and medical racism. When, in the 1960s, coronary heart disease peaked for black Americans, soul food became the iconic diet of the civil rights movement. To help her community while respecting their culture, Fulton struck a careful bargain to encourage more black Americans to eat raw, natural, vegetarian food by subtly reimagining the historical contents of the slave diet.

Vegetarian nutrition: past, present, future.

Early human food cultures were plant-based. Major religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism have recommended a vegetarian way of life since their conception. The recorded history of vegetarian nutrition started in the sixth century bc by followers of the Orphic mysteries. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras is considered the father of ethical vegetarianism. The Pythagorean way of life was followed by a number of important personalities and influenced vegetarian nutrition until the 19th century. In Europe, vegetarian nutrition more or less disappeared during the Middle Ages. In the Renaissance era and in the Age of Enlightenment, various personalities practiced vegetarianism. The first vegetarian society was started in England in 1847. The International Vegetarian Society was founded in 1908 and the first vegan society began in 1944. Prominent vegetarians during this time included Sylvester Graham, John Harvey Kellogg, and Maximilian Bircher-Benner. A paradigm shift occurred at the turn of the 21st century. The former prejudices that vegetarianism leads to malnutrition were replaced by scientific evidence showing that vegetarian nutrition reduces the risk of most contemporary diseases. Today, vegetarian nutrition has a growing international following and is increasingly accepted. The main reasons for this trend are health concerns and ethical, ecologic, and social issues. The future of vegetarian nutrition is promising because sustainable nutrition is crucial for the well-being of humankind. An increasing number of people do not want animals to suffer nor do they want climate change; they want to avoid preventable diseases and to secure a livable future for generations to come.

Alimentação de grupos humanos pré-históricos do sítio arqueológico Furna do Estrago, Pernambuco, Brasil / Power of prehistoric human groups from the archaeological site of the Cavern Damage, Pernambuco, Brazil

Considerando-se o encontro de resíduos alimentares que possibilitem a reconstrução dos hábitos humanos pré-históricos, esta pesquisa foi conduzida em coprólitos provenientes do sítio arqueológico Furna do Estrago, localizado em Pernambuco – Brasil, com material proveniente do período em que o sítio foi utilizado como cemitério com datações até 2.000 anos Antes do Presente (AP). O trabalho possibilitou identificar e conhecer os hábitos alimentares deste grupo pré-histórico através da identificação de restos alimentares encontrados na dieta. Os resultados encontrados revelaram um dieta rica em alimentos vegetais e o consumo de alimentos com propriedades medicinais, que, quando associados a estudos paleoparasitológicos anteriores,sugerem a possibilidade de uma paleofarmacopéia. Ainda, o encontro de tubérculos que sofreram algum tipo de cozimento indicam que se tratava de um grupo semi-sedentário com um início de horticultura. A diferença na alimentação entre homens e mulheres, bem como, a busca por alimentos encontrados em regiões distantes da localidade do sítio arqueológico também foram aqui apresentados...

Considering the gathering of food waste to enable the reconstruction of prehistoric humanhabits, this research was conducted in coprolites from the archaeological site of the Cavern Damage, located in Pernambuco - Brazil, with material from the period when the site was usedas with cemetery dating to 2000 years Before Present (BP).This study has helped to identify and meet the dietary habits of this prehistoric groupt hrough identification of food remains found in the diet. The results revealed a diet rich in plant foods and food consumption with medicinal properties, which, when associated with paleoparasitológicos previous studies suggest the possibility of a paleofarmacopéia. Still, themeeting of tubers who have suffered some type of cooking indicate that it was a semi-sedentary group with an onset of horticulture. The difference in power between men and women, as well asthe search for foods found in regions far from the location of the archaeological site were also presented here...

Oficina culinária de receitas vegetarianas com baixo teor de açúcares simples e gordura saturada / Workshop or vegetarian recipes low in simple sugars and saturated fat

Introdução: A dieta vegetariana difere da dieta onívora em aspectos que vão além da simples supressão de produtos cárneos. Os vegetarianos fazem um consumo elevado de vegetais, como frutas, cereais, hortaliças, leguminosas e oleginosas, além de sua dieta conter menor quantidade de gordura saturada e , relativamente, maior quantidade de gordura insaturada, carboidratos e fibras. Objetivo: Este estudo tem por objetivo testar aceitação de receitas vegetarianas com baixo teor de açúcares simples e gordura saturada entre graduandos de um Centro Universitário da zona sul de São Paulo. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de intervenção, que permite verificar o efeito de uma ação educativa entre indibvíduos estudados. Participaram do estudo graduandos deste Centro Universitário. Foram programados três encontros para o desenvolvimento da oficina culinária vegetariana e todos os graduiandos foram convidados. Participaram 13 alunos no primeiro encontro, nove no segundo encontro e terceiro. Foram testadas quatro receitas em cada encontro, entre doces, salgados e sucos nutritivos. Resultados: A avaliação sensorial foi feita por meio da escala hedônica de intenção de consumo com sete pontos, na qual 7 pontos significam comeria sempre, 6 comeria muito frequente, 5 comeria frequentemente, 4 comeria ocasionalmente, 3 comeria raramente, 2 comeria muito raramente e 1 nunca comeria. Todas as preparações testadas tiveram aceitação entre comeria sempre e comeria frequentemente. Conclusão: Todas as receitas vegetarianas tiveram boa aceitação pelos graduandos.

Introduction: The omnivorous vegetarian diet differs in ways that go beyond the simple removal of meat products. Vegetarians have a high consuption of vegetables and fruits, grains, vegetables and oilseeds, as well as their diets contain less saturedf fat and relatively larger amounts of unsaturated fat, fibers and carbohydrates. Objective: This study aims to test the acceptance of vegetarian recipes low in saturated fat and simple sugars between undergraduates from a University Center of the south zone of São Paulo. Methods: It is an intervention study to verify the effect of an educational activity among individuals studied. Study participants were undergraduates of this University Center. In order to develop a vegetarian cooking workshop, three meetings were scheduled. All undergraduates of University Center were invited. Thirteen students attended. The first meeting was attended by 13 students, nine students in the second and third meeting, four students tested recipes in every meeting consisting of sweet, salty and nutrious juices. Results: The sensorial evaluation was performed using the hedonic scale consuption of intent with seven points, 7 points which means always eat, 6 points eat very often, 5 points eat often, 4 points eat occasionally, 3 points eat rarely, 2 points eat very rarely, and 1 point never eat at all. All recipe tested were accepted between 7 points always eat 6 points eat very often. Conclusion: All vegetarian recipes had a good acceptance by undergraduates.

Making choices: ethics and vegetarianism.

I was seventeen and taking an elective course in Earth and Environmental Science. We were learning about farming and the food system­genetic modification, land use, organic labeling­when our teacher assigned us an article about beef. The article explained the following process: the U.S. government subsidizes corn, so we feed it to our cows, because corn is cheap and fattens the cows up quickly. Cows are biologically designed to eat grass, so their livers are unable to process the corn. The cows' livers would actually explode if they were permitted to grow to full maturity, but we slaughter them first. This, combined with their living in close quarters and wading in their own feces, causes the cows to get ill often, so we feed them a con-stant stream of antibiotics, a practice that strengthens bacterial strains such as E. coli. Roughly 78 percent of cows raised for beef undergo this process. Similarly nauseating practices are used to raise chickens, turkeys, and pigs, 99 percent, 97 percent, and 95 percent of which, respectively, come from factory farms. Nowadays, these details are less than shocking. Movies such as Food, Inc. and Super Size Me, as well as books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation have raised consciousness, if not much action, on the topic of our food system. But, for me, it was a new story.

Evangelicalism and the early vegetarian movement in Britain c.1847­1860.

This article explores the complex inter-relationship between evangelicalism and the formation of an organised vegetarian movement in Britain in the period 1847­1860. As well as adding insight into existing historical research into the diet, I will comment on the potential of evangelicalism's influence to reach into various areas of society, a claim that has often been contested in the existing historiography. I will explore the manner by which religious belief interacted with medico-scientific views pertaining to diet; and how it penetrated views on the role of diet to family life.

Pre-historic eating patterns in Latin America and protective effects of plant-based diets on cardiovascular risk factors.

In this review, we present the contributions to nutrition science from Latin American native peoples and scientists, appreciated from a historic point of view since pre-historic times to the modern age. Additionally, we present epidemiological and clinical studies on the area of plant-based diets and their relation with the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases conducted in recent decades, and we discuss challenges and perspectives regarding aspects of nutrition in the region.

Gandhi and the 'struck-off' doctor, Thomas Richard Allinson (1858-1918).

Gandhi visited London on several occasions. During two of these visits, when he was a law student from 1888 and again in 1914, he met Thomas Richard Allinson, a controversial doctor whose name was erased from the Medical Register in 1892. While in London studying for the bar, Gandhi was influenced in his search for a suitable vegetarian diet by the writings and personal support of Allinson. Although disagreeing profoundly with Allinson's views on birth control, he spoke up in defence of his right to hold them--probably the first time Gandhi challenged authority and an occasion which shows him as a tongue-tied young man but even then having a personal moral code that gives insight into the character of the future Mahatma. On Gandhi's further visit to England in 1914 Allinson, although no longer on the Medical Register, treated Gandhi for pleurisy, apparently partially successfully when orthodox medicine had failed.

Mealtime at a Tibetan monastery.

With assistance from lay volunteers and using a giant stove, Tibetan monks at Longen monastery in rural Qinghai province China prepare and serve meals for several hundred of their peers during the summer retreat. In the past, rugged geography and the isolation of this monastery above 13,000 feet gave reasons for the monks to eat local meat since other foodstuffs were unavailable in an area unable to support agriculture beyond herding animals, chiefly yaks and cows. However, closer contact with the outside has allowed the monks to adopt a vegetarian diet, but one that still uses local resources such as yoghurt and wild sweet potatoes.

Pre-historic eating patterns in Latin America and protective effects of plant-based diets on cardiovascular risk factors

In this review, we present the contributions to nutrition science from Latin American native peoples and scientists, appreciated from a historic point of view since pre-historic times to the modern age. Additionally, we present epidemiological and clinical studies on the area of plant-based diets and their relation with the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases conducted in recent decades, and we discuss challenges and perspectives regarding aspects of nutrition in the region.

[Fresh fruit and occultism as ways to salvation: conversions in Leipzig's alternative culture at around 1900]. / Frischobst und Okkultismus als Heilswege: Konversionen im alternativkulturellen Milieu Leipzigs um 1900.

During the time of the Wilhelmine Empire, there were multiple interdependencies between adherents of the life reform movement (vegetarians, naturopathists, nudists, etc.) and new religious movements such as esoteric groups like the theosophists in the alternative cultural milieu around 1900. These networks became visible in the form of double memberships in associations. However, there were also ambiguous affiliations, migration between groups and syncretistic beliefs without institutional belonging. The similarity between patterns of argumentation for this specific lifestyle and the congruence of chosen goals, ways and goods of salvation become particularly clear in this context. These forms of "methodical lifestyle" may lead to the development of a specific ethos or habitus (Max Weber). To illustrate these processes, this article analyses the report of a Leipzig lady who ate raw fruits and vegetables only, and examines her broader social context. Thereby the analysis will employ sociological theories of conversion to explain the case of Hedwig Bresch.

[Medicine on mission: The international health reform of Seventh-Day Adventists and their health care facilities in Sweden]. / Missionerande medicin. Sjundedagsadventisternas internationella hälsoreform och vårdinrättningar i Sverige.

The international non-conformist denomination, Seventh-day Adventists, have since their foundation in 1863, had a distinctive health care model for their members. The life-style has included vegetarian diet, abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and the observance of a day of rest once a week. The health policy has striven to care for God's creation in the hope of resurrection at the Day of Judgment and to reform the conventional medical practice. The Adventists have pursued an extensive international health care system--from the start based on dietary and physical treatment methods, such as hydrotherapy, massage and physiotherapy--in line with the Christian mission. Health care establishments have been inaugurated around the world as a vehicle for enabling the Christian health care message to reach the upper classes. With Adventist and Doctor, John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanatorium in Michigan as both inspirational source and educational institution, the health care mission--including a vegetarian health food industry, following in the footsteps of cornflakes--spread to the Nordic countries by the turn of the century, 1900. Skodsborgs Badesanatorium near Copenhagen became the model institution for several health care establishments in Sweden during the 1900's, such as Hultafors Sanatorium. The American-Nordic link has manifested itself through co-publication of papers, exchange of health care personnel and reporting to the central Adventist church. The American non-conformist domain as well as a private sphere of activity, aiming mainly from the outset at society's upper classes, has encountered certain difficulties in maintaining this distinction in Sweden's officially increasing secularised society, and in relation to a state health insurance and a publicly financed health care system. With the passing of time, the socioeconomic composition of patients at Hultafors became more heterogeneous, and conventional medical procedures were increasingly incorporated into the array of treatment resources. The successful enterprises--as they had been for a considerable time--could not, at the end of the 20th century, continue to be self financing or fulfil the missionary objectives among the upper classes. The institutionalised health care apparatus came to an end around the turn of the century, which also included the sale of health associated food product companies. The Seventh-day Adventist's combination of medicine and religion with Christian missionary aims have indeed, not only steered health care models and institutions worldwide, but also which target groups to mainly turn to, the specific treatment philosophy, desirable working environment and which medical technologies to use. Furthermore, the Adventist's health reform and care of the sick provide an example for how different medical cultures influence each other and develop in relation to one another in a pluralistic medical market. The developments are not merely a reflection of the medical, scientific and technical advancements, but also of the medical market's structure, financing and (inter)national connections, of religion, culture and not least of all, patients' options and their choices.

Food and the purification of society: Dr. Paul Carton and vegetarianism in interwar France.

This article examines the life and work of Dr Paul Carton (1875-1947), a French physician who promoted 'naturist vegetarianism". His career and the evolution of his ideas were influenced by his own experience as a young man of treatment for tuberculosis, and by an anti-materialist philosophy. He developed a diet for his patients that became influential through his writings and through the activities of the French Naturist Society. Although by no means the only advocate of such ideas, Carton's influence has survived and can still be discerned in a close reading of the present-day French popular press.