Agropastoral and dietary practices of the northern Levant facing Late Holocene climate and environmental change: Isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Bronze to Iron Age Tell Tweini.

One of the largest isotopic datasets of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean region is evaluated, based on plants (n = 410), animals (n = 210) and humans (n = 16) from Tell Tweini (Syria). Diachronic analysis of plant and faunal specimens from four main periods of occupation: Early Bronze Age (2600-2000 BC), Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC), Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC) and Iron Age (1200-333 BC) were investigated. Mean Δ13C results from seven plant species reveal emmer and free threshing wheat, olives, bitter vetch, rye grass and barley were adequately or well-watered during all periods of occupation. The grape Δ13C results suggest excellent growing conditions and particular care for its cultivation. The δ15N results indicate that especially the emmer and free threshing wheats received some manure inputs throughout the occupation sequence, while these were likely further increased during the Iron Age, encompassing also the olive groves and grape vineyards. Generally, domestic animals (cattle, sheep, goats) had C3 terrestrial diets and were kept together in similar environments. However, some animals consumed significant amounts of marine or C4 plants, possibly from disturbed habitats due to land use pressure or salt tolerant grasses and shrubs from wetland environments, which were recorded in the direct vicinity of the site. Middle Bronze Age humans consumed a C3 terrestrial diet with no measurable input from C4, freshwater or marine protein sources. Interestingly, the human diet was relatively low in animal protein and appears comparable to what is considered today a typical Mediterranean diet consisting of bread (wheat/barley), olives, grapes, pulses, dairy products and small amounts of meat. The combined isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Tell Tweini represents unbroken links in the food chain which create unparalleled opportunities to enhance our current understanding of environmental conditions, climate change and lifeways in past populations from the Eastern Mediterranean.

Framing the Latin American nutrition transition in a historical perspective, 1850 to the present / A constituição da transição nutricional latino-americana em uma perspectiva histórica, 1850 até o presente

Abstract This paper argues that many of the foundations and trends that led to the rise in obesity and other diet-related health problems in Latin America began to develop in the late nineteenth century. The tendency towards presentism in the nutrition transition literature provides a much abbreviated and limited history of changes in diet and weight. Whereas medical and nutrition researchers have tended to emphasize the recent onset of the crisis, a historical perspective suggests that increasingly global food sourcing prompted changes in foodways and a gradual "fattening" of Latin America. This paper also provides a methodological and historiographic exploration of how to historicize the nutrition transition, drawing on a diverse array of sources from pre-1980 to the present.

Resumo Este trabalho argumenta que fundamentos e tendências que levaram ao aumento da obesidade e de outros problemas de saúde relacionados à alimentação na América Latina começaram a surgir no final do século XIX. A propensão ao presentismo na literatura sobre transição nutricional produz uma história abreviada e limitada das mudanças em alimentação e peso. Embora pesquisadores médicos e nutricionistas enfatizem a recente instalação da crise, uma perspectiva histórica sugere que fontes alimentares crescentemente globalizadas resultaram em mudanças na alimentação e em gradual "aumento de gordura" na população latino-americana. O artigo propõe ainda a exploração metodológica e historiográfica de como historicizar a transição nutricional recorrendo a fontes pré-1980 até o momento.

The Major Source of Antioxidants Intake From Typical Diet Among Rural Farmers in North-eastern Japan in the 1990s.

BACKGROUND: Previous Japanese studies have led to the erroneous conclusion of antioxidant capacity (AOC) intakes of the overall Japanese diet due to limitations in the number and types of food measured, especially in rice and seafood intake. The aims of the study were to construct an AOC database of foods representative of the typical Japanese diet and to clarify the high contributors to AOC intake from the overall diet of the Japanese population. METHODS: Commonly consumed foods were estimated using 3-day dietary records (DRs) over the four seasons among 55 men and 58 women in Japan. To generate an AOC database suitable for the typical Japanese diet, hydrophilic (H-)/lipophilic (L-) oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values of foods in each food group were measured via validated methods using the food intake rankings. Subsequently, we estimated the AOC intake and the AOC characteristics of a typical Japanese diet. RESULTS: Of 989 food items consumed by the participants, 189 food items were measured, which covered 78.8% of the total food intake. The most commonly consumed types of antioxidant-containing food were tea, soybean products, coffee, and rice according to H-ORAC, and soybean products, fish and shellfish, vegetables, and algae according to L-ORAC. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristics of high AOC intake in rice and seafood more appropriately reflected the Japanese-style diet. Further studies are expected to clarify the association between food-derived AOC and its role in preventing or ameliorating lifestyle-related diseases.

Da circum-navegação da Vital de Oliveira às novas tabelas de rações: alimentação e saúde a bordo dos navios da Marinha Imperial Brasileira, 1879-1886 / From the circumnavigation of the Vital de Oliveira to the new ration tables: nutrition and health on Brazilian Imperial Navy vessels, 1879-1886

Resumo Entre 1879 e 1881 a corveta Vital de Oliveira realizou a primeira viagem de circum-navegação da Marinha Brasileira. Um dos itens que ocuparam as preocupações do comandante do navio, Júlio de Noronha, em seu relatório da viagem foi a alimentação; preocupação reforçada no relatório médico da expedição redigido pelo primeiro-cirurgião Galdino Magalhães. Essa preocupação ganhou destaque devido ao elevado saldo de enfermos e mortos durante a viagem, para o que teria contribuído a carência de determinados gêneros alimentícios, de acordo com ambos os relatórios. O artigo discute a relação entre a alimentação e a saúde das tripulações. Além disso, trata da relação entre a viagem da Vital e a implementação de uma nova tabela de rações efetivada em 1886.

Abstract The corvette Vital de Oliveira was the first Brazilian Navy vessel to circumnavigate the world, from 1879 to 1881. One of the items that concerned its captain, Júlio de Noronha, in his trip report was the food supply, which was further reinforced in the medical report for the expedition written by the head surgeon, Galdino Magalhães. This concern was notable due to the high numbers of sailors who sickened and died during the trip, which according to both reports may have been caused by shortages of certain foods. This article discusses the relationship between food and health in the crew, as well as the relationship between this journey and the implementation of a new ration table that took effect in 1886.

External auditory exostoses and early Neolithic aquatic resource procurement in Cyprus: Results from Cypro-PPNB Kissonerga-Mylouthkia in regional context.

OBJECTIVE: This research is designed to evaluate the occurrence of external auditory exostoses (EAEs) in skeletal remains from the oldest known water wells in the world (Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, Cyprus, 8,200-7,200 BCE). MATERIALS: Six individuals (MNI = 6), five fragmentary temporalia, two preserved auditory canals. METHODS: Macroscopic and microscopic (up to x30) observation, with illumination; presence, type, side, severity, occlusion, number, and position of bony growths recorded. RESULTS: Bony growths within two auditory canals were discovered. Differential diagnosis includes osteomata and external auditory exostoses, with the latter consistent with the bony growths (Grade 1 EAEs, two adult males, one with single, another with two EAEs). CONCLUSIONS: The emergence of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia is thought to involve increases in dietary breadth among foraging societies (Broad-Spectrum Revolution). EAEs likely indicate maritime activity in this context, given the lack of freshwater bodies, and zooarchaeological evidence points to dietary and other uses of maritime organisms. SIGNIFICANCE: This EAE evidence is the oldest known in maritime contexts in Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, and first in Cyprus. It contributes towards understanding the initial colonization events by Neolithic farming communities in the 9th millennium BC, and the emergence of broad-spectrum economies at the dawn of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia, crucial for re-considerations of paradigms on the transition to the Neolithic way of life in the Near East. LIMITATIONS: Only a few skeletal remains from these prehistoric contexts were available for observation. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Further intensive review of Cypriot skeletal collections for EAEs is advised.

Multiple occurrence of premature polyarticular osteoarthritis in an early medieval Bohemian cemetery (Prague, Czech Republic).

OBJECTIVES: To highlight conditions that may cause early-onset degenerative joint disease, and to assess the possible impact of such diseases upon everyday life. MATERIAL: Four adults aged under 50 years from a medieval skeletal collection of Prague (Czechia). METHODS: Visual, osteometric, X-ray, and histological examinations, stable isotope analysis of bone collagen. RESULTS: All four individuals showed multiple symmetrical degenerative changes, affecting the majority of joints of the postcranial skeleton. Associated dysplastic deformities were observed in all individuals, including bilateral hip dysplasia (n = 1), flattening of the femoral condyles (n = 3), and substantial deformation of the elbows (n = 3). The diet of the affected individuals differed from the contemporary population sample. CONCLUSIONS: We propose the diagnosis of a mild form of skeletal dysplasia in these four individuals, with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia or type-II collagenopathy linked to premature osteoarthritis as the most probable causes. SIGNIFICANCE: Combining the skeletal findings with information from the medical literature, this paper defines several characteristic traits which may assist with the diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia in the archaeological record. LIMITATIONS: As no genetic analysis was performed to confirm the possible kinship of the individuals, it is not possible to definitively assess whether the individuals suffered from the same hereditary condition or from different forms of skeletal dysplasia. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Further studies on premature osteoarthritis in archaeological skeletal series are needed to correct the underrepresentation of these mild forms of dysplasia in past populations.

Ingredientes de um prato exótico: saúde e alimentação em pauta no primeiro Congresso Médico Amazônico (Belém, 1939) / Ingredients for an exotic dish: health and diet on the agenda of the first Amazonian Medical Congress (Belém, 1939)

Resumo O artigo apresenta o contexto de organização e realização do primeiro Congresso Médico Amazônico, ocorrido na cidade de Belém, em agosto de 1939. Inserido na tradição da divulgação científica de seu tempo, o evento reuniu parte das elites médicas da região e contou com a participação de convidados reconhecidos nacional e internacionalmente, entre eles Josué de Castro e Dante Costa. Tendo como principais fontes os materiais impressos produzidos pelo congresso e as notícias veiculadas nos jornais paraenses, este texto examina a concentração de debates sobre as carências alimentares da Amazônia observando a compreensão acadêmica e política das faces do fenômeno para a região.

Abstract The context in which the first Amazonian Medical Congress was organized and held in Belém, Brazil, in August 1939, is presented. Within the tradition of scientific communication of its time, the event brought together some of the region's medical elites and also had nationally and internationally renowned guest participants, including Josué de Castro and Dante Costa. Taking the printed matter produced by the congress and news stories printed in the local press as its main sources, this study examines the accompanying debates on dietary deficiencies in the Amazon, observing academic and political understandings of the different aspects of the phenomenon for the region.

[Diets and social inequality in the Spanish nutritional transition: the Hospital Provincial of Valencia and the hospital Sant Jaume of Olot, 1900-1936]. / Dietas y desigualdad social en la transición nutricional española: el Hospital Provincial de Valencia y el Hospital Sant Jaume de Olot; 1900-1936.

INTRODUCTION: studies about the Nutritional Transition in Spain (NTS) until the mid-20th century are based on direct, and heavily aggregated, consumption estimates, a methodology that obscures important aspects of this process. OBJECTIVE: to show the new possibilities of study opened by the analysis of hospital diets and to suggest new NTS indicators based on the menus provided by the Hospital Provincial in Valencia (HPV) and the Hospital Sant Jaume in Olot (HSJO), between 1900 and 1936. METHOD: we have calculated food and nutrient consumption among patients and hospital staff as well as among different groups of the population, and compared the results thus obtained with those calculated for the whole of Spain in the previous article in this supplement. RESULTS: hospital menus contributed to disseminate certain strategic foodstuffs for the NTS: milk, eggs and fresh meat first, and fish, vegetables and fruit later. The public dissemination of these foodstuffs was, however, uneven, and deficits in the intake of micro- and macro-nutrients intake decreased at different paces, according to social group. CONCLUSIONS: hospital diets confirm that nutrition in Spain improved in the decades that preceded the Civil War, as well as the pioneering role that sanitary institutions played in this process. The data also suggests that the process operated at different paces in the reduction of deficits in the intake of certain nutrients according to age groups and socio-economic status.

Introducción: los estudios sobre la transición nutricional española (TNE) hasta mediados del siglo XX se basaban en estimaciones indirectas y muy agregadas del consumo que no permiten conocer aspectos importantes de aquel proceso.Objetivo: mostrar las nuevas posibilidades de estudio que proporcionan las dietas hospitalarias y proponer nuevos indicadores de la TNE a partir de las estimadas en el Hospital Provincial de Valencia (HPV) y en el Hospital Sant Jaume de Olot (HSJO) entre 1900 y 1936.Método: calculamos el consumo de alimentos y nutrientes de pacientes y empleados en aquellos hospitales y en diferentes subgrupos de población del primero. Contrastamos nuestros resultados con los obtenidos para España en el artículo anterior de este suplemento.Resultados: las dietas hospitalarias contribuyeron a difundir alimentos estratégicos de la TNE: primero, leche, huevos y carne fresca, y después, pescado fresco, verduras y frutas. La difusión de estos alimentos, sin embargo, fue desigual entre la población y no redujo con la misma intensidad los déficits en la ingesta de macronutrientes y micronutrientes.Conclusiones: las dietas hospitalarias confirman la mejora del estado nutricional de la población española en las décadas anteriores a la Guerra Civil y el papel pionero que tuvieron las instituciones sanitarias en este proceso. No obstante, también muestran diferentes cronologías en la reducción de los déficits de importantes nutrientes entre grupos de edad y estatus socioeconómico.

The Past, Present, and Future of Nutrition and Cancer: Part 1-Was A Nutritional Association Acknowledged a Century Ago?

Professional interest in the association of diet and nutrition with cancer first appeared in the early 1800s, if not before. Yet, progress in understanding this association over the past two centuries has been exceedingly slow and confusing. Without addressing this confusion, progress in using diet and nutrition information to prevent and even to treat cancer, will remain uncertain. To better understand this issue, the present paper is the first of two to explore the history of the diet and cancer relationship prior to a 1982 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on Diet, Nutrition and Cancer. This report was a milestone in the nutrition and cancer history because it was the first science-based, institutional report on this topic. But, based on the evidence cited in that report, it could be inferred that this topic was relatively new, perhaps beginning around 1940. While it attracted great public interest, it also generated great controversy, some of which was a natural response from affected industries. Exploring the history prior to 1940, therefore, might provide clues on the present-day confusion concerning the relationship between diet and cancer. This investigation asks three questions. First (the subject of this paper), was the relationship of nutrition to cancer even considered prior to 1940 and, if so, what was said? Second (the subject of the upcoming paper), assuming that nutrition was seriously considered, why then was it ignored or forgotten? Third, has the forgotten information contributed to the contemporary confusion surrounding the relationship to cancer? The answer to the first question, considered here, is that, yes, nutrition as a possible cause of cancer was not only hypothesized, it was a major topic for discussion in some quarters. But it also was a topic struggling to be heard among the authorities who had most of the power and influence in the professional cancer community. This paper documents that history and the corresponding struggle for this message to be heard. One figure, Frederick Hoffman, founder of the American Cancer Society and prodigious researcher, led much of that effort during the period of 1913-1943, but his contributions have remained almost totally unknown.

Shifting diet, shifting culture? A bioarchaeological approach to island dietary development on Iron-Age Öland, Baltic Sea.

OBJECTIVES: The diet and subsistence in Iron-Age Öland is debated as earlier studies and different archaeological sources seemingly provide conflicting interpretations. The objectives of this study are therefore to: (i) add new insights on diet and (ii) investigate the chronological variation in detail. It is common in studies of diet to investigate differences between datasets defined by archaeological periods (determined by artefact typology), but it is rare to explore whether these dietary changes are, in fact, well correlated with these temporal categories or not. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stable isotope analysis of 108 individuals and 25 animals was used to interpret diet in comparison with data from earlier studies. Different values of TLE (Trophic Level Effect) for δ15 N were compared for interpretations of diet. Of the 108 individuals, 42 were subjected to 14 C analysis in this study. RESULTS: The isotopes from Iron-Age animals on Öland indicate that the local, contemporary ecology is specific. The human isotope values show chronological development both when pooled in chronological groups by typology and by more specific 14 C chronology. DISCUSSION: The new samples of animals as well as the use of 5‰ TLE for δ15 N values results in the diet reinterpreted as mainly domesticate-based, with at least two shifts in diet occurring in the Iron Age. The use of 14 C dates in connection with the stable isotope results indicates a dietary transition occurring between 200 BC and AD 200, a date range that spans two typologically determined time periods.

On the history of gout: paleopathological evidence from the Medici family of Florence.

OBJECTIVES: Throughout history, gout has been referred to as the "disease of the kings", and has been clearly associated with the lifestyle of the aristocratic social classes. According to the written sources, several members of the famous Medici family of Florence suffered from an arthritic disease that contemporary physicians called "gout". A paleopathological study carried out on the skeletal remains of some members of the family, exhumed from their tombs in the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, offered a unique opportunity to directly investigate the evidence of the arthritic diseases affecting this elite group. METHODS: The skeletal remains of several members of the family were examined macroscopically and submitted to x-ray investigation. RESULTS: The results of the study allowed us to ascertain that the so-called "gout of the Medici" should be considered the clinical manifestation of three different joint conditions: diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, rheumatoid arthritis and uratic gout. In particular, uric acid gout was diagnosed in the Grand Duke Ferdinand I (1549-1609). Recently, a new case of this disease was diagnosed in Anton Francesco Maria (1618-1659), a probable illegitimate member of the family. CONCLUSIONS: With this new case, uratic gout was observed in 2 out of 9 adult males, leading to suppose that the disease should have been a common health problem within the family. The aetiology of the disease has to be searched in environmental factors, since both historical and paleonutritional studies demonstrated that the diet of this aristocratic court was rich in meat and wine.

Fome, comida e bebida na música popular brasileira: um breve ensaio / Hunger, food and drink in Brazilian popular music: a brief overview

O artigo reflete sobre como as temáticas fome, consumo de refrigerantes e consumo de feijão com arroz são enfocadas na música popular brasileira. Investigamos os anos de ditadura militar (1964-1985). O foco da análise é a chamada canção de protesto, gênero musical caracterizado por críticas estético-cultural, político-ideológica e social aos governos militares. Tomando como referencial teórico os estudos de ideologia e filosofia da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin, evidenciamos que a canção de protesto retratou elementos dos contextos econômico, político e social, e propiciou a difusão de hábitos e ideologias alimentares saudáveis ou não saudáveis, contribuindo para a construção da identidade alimentar brasileira.

The article reflects on how the themes of hunger, consumption of soft drinks and consumption of beans and rice are addressed in Brazilian popular music. We investigate the years of military dictatorship (1964-1985). The focus of the analysis is on the so-called protest song, a musical genre characterized by aesthetic, cultural, political, ideological and social criticism to military rule. The study of the ideology and philosophy of language of Mikhail Bakhtin is the theoretical reference; especially his concepts of “ideological sign” and “word.” Analysis reveals that the protest song portrayed elements of the economic, political and social contexts and led to the diffusion of healthy or unhealthy eating habits or ideologies, contributing to the construction of the Brazilian dietary identity.

Acne pathogenesis: history of concepts.

From the first reliable descriptions of acne in the early 19th century, dermatologists recognized it as a disease of the pilosebaceous follicle. Until the middle of the 20th century, they hypothesized that seborrhoea, follicular keratosis and microorganisms could be individually responsible for the acne lesions. Inflammation was only regarded as the final and inescapable step of the acne process. Although the importance of these factors has been reevaluated, recent works still regarded them as mandatory. In the 1970s, the onset of isotretinoin dramatically improved acne management. It also provided great opportunities for a better understanding of the pathogenic factors of acne. This study analyzes their genesis and development from the seminal contributions until recent advances.

Changes in dietary practices and social organization during the pivotal late iron age period in Norway (AD 550-1030): isotope analyses of Merovingian and Viking Age human remains.

Human remains representing 33 individuals buried along the coast in northern Norway were analyzed for diet composition using collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Where possible, both teeth and bone were included to investigate whether there were dietary changes from childhood to adulthood. A general shift was documented from the Merovingian Age 550-800 AD to the Viking Age AD 800-1050 (VA), with a heavier reliance on marine diet in the VA. Dietary life history data show that 15 individuals changed their diets through life with 11 of these having consumed more marine foods in the later years of life. In combination with (87) Sr/(86) Sr data, it is argued that at least six individuals possibly originated from inland areas and then moved to the coastal region where they were eventually interred. The trend is considered in relation to the increasing expansion of the marine fishing industry at this time, and it is suggested that results from isotope analyses reflect the expanding production and export of stockfish in this region.

Water consumption in Iron Age, Roman, and Early Medieval Croatia.

Patterns of water consumption by past human populations are rarely considered, yet drinking behavior is socially mediated and access to water sources is often socially controlled. Oxygen isotope analysis of archeological human remains is commonly used to identify migrants in the archeological record, but it can also be used to consider water itself, as this technique documents water consumption rather than migration directly. Here, we report an oxygen isotope study of humans and animals from coastal regions of Croatia in the Iron Age, Roman, and Early Medieval periods. The results show that while faunal values have little diachronic variation, the human data vary through time, and there are wide ranges of values within each period. Our interpretation is that this is not solely a result of mobility, but that human behavior can and did lead to human oxygen isotope ratios that are different from that expected from consumption of local precipitation.

Discurso médico e práticas alimentares no Hospital Real de Moçambique no início do século XIX / Medical discourse and eating habits in the Hospital Real de Moçambique in the early nineteenth century

Com base em estudos e documentos de arquivo, explora-se o modo como as práticas médicas europeias que relacionavam dieta e saúde, no início do século XIX, foram transpostas para África, especificamente Moçambique. Examina-se a evolução das teorias europeias sobre o papel preventivo e terapêutico da alimentação, destacando-se as concepções da medicina humoral e a sua reconfiguração pela ciência iluminista. Descreve-se o hospital moçambicano, considerando as categorias de doentes assistidos e as doenças prevalecentes na região. Focam-se as alterações introduzidas na alimentação hospitalar, aproximando-a da europeia. Analisam-se essas modificações em articulação com os desenvolvimentos do discurso médico europeu, reconstruído pela fisiologia e pela química, em torno do corpo e dos alimentos.

Based on studies and archive documents, this work investigates the way European medical practice that interrelated diet and health in the early nineteenth century was transported to Africa, specifically Mozambique. The development of European theories about the preventive and therapeutic role of diet is examined, highlighting the conceptions of humoral theory and its reconfiguration by the science of the Enlightenment. The Mozambican hospital is described, taking into account the categories of patients cared for and prevailing diseases in the region. Focus is given to the changes introduced to hospital food to bring it closer to European habits. These changes are analyzed in the light of developments in European medical discourse about the body and foodstuffs, reconstructed by physiology and chemistry.