Ancient Foods from Ancient Kingdoms

Whether it were by accident, or due to thousands of years of trial and error, ancient civilisations have continually eaten prebiotic foods that are extremely beneficial for our gut health.

Fermented (prebiotic) products were a way of preserving foods so that human civilisations did not starve during the harsher seasons. By this logic, it seems a mear accident that ancient civilizations benefited from the amazing health benefits of looking after gut health through complex fermented foods.

However, findings from linguists and historians, such as Brian Muraresku, suggest that certain ancient kingdoms had a deeper understanding of health and medicine than we thought.

Through archeological chemistry and ancient scriptures from the Greeks, it has been shown that ‘wine’ was something different in these ancient times. Traces of this drink, of fermented barley or rye, spiked with a variety of botanicals such as senna, sage and nightshades, have been found in pots or within ancient recipe guides.

These ancient civilisations may not have known why their intricately prepared medicinal ‘wines’ were so beneficial to their vitality or health, but recent findings make us revel in the amazement that they were utilizing fermented drinks for health reasons thousands of years ago.

Today, we can experience ancient foods such as Kimchi, Kombucha, Sauerkraut and Keffir. Better still, we can actually understand our unique balance of gut microbiome through a simple test at Nylos, to help us navigate which particular foods are best for our own personal bodies.

I wonder what recipes the Ancient Greeks would have come up with if they had this information at their fingertips.