2.Ishouldputthisdownmyselftotheabsenceofchangesintheclimate,for
change, and especially changes of weather, is the prime cause of disease.- They eat loaves of Spelt-cyllestesis their word for them...
4....and drink a wine made from barley, as they have no vines in the country.
5.Somekindsoffishtheyeatraw,eitherdriedinthesun,orsalted;quails,too,they
eatraw,andducksandvarioussmallbirds,afterpicklingtheminbrine;othersorts
ofbirdsandfish,apartfromthosewhichareconsideredsacred,theyeitherroastor
boil.
6...neverthelesstheyarepeculiarincertainwayswhichtheyhavediscoveredofliv-
ingmorecheaply:forinstance,theygatherthewater-lilies(Lotuses)whichgrowin
greatabundancewhentheriverisfullandfloodstheneighboringflats,anddry
theminthesun;thenfromthecenterofeachblossomtheypickoutsomething
whichresemblesapoppyhead,grindit,andmakeitintoloaveswhichtheybake.
Therootofthisplantisalsoedible;itisround,aboutasbigasanapple,andtastes
sweet.
7.Thereisanotherkindoflilytobefoundintheriver;thisre-
semblesarose,anditsfruitisformedonaseparatestalkfromthat
whichbearstheblossom,andhasverymuchthelooksofawasp’s
comb.Thefruitcontainsanumberofseeds,aboutthesizeofan
olive-stone, which are good to eat either green or dried.
8.Theypulluptheannualcropofpapyrus-reedwhichgrowsinthemashes,cutthe
stalksintwo,andeatthelowerpart,abouteighteeninchesinlength,firstbakingit
inaclosedpan,heatedred-hot,iftheywanttoenjoyittoperfection.Theuppersec-
tion of the stalk is used for some other purpose.
9.Someofthesepeople,however,liveuponnothingbutfish,whichtheygutas
soon as they catch them, and eat after drying them in the sun.
To summarize some important points from the above writings of Herodotus:
A-Anotherimportantpointisthatthesunwasusedformuchofthecookingasopposedtostoves,
andevenworse,microwaveovenswhichdestroyboththegrossandsubtlenutritionalqualityof
foods.
B- Many foods were eaten raw and vegetables made up a major part of the diet.
C-Wheatwasnotamajorpartofthediet.Speltwasusedinstead.InNaturopathicmedicineandIndi-
anAyurVedascience, 61 wheathasbeenfoundtobeincompatiblewithsomepeople,causingthem
phlegm or congestion.
D-TheAncientEgyptianslivedinanareaoftheworldwheretheclimatewasstable.Thisisimport-
antbecausetheirphysicalbodieswerenotsubjectedtodrasticchangessuchasinthoseareaswhere
seasonaltemperaturechangesrangemanydegrees.Therearecertainlocationsintheworldwherethe