History Most nutrious raw or whole foods

Old Hickory

Sergeant Major
Joined
May 4, 2010
Location
Enders, Pa.
As history nuts, foods are often set aside in favor of dates, places, events, and people, but these people had to eat. Let's open a discussion on what they ate. I'm talking about the raw foods for nutrition, (recipes are always welcome of course) from the dawn of man to the present.

I'd like to start with a grain, Millet. From what I've read, millet is among the most nutritious grains grown. It seems to thrive in warm dry climates, but does well almost anywhere due to it's short growing season. Classified as a grass, it produces long strands of seeds that are harvested and used as a staple food in many parts of the less developed world. Several major varieties include, pearl, finger, foxtail, and proso with some lesser varieties also grown. In the U.S. currently it's grown mainly as bird food, but there are mills that process it for human consumption. Some places it's grown as a grazing food for animals. It's even been used to brew beer.

Here's some nutrition facts;

Nutrient profile comparison of millet with other food staples
Synopsis[17] ~ composition:
Cassava[18] Wheat[19] Rice[20] Sweetcorn[21] Potato[22] Sorghum
Millet[23]
Proso
Millet[24]
Component
(per 100g portion, raw grain)
Amount Amount Amount Amount Amount Amount Amount
water (g) 60 13.1 12 76 82 9.2 8.7
energy (kJ) 667 1368 1527 360 288 1418 1582
protein (g) 1.4 12.6 7 3 1.7 11.3 11
fat (g) 0.3 1.5 1 1 0.1 3.3 4.2
carbohydrates (g) 38 71.2 79 19 16 75 73
fiber (g) 1.8 12.2 1 3 2.4 6.3 8.5
sugars (g) 1.7 0.4 >0.1 3 1.2 1.9
iron (mg) 0.27 3.2 0.8 0.5 0.5 4.4 3
manganese (mg) 0.4 3.9 1.1 0.2 0.1 <0.1 1.6
calcium (mg) 16 29 28 2 9 28 8
magnesium (mg) 21 126 25 37 21 <120 114
phosphorus (mg) 27 288 115 89 62 287 285
potassium (mg) 271 363 115 270 407 350 195
zinc (mg) 0.3 2.6 1.1 0.5 0.3 <1 1.7
pantothenic acid (mg) 0.1 0.9 1.0 0.7 0.3 <0.9 0.8
vitB6 (mg) 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 <0.3 0.4
folate (µg) 27 38 8 42 18 <25 85
thiamin (mg) 0.1 0.38 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.4
riboflavin (mg) <0.1 0.1 >0.1 0.1 >0.1 0.1 0.3
niacin (mg) 0.9 5.5 1.6 1.8 1.1 2.9 4.7
Nutrient Content of Various Millets with comparison to Rice and Wheat (Source: Millet Network of India, http://www.milletindia.org )
Crop / Nutrient Protein(g) Fiber(g) Minerals(g) Iron(mg) Calcium(mg)
Pearl millet 10.6 1.3 2.3 16.9 38
Finger millet 7.3 3.6 2.7 3.9 344
Foxtail millet 12.3 8 3.3 2.8 31
Proso millet 12.5 2.2 1.9 0.8 14
Kodo millet 8.3 9 2.6 0.5 27
Little millet 7.7 7.6 1.5 9.3 17
Barnyard millet 11.2 10.1 4.4 15.2 11
Rice 6.8 0.2 0.6 0.7 10
Wheat 11.8 1.2 1.5 5.3 41

It's said millet was an bread staple in ancient times and continues to feed a good bit of the populations of India, China, Russia, and Africa. I've not tried it myself yet, but it's available from several mills here in the U.S. for human consumption. Anybody have any recipes for baking with millet?

What do you have as a raw nutritious food?
 
I've eaten millet. Prepared according to the package directions, by lightly pan roasting it, then cooking it like rice, it tastes surprisingly like popcorn. I could not shake the impression that I was eating birdseed.

Sorghum and milo are also forms of millet. Milo used to be a very common crop around here in West Tennessee and northern Mississippi - we used to trail ride through endless fields of milo. It was mainly grown as pig feed. Ripe milo has very heavy heads which will hit you really hard in the legs if you ride through it. I don't know what changed, but I rarely see milo anymore, it's more often soybeans.
 
Today it's Chestnuts! I have an addiction for them, I have no less than four trees here on my property, two Chinese which produce a sweet nut and two American/Chinese hybrids, (90% American-10% Chinese to make them blight resistant). The American hybrids are just seedlings, but I can hardly wait to get nuts from them. Chestnuts are very nutritious for both man and wildlife. These nuts, along with walnuts and acorns were a staple for the Eastern Indian Nations, look and learn from these people, they probably ate better than we do today.

I eat them raw, right out of the burr and shell, or nick them with a knife and boil them in salt water for a special treat with beer. Probably the classic roasting them in butter, salt and spices isn't the healthiest way to eat them, but most reserve this treat for the holidays.
 
Chestnuts were used in many recipes, including soups, puddings and stuffing.

This 19th century recipe for Chestnut Soup is from "The Historic Foodie".

"Shell and blanch a pint of chestnuts and cook in boiling milk until tender. Rub the nuts through a colander, add salt and sufficient milk and cream to make a soup of proper consistency, reheat and serve."

I know this cooked chestnuts but still very healthy.
 
Today it's Chestnuts! I have an addiction for them, I have no less than four trees here on my property, two Chinese which produce a sweet nut and two American/Chinese hybrids, (90% American-10% Chinese to make them blight resistant). The American hybrids are just seedlings, but I can hardly wait to get nuts from them. Chestnuts are very nutritious for both man and wildlife. These nuts, along with walnuts and acorns were a staple for the Eastern Indian Nations, look and learn from these people, they probably ate better than we do today.

I eat them raw, right out of the burr and shell, or nick them with a knife and boil them in salt water for a special treat with beer. Probably the classic roasting them in butter, salt and spices isn't the healthiest way to eat them, but most reserve this treat for the holidays.
A few years ago I was listening to the song "Chestnuts roasting by an open fire..." and it occurred to me that I had never eaten a chestnut. I just sort of passed by them in the store without looking at them.

They would have been very familiar to our Civil War ancestors, however! The chestnut blight in the early part of the 20th century destroyed an estimated four billion trees. Chestnuts went from being the most common tree in many landscapes to a handful of very rare, isolated trees.

The chestnut is a tricky thing to roast. The first time I did them, I followed the instruction to make a cross on one side to allow the steam to escape, but I didn't make it big enough and most of my chestnuts exploded! My husband and I couldn't stop laughing long enough to get them out of the oven, the cat was hiding, it was a fiasco.

Old Hickory, I'm so glad to read about your trees. I was reading about how the blight-resistant gene has been introduced into the American variety. Hopefully someday America will have chestnut forests again.
 
A few years ago I was listening to the song "Chestnuts roasting by an open fire..." and it occurred to me that I had never eaten a chestnut. I just sort of passed by them in the store without looking at them.

They would have been very familiar to our Civil War ancestors, however! The chestnut blight in the early part of the 20th century destroyed an estimated four billion trees. Chestnuts went from being the most common tree in many landscapes to a handful of very rare, isolated trees.

The chestnut is a tricky thing to roast. The first time I did them, I followed the instruction to make a cross on one side to allow the steam to escape, but I didn't make it big enough and most of my chestnuts exploded! My husband and I couldn't stop laughing long enough to get them out of the oven, the cat was hiding, it was a fiasco.

Old Hickory, I'm so glad to read about your trees. I was reading about how the blight-resistant gene has been introduced into the American variety. Hopefully someday America will have chestnut forests again.
Mine are just little fellows now, I hope to live to see them big! In a few years I also hope to be giving seedlings away and planting more. Long live the American Chestnut!
 
How about berries? I can think of few things as good and nutritious and easy to grow as berries! We have black berries, several varieties of raspberries, and a small blue berry bush in the back yard. Summer time, just walk out and start eating them off the bushes! Even the dogs take a berry break, often eating a few at doggy level off the bushes. Birds are competition at times unless a net or mesh curtain is hung above them. It's satisfying to make pies and preserves from your own back yard.
 
Yeah! It's easy to tell when the berries are ripe...just watch the birds. Had raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples, peaches, vegetables and hazlenuts growing at the old house. Miss gardening and the crops, but have little time or space to resume presently.
 
Chia seeds. Lots of omega3&6, lots of fiber and all other good stuff. I replaced my omega3 pills with chia, and I've been happy, and my stomach too. Aztecs is said to have eaten this a lot. I eat it one tablespoon/day, I mix it with water and then add to my daily smoothie.
 
How about berries? I can think of few things as good and nutritious and easy to grow as berries! We have black berries, several varieties of raspberries, and a small blue berry bush in the back yard. Summer time, just walk out and start eating them off the bushes! Even the dogs take a berry break, often eating a few at doggy level off the bushes. Birds are competition at times unless a net or mesh curtain is hung above them. It's satisfying to make pies and preserves from your own back yard.


Ok Boss. I have disabling stomach and other medical issues. But my guts and stomach kill me everyday.
It all started in college years ago.
My old mama was convinced it was because she wasn't feeding me....
She may have been right.

What is the single best food I can eat to help my stomach?

I eat terribly since my divorce.

I am MILES from normal markets or let's say diverse foods.
 
How about berries? I can think of few things as good and nutritious and easy to grow as berries! We have black berries, several varieties of raspberries, and a small blue berry bush in the back yard. Summer time, just walk out and start eating them off the bushes! Even the dogs take a berry break, often eating a few at doggy level off the bushes. Birds are competition at times unless a net or mesh curtain is hung above them. It's satisfying to make pies and preserves from your own back yard.

About berries and dogs. We had a half-coyote as a pet years ago. He had survived a long time on his own.

We watched him before he was a pet.

He ate berries all the time! He ate plant and tree shoots. He ate weed seed tops. He ate certain legumes. Even a few mouthfuls of grass.

He would eat berries people can't eat. He would stay at a berry bush and eat until they were all gone!
More like a bear than a dog.

After he became tame he adjusted to Ol' Roy just fine, but still ate some vegetables on his own.
 
I remember my father buying chestnuts at Christmastime and roasting them in the fireplace. They were so good and it was such an adventure to cook them like that. I haven't thought about that in years!

Are hickory nuts healthy? How are they prepared? Dad used to eat them.

I don't eat nuts generally.
 
Are hickory nuts healthy? How are they prepared? Dad used to eat them.

I don't eat nuts generally.
Most nuts are great for you!

Do you have any specifics you wouldn't mind sharing about your stomach issues? A good diet approach for someone with celiac disease, or crohn's for example, is very different from someone with ulcers.
 
Most nuts are great for you!

Do you have any specifics you wouldn't mind sharing about your stomach issues? A good diet approach for someone with celiac disease, or crohn's for example, is very different from someone with ulcers.

They tell me it's side effect of meds.
Frequent severe pain, digestion severe pain, gas, bloating, etc. Ensuing weakness. Supposed Vagus Nerve complications.
Ain't that all pretty to tell everyone.
 
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