- Joined
- Nov 26, 2016
- Location
- central NC
(Public Domain)
Our Victorian friends were surprisingly healthy even though they didn’t have access to antibiotics and modern healthcare. Since mid-19th century life is well-documented, what lifestyle choices allowed them to be so much healthier than many people are today? Here are the top six strategies for achieving better health based on the lifestyle of the mid-Victorian period as reported in Health and Wellness by Chris Kresser.
1. Move around as much as possible. People during this time period expended huge amounts of energy living their daily lives. This was not viewed as exercise. It was simply movement.
2. Eating foods high in nutrients is extremely important. During the mid-Victorian period, people ate lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, pasture-raised meats and dairy, fish, nuts, seeds, and legumes. They also routinely ate organ meats, including sweetbreads and liver.
3. Eat seasonally and locally. Much of the food our Victorian friends ate they grew themselves. They also ate food in season because it was cheaper. For example, they would eat apples regularly from August through May, but once that season ended they would eat cherries or gooseberries instead. They imported very few foods.
4. Nurture Your Gut Bacteria. One of the best things you can do to maintain digestive health is to eat plenty of prebiotic foods. These foods were some of the most often consumed vegetables during the mid-Victorian period. This was likely a big factor in protecting the mid-Victorians from chronic disease.
5. Eat fatty fish. Fatty fish was inexpensive and available to the mid-Victorians and was reportedly widely consumed. Cold-water fatty fish remains one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acid.
6. Moderate your alcohol consumption. During the mid-Victorian period, beer was popular and widely consumed, but it was significantly weaker than it is today. While alcohol in moderation can be beneficial to our health, the levels that many people consume today are not. The mid-Victorian tradition of watering down beer may have helped mitigate the effects of the higher volume they drank.