By Stephen Beech via SWNS
People in the Middle East were living on the “Mediterranean Diet” 2,800 years ago, according to new research.
What Ancient Syrians ate resembled the trendy present-day eating plan, say scientists.
An international team analyzed chemistry of plant, animal, human remains to study historic food chains
They found that people in ancient Syria likely ate mostly grains, grapes, olives and a small amount of dairy and meat – similar to today’s Med diet.
Celebrities including Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Selena Gomez and Catherine Zeta-Jones are among fans of the eating plan which has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
It emphasizes plant-based foods with followers mostly eating fruit, veg, and whole grains while extra virgin olive oil is the main source of fat.
Tell Tweini, an archaeological site near the Syrian coastal city of Jableh, contains relics dating back to the early Bronze Age, around 2,600 BC, stretching into the Iron Age, nearly 2,300 years later.
For the new study, researchers used isotopic analyses of plant, animal and human remains from the site to map how nutrients flowed through the food chain and agricultural systems on this land over time.
Study co-author Dr. Simone Riehl, of the University of Tübingen in Germany, said some of the most interesting results came from the Middle Bronze Age, between 2000 BC and 1600 BC.
She explained that human remains from that period showed a relatively low level of δ15N – a nitrogen isotope – which indicates a diet mostly based on plants, such as grains and olives.
But archaeologists have also found the remains of sheep, goats and cattle from Tell Tweini that suggest that those animals were occasionally eaten and used for milking, meaning the local residents were likely consuming some animal-based protein as well.
Riehl said: “This diet is similar to the modern day ‘Mediterranean diet’ that highlights grains, fruits and vegetables with fewer animal products, often touted for its health benefits.
“Other isotopic analyses from Tell Tweini may shed light on some of the climate and agricultural practices of the people who lived there.”
The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, showed, for example, that all of the grapes found at Tell Tweini have relatively high levels of the Delta 13 isotope of carbon.
Riehl says that suggests that the fruits received enough water and were well looked after throughout the site’s history.
She added: “Thanks to the interdisciplinary and technical progress of archaeological science, we can not only speculate on the existence of a long cultural tradition of the Mediterranean diet through taxonomic and typological determinations but also extend these findings through additional analyses.”
