What did my ancestors actually eat?

[Ruthla]

There have been threads about doing geneological research and figuring out where our ancestors were living, but how do we take that information and find out what foods were actually being eaten?

Can I find out if my ancestors ate rye but not wheat, or goat milk but not cow's milk, or things like that?

[Theloose]

It seems you can guess on rye vs wheat based on geographic location and how much money they had - in areas where rye grows better, only the rich would have been eating wheat.

I'm thinking geography and town records would be the easiest way to guess on goat vs sheep vs cow's milk, too...

[Ruthla]

OK, but I only know countries, not specific town names. How can I find out which crops grew better where? It's probably safe to assume that my ancesters were NOT particularly wealthy.

[mntnmom]

Where are they from?
It's really easiest to generalize by ethnic group IMO. Just because your great grandma had goats doesn't mean that's the norm for your HUGE genetic history.

My ancestors are almost exclusively Germanic or Celtic. I am trying to focus on meat, cheese, oats and rye. I'm cutting out wheat(family history of celiac)and sugar (lots of diabetics), and trying to work in more traditional fermented vegetables , and fish.

Nourishing traditions has some good basic info. But I would just google "traditional food <insert country>" if I were you.

[Momily]

I'm curious about this. DS (who is adopted) and I come from very different geographic regions. His ancestors are most likely West African, mine are predominantly French (and later English via the Norman invasion) and Dutch.

Does this mean we're supposed to eat differently -- that I should be serving 2 different meals?

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by Momily

I'm curious about this. DS (who is adopted) and I come from very different geographic regions. His ancestors are most likely West African, mine are predominantly French (and later English via the Norman invasion) and Dutch.

Does this mean we're supposed to eat differently -- that I should be serving 2 different meals?

For us, I've concluded not. My husband's Hispanic, of Mexican descent, I'm white, I _think_ mostly of English and German descent (you can tell how diligent we've been with keeping track of the ancestry), and we've got 2 bio kids. For us, I think that the foods we need are more individual than our genetic background would suggest. The stressors of modern life and generations of poor eating trump genetic lineage in our case.

Probably because we've got some health problems, I've been able to start to see what our strengths and weaknesses are easier than most--my husband and daughter are fairly vulnerable to digestive problems while my son and I are not, but all of us need to be gluten and dairy free right now--for different reasons, and I _think_ someday we may all be able to eat those foods. But we're a ways off of testing that hypothesis.

I'm spending more time looking back in my family history to the people who seem to be prone to similar health troubles (thyroid stuff and depression) and putting together those pieces, whereas in my husband's family I'm trying to match up pieces for things like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and arthritis. I really think there are nutrition links, things that I want to figure out when the kids are young so that the continuing lack doesn't lead to the type of stuff we're prone to.

[JTA Mom]

Ruth, I agree with a pp about your ethnic background & area giving more details than just general stuff. For example, I'm Greek, but both my parents come from areas in Greece that are not hospitable to cattle. So any milk my ancestors may have ingested would have been goats milk. And I tolerate goats milk a lot better than cows. However, dairy tolerance is hit or miss throughout the mediteranean area, and I happen to be one of the misses. I'm sure if you were to tell us your ethnic background & what parts your ancestors came from (ex. Southern Germany, vs. Northern) and we can narrow it down for you.

Momily, I don't think you need to make different meals necessarily. Just look at what your son's ancestors would have eaten. If dairy was non-existant, it's safe to say he shouldn't focus on dairy products that much. Otherwise, I think preparing any food traditionally is beneficial to everyone, regardless of ethnicity. Eating corn prepared traditionally is good for me, even though my ancestors NEVER ate it until, well, my mom came here in the 80s, lol. Now, if I were to show a sensitivity to a certain food, that's another story.

That said, people prone to digestive issues probably need lots of fermented foods in their diet to strengthen that area. Type 2 diabetes probably needs to keep vigilant on the amount & type of carbs eaten (never refined, only properly prepared grains sparingly, etc). Etc, etc. All of these issues are really a matter of rebalancing a general traditional foods diet to include more of one (or more) items instead of others. I wouldn't say that they are due to not eating 'true' to ancestral type. Ok, that didn't make sense, lol. In other words all of these issues are resolved by eating more of certain foods, rather than only eating what one's ancestors ate.

Ami

Ami

[Poddi]

My dad's ancestors are rice farmers. I'm sure they ate tons or rice, lots of homegrown veggies and some fresh meat and seafood. They lived close to the sea. I'm sure nobody ate dairy. According to my grandma, everybody's kinda skinny in the family and longevity was pretty common, unless the person died of childbirth, accidents, suicide...etc.

My mom was adopted so I don't know anything about her side. I guess it probably doesn't matter too much, I'm 90% like my dad anyway.

Neither of my parents like to eat sweet things, but they do like fruits.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

I'm sure if you were to tell us your ethnic background & what parts your ancestors came from (ex. Southern Germany, vs. Northern) and we can narrow it down for you.

Easter European Jews. I know my Dad's parents were from Poland (no clue what part of Poland, only that they were both born in Poland but met and married in NYC) and my Mom's grandparents came from Russia and Romania (again, no clue what specific towns or areas as my Mom's parents were born in NY and nobody alive remembers the specifics.)