Diet in disease and medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome

The ancient Greeks and Romans were as concerned about their health as we are today, but perhaps with more reason. Generally speaking the ancients had sufficient food and with one or two exceptions it had all the necessary components for a healthy diet. Unfortunately the one or two exceptions were serious deficiencies which caused considerable morbidity and mortality. The main problem with the ancient diet however was the contamination of food with either infective agents or poisons. The problem with this in terms of medical treatment was that the same foods that were consumed within the diet were used as medications, which were then capable of causing iatrogenic infection. The ancient medical texts and particularly the herbal texts confirm the presence of tuberculosis and lead poisoning in particular. Other diet related diseases include those caused by the consumption of toxic seeds and plants, contaminated foods, nutritional deficiencies and hygiene problems. By using ancient cooking texts I have been able to confirm a major source of lead consumption, particularly in the Roman diet. Modern research into some ancient medical practices has confirmed the therapeutic value of some of these treatments and refuted other claims. A comparison of modern and ancient herbal practices has been undertaken to discover that although the same herbs are still used today they are often used for different reasons calling into question their true efficacy. By using their diet as the starting point, this thesis provides an account of the health and well being of the ancient Greeks and Romans. By studying the diet and the diseases that are caused by it, and how the components of that diet form the basis of the materia medica of those treating the diseases, we are able to begin to gain an understanding of the quality of life of the inhabitants of ancient Greece and Rome, both rich and poor alike.