Victorian Diet

Victorians had a healthier diet as they consumed far less sugar and processed food.

18:19 17 October 2016

Victorians, who lived modestly and worked up to 60 hours per week, were found to be healthier than we are. They had way healthier diet consists of more nutrient-rich food and far less sugar and processed food.

 

As such, they were "90% less likely to develop cancer, dementia and coronary artery disease than we are today" said Dr Paul Clayton, one of the authors of the "How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died", a study published in the Royal Society of Medicine.

 

According to the study, a typical Victorian breakfast was consisted of stoneground bread and a large bunch of watercress. For the rest of the day, they would eat cheap, seasonal vegetables and fruits. They also ate lots of healthy, fibre-rich nuts, which were often roasted and bought from street-corner sellers. As meat was relatively expensive back in the days, they regularly ate omega-3-rich oily fish and seafood. Herrings, sprats, eels, oysters, mussels, cockles and whelks, were all popular, as were cod and haddock.

 

The combination of a healthy diet with enormous amount of physical activity meant that Victorians suffered less from chronic, degenerative diseases than we do.