Recent History
April 12, 1851
Jean-Francois Dancel
Obesity, Carnivore, Keto
Obesity, or, Excessive corpulence : the various causes and the rational means of cure
Mr. Roberts uses Dancel's Carnivore Diet: "I weighed two hundred and six pounds, and now weigh only one hundred and ninety-two. I am delighted with the success which has attended your system of treatment, and am happy to be able to inform you of it. Accept my sincere thanks."
On the 12th of April, 1851, I received a letter from Mr. Roberts, of Tours, in which he says:—"I am twenty-seven years of age, and weigh two hundred and six pounds. I fear that my great corpulence, which is constantly on the increase, may prove exceedingly troublesome. Having read your book, I am resolved to give your method of treatment a fair trial. You will oblige by giving me an explicit and detailed statement as to what is necessary to be done, and by sending from Paris such medicines as may be necessary."
On the 22nd of the same month Mr. Roberts wrote as follows:—"I weighed two hundred and six pounds, and now weigh only one hundred and ninety-two. I measured forty-three inches in circumference, and now only thirty-one inches. I am delighted with the success which has attended your system of treatment, and am happy to be able to inform you of it. Accept my sincere thanks, for I am indebted to you for a condition which I despaired of ever again attaining. Yours truly,
"Roberts."
May 12, 1851
Jean-Francois Dancel
Obesity, Carnivore, Keto
Obesity, or, Excessive corpulence : the various causes and the rational means of cure
Madame d'Aries of Spain used the carnivore diet for obesity. "Following your directions, I have lost weight. Since my last two confinements the abdomen had remained unduly large: it is now much smaller. I feel lighter."
Madame d'Aries, a resident of Bilbao, in Spain, wife of the French Consul wrote to me on the 12th of May last:—"Following your directions, I have lost weight. Since my last two confinements the abdomen had remained unduly large: it is now much smaller. I feel lighter. I have always been able to walk without experiencing much fatigue. It was a great trouble, however, to move from my seat. A peculiar inward feeling, which was a source of great annoyance, has become almost imperceptible. I can go up stairs without bringing on shortness of breath, and the benefit derived is as evident to myself as it is visible to others."
June 5, 1851
Jean-Francois Dancel
Obesity, Carnivore, Keto
Obesity, or, Excessive corpulence : the various causes and the rational means of cure
Dancel returns a young woman to health with meat, and her menstruation returns as well. "This young person, about twenty-three years of age, was very fat, and irregular in her menstrual periods. She was of lymphatic temperament, very pale, and rarely partook of meat: her ordinary food consisted of vegetables, sweetmeats, cakes and sweet fruits; She had lost much of her fat, and had become regular. She ate meat principally, both at breakfast and dinner, and drank wine."
To return to the cases of cure. Madam C., a landed proprietor, living in the Rue de la Concorde, at Paris, went to take the waters in Germany, in the year 1851. On her return, she made trial of my system, on account of excessive corpulence. Meeting with the usual success, she thought it would be of great advantage to a young lady, a friend, whom she had left behind her at the watering place, and who was then in bad health. This young person, about twenty-three years of age, was very fat, and irregular in her menstrual periods. She was of lymphatic temperament, very pale, and rarely partook of meat: her ordinary food consisted of vegetables, sweetmeats, cakes and sweet fruits; water was her principal beverage. At the pressing instance of Madam C., Miss C. visited Paris, in order to be under my care.
After following my directions for a fortnight, her health was much improved. Her parents then came to Paris, and I continued in attendance on Miss C. for three months. At the expiration of this time, she returned with her parents to Brussels. She had lost much of her fat, and had become regular. She ate meat principally, both at breakfast and dinner, and drank wine. I may lay claim, in the case of this young lady, to have effected a complete change of temperament. With but trifling menstrual flow, and great pallor, she was gradually progressing to a state of obesity, which would have proved entirely destructive to health, which would have ended in a total suppression of the menses, and ultimately in death. But now, having overcome her obesity, the menstrual flow has become normal in quantity, the digestive powers have resumed their functional activity, so that she can partake of meat and wine, and in every respect her constitution is fully restored. Should she marry, she will in all probability have a family, which would have been very doubtful had she married while in the previous obese condition; and if she have children, her accouchements will be comparatively free of danger, and her sufferings much less; for it is well known that very corpulent females have more difficult labours than those of ordinary embonpoint; while the offspring of the latter are at the same time healthier. The same rule applies in the case of the human female as with other mammalia; when fat, conception is of more rare occurrence; and when they do conceive, they are very liable to miscarry. When, however, they go to the full period of gestation, the progeny of a very fat mother is almost always lean, and possesses little vitality. Moreover, the milk of a very fat mother is neither so abundant nor so nutritious as that of a moderately thin mother.
August 21, 1851
Jean-Francois Dancel
Obesity, Carnivore, Keto
Obesity, or, Excessive corpulence : the various causes and the rational means of cure
Madame Meuriot uses the carnivore diet to cure her obesity and swollen legs and then becomes pregnant. Perhaps an early case of PCOS.
Madame Meuriot, an actress, then staying at Chatellerault, addressed me under date the 21st of August, 1851. Her letter is exceedingly lengthy and full of minutiæaelig;, that would be improper to lay before the public. But she informs me that her weight in the course of a single year had increased from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and seventy-five pounds. In order to retain her theatrical engagements, she determined to use every possible means to overcome this troublesome embonpoint. She took her food in quantity barely sufficient to sustain nature; made use of sea biscuit instead of bread that she might eat less. For some time past she has been taking daily forty drops of the tincture of iodine, under the direction of a physician, but without appreciable benefit. Every portion of the body was loaded with fat, and the lower part of the legs were swollen. Having met with my book and dreading the effects of the iodine upon her general health, she was anxious that I should advise her. I did so; and sent the medicine, together with necessary directions from Paris to Perpignau, where she was then staying. I received a letter from her on the 9th of October following, in which she says:—"I am happy to inform you that your treatment has been attended with the most satisfactory results. My legs are no longer swollen. I walk with greater ease than formerly, and my breathing is no longer oppressed. I am unable to say how much my weight has decreased, not having ready access to platform scales; but my gowns tell me that my size is less than it was, yet not as small as could be desired."
In conclusion she wished to know whether she might continue the treatment a month or two longer, and if I thought so, to please send her the requisite medicine. I did so, and heard nothing further from Madame de Meuriot until the month of August in the following year. She was then on her way to fulfil an engagement at Lille, and called to see me. She expressed great delight in having got rid of her troublesome embonpoint, and said that she had not been afflicted with swelling of the legs since placing herself under my treatment. "But something has occurred which I did not in the least expect: since my corpulency has left me, I have become enceinte."
A letter from this lady, dated Lille, the 13th October last, begins thus:—"Since I last had the pleasure of seeing you, on the occasion of my departure from Paris, I have become fully satisfied that I am in the family way, and have been so for the past eight months." My advice was requested on some points having reference to her then condition.
The preceding facts tend to shew that reduced corpulency is favourable to conception.
November 1, 1851
Jean-Francois Dancel
Obesity, Carnivore, Keto
Obesity, or, Excessive corpulence: the various causes and the rational means of cure
Mr. G. Chauvin owing to his increasing corpulency adopted my mode of treatment, and in one of his letters, dated November, 1851, he says: "I have followed your directions, which have effected the result I was led to expect. My family have expressed their astonishment at the sudden and extraordinary diminution of size. But it has been effected without the slightest bad symptom."
Mr. G. Chauvin, a lawyer, living at Castellane, in the department of the Lower Alps, owing to his increasing corpulency, was subject to great inconvenience when speaking in court. He adopted my mode of treatment, and in one of his letters, dated November, 1851, he says: "I have followed your directions, which have effected the result I was led to expect. My family have expressed their astonishment at the sudden and extraordinary diminution of size. But it has been effected without the slightest bad symptom: the bodily functions have been duly discharged, and the treatment has been unattended with inconvenience or danger, &c."
Ancient History
Germany
50000
B.C.E.
Palaeolithic and Mesolithic kill-butchering sites: the hard evidence
The upper paleolithic is characterized by advanced hunting of large animals with various weapons, and planning to maximize easy prey
Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Hunting:
the archaeological record leaves us some direct evidence of man's hunting activities. At Meiendorf (Rust 1937) and Stellmoor (Rusf 1937), some bones of reindeer and birds still conserve weapon marks and a few pieces of silex have remained thrusted in mammalian bones; man kills reindeer with harpoons and sticks (fractured skulls), birds with bows and maybe slings. Three fractured skulls of red deer in Abri Pataud (Bouchud, 1975), and one bovid skull with a circular orifice in Saint Marcel (Allain, 1952) suggest the practice of the so called " co'up de merlin": man has delivered a blow similar to the one used today to butcher cattle. Probably the animal already immobilized (wounded or entrapped) was hit on the frontal with a big stone. At Kokorevo I (Siberia), a large scapula of bison is pierced by the upper end of a point made of bone (Boriskowksi, 1965). At High Furlong (Mesolithic), an elk was discovered with the marks of L7 wounds made by barbed points, of which two were found in the site, and by other arms. The animal had apparently been attacked at two distinct occasions: during the first one, hunters aimed at the legs to lame the animal (fig. 6), later hunters hit the thoracic region and the lungs to kill it. However the elk died in a little lake, perhaps imprisoned in the ice, and man had no access to the meat. The animal represents in fact a hunting loss (Hallam et a1.,1973).
Planning: very good. Many sites belong to Wpe e, were occupied periodically or seasonally and specialised in the capture of a particular game (e.g., horse, reindeeq, ibex). Game drive towards cliffs have been claimed and Solutre (Combier & Thevenot,1976) has long figured as an example, but the evidence is far from conclusive.
Scavenging: no doubt H. sapiens still killed or exploited animals in the occasional and opportunistic way of Lower Palaeolithic times. According to Lindner (Lindner,1941), hunters at Predmost utilised the carcasses of hundreds of mammoths that probably succumbed as a result of natural catastrophes, as food.
Food transport: selective transport of the most useful animal parts is claimed for many sites.
Specialised activities: sometimes the material is dislocated in distinct clusters that could reflect specialised activity areas as for example at Solutre (Combier & Thevenot, 1976). Site topography: some hunting sites were located in valleys enclosed by steep slopes as at Rascano (Gonziilez-Echegaray, 1979), Stellmoor (Rust, 1937), Meiendorf (Rust 1937), or at the foot of rocky cliffs at Solutr6 (Combier & Th6venot, 1,976).
4. Conclusions
Most of the Lower Palaeolithic sites analysed here belong to category a (butchering sites); other kind of concentrations are rare and difficult to ascertain. A number of hunting stations (category e) and a hunting stop (category f) form my sample for the age of Neanderthal man and related people. The Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by many hunting stations, while in Mesolithic times a hunting loss (category d ) was found as well as several sighting sites (category g). The foregoing distribution seems to reflect in a vague way an evolution from scavenging and haphazard opportunistic hunting to well organised, selective hunting activities. However, this reflection results no doubt in part from a priori assumptions concerning the evolution of hominid meat procurement often colouring the interpretations offered for the osseous "hard" data; these are frequently equivocal.
Vindija, 42000, Varaždin, Croatia
28500
B.C.E.
Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: The evidence from stable isotopes
The isotope evidence overwhelmingly points to the Neanderthals behaving as top-level carnivores, obtaining almost all of their dietary protein from animal sources
Archeological analysis of faunal remains and of lithic and bone tools has suggested that hunting of medium to large mammals was a major element of Neanderthal subsistence. Plant foods are almost invisible in the archeological record, and it is impossible to estimate accurately their dietary importance. However, stable isotope (13C and 15N) analysis of mammal bone collagen provides a direct measure of diet and has been applied to two Neanderthals and various faunal species from Vindija Cave, Croatia. The isotope evidence overwhelmingly points to the Neanderthals behaving as top-level carnivores, obtaining almost all of their dietary protein from animal sources. Earlier Neanderthals in France and Belgium have yielded similar results, and a pattern of European Neander- thal adaptation as carnivores is emerging. These data reinforce current taphonomic assessments of associated faunal elements and make it unlikely that the Neanderthals were acquiring animal protein principally through scavenging. Instead, these findings portray them as effective predators.
Stable Isotope Analyses.
Mammal bone collagen δ13C and δ15N values reflect the δ13C and δ15N values of dietary protein (14). They furnish a long-term record of diet, giving the average δ13C and δ15N values of all of the protein consumed over the last years of the measured individual's life. δ13C values can be used to discriminate between terrestrial and marine dietary protein in humans and other mammals (15, 16). In addition, because of the canopy effect, species that live in forest environments can have δ13C values that are more negative than species that live in open environments (17). δ15N values are, on average, 2–4‰ higher than the average δ15N value of the protein consumed (18). Therefore, δ15N values can be used to determine the trophic level of the protein consumed. By measuring the δ13C and δ15N values of various fauna in a paleo-ecosystem, it is possible to reconstruct the trophic level relationships within that ecosystem. Therefore, by comparing the δ13C and δ15N values of omnivores such as hominids with the values of herbivores and carnivores from the same ecosystem, it is possible to determine whether those omnivores were obtaining dietary protein from plant or animal sources.
Cheddar Reservoir, Cheddar BS26, UK
12000
B.C.E.
FOCUS: Gough’s Cave and Sun Hole Cave Human Stable Isotope Values Indicate a High Animal Protein Diet in the British Upper Palaeolithic
We were testing the hypothesis that these humans had a mainly hunting economy, and therefore a diet high in animal protein. We found this to be the case, and by comparing the human δ15N values with those of contemporary fauna, we conclude that the protein sources in human diets at these sites came mainly from herbivores such as Bos sp. and Cervus elaphus
We undertook stable isotope analysis of Upper Palaeolithic humans and fauna from the sites of Gough's Cave and Sun Hole Cave, Somerset, U.K., for palaeodietary reconstruction. We were testing the hypothesis that these humans had a mainly hunting economy, and therefore a diet high in animal protein. We found this to be the case, and by comparing the human δ15N values with those of contemporary fauna, we conclude that the protein sources in human diets at these sites came mainly from herbivores such as Bos sp. and Cervus elaphus. There are a large number ofEquus sp. faunal remains from this site, but this species was not a significant food resource in the diets of these Upper Palaeolithic humans.
If the humans hunted and consumed mainly horse, then their 15N values should be c. 3–5‰ (Equus 15N value of 0·7‰+enrichment of 2–4‰). Instead, their 15N values make more sense if they lived mostly off Bos and Cervus elaphus (Bos and Cervus values of c. 3‰+enrichment of 2–4‰=the observed values c. 6–7‰). It is also possible that other species, including Rangifer tarandus, were consumed by these individuals. Rangifer tarandus has 15N values similar to Cervus elaphus (Richards, 1998), and has more positive 13C values, which may explain the observed slight enrichment in the human 13C values. A number of artefacts made from Rangifer tarandus have been found at Gough’s, but there is no other evidence that this species was being exploited for food
Province of Crotone, Italy
500
B.C.E.
On the Sociology of Ancient Sport
One report states that a trainer named Pythagoras recommended a meat diet to the Olympic athletes he trained.
A lack of animal-derived protein seems to have been rectified early in history, as there are two reports of the introduction of meat into the athletes’ diet. One report states that a trainer named Pythagoras recommended a meat diet to the athletes he trained. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/a-comparison-of-ancient-greek-and-roman-sports-diets-with-modern-day-practices-2473-6449-1000104.php?aid=69865
8 He [Pythagoras] is said to have been the first to train athletes on a meat diet. The first athlete he did this with was Eurymenes. Formerly they had trained on dried figs, moist cheese, and wheat. Some say that it was a trainer named Pythagoras and not the philosopher who was responsible for this innovative diet. For our Pythagoras prohibited killing, not to mention eating, life which possessed souls like our own.
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers 8.12
Sport and Recreation
To all appearances medical knowledge in general and nutrition in particular was widespread in Pythagorean circles in Southern Italy, especially in Kroton. Burkert has pointed out that the fmaous doctor Alcmaeon came from the Pythagorean center of Kroton. From the akousmata (secret doctrines), which doubtless contain old religious traditions, we learn that the Pythagoreans were not originally strict vegetarians; the consumption of meat was permitted, with the exception of lamb and the meat of draft oxen. Burkert considers there is some likelihood that Pythagoras introduced a meat diet for athletes. He believes this tradition arose when Pythagorean vegetarianism had not yet been completely developed. In later times, when vegetarianism had prevailed, a second tradition has possibly been invented, in which it was not Pythagoras, the philosopher from Samos and Kroton, but a homonymous person who wrot the great 'trainer's recipe book'.
57: There are similar issues regarding the transmission in later sources of Pythagoras advising the successful heavy athlete Eurymenes of Samos to use a special meat-based diet instead of the dried figs and cheese he had previously been eating.
On the Sociology of Ancient Sport - page 43.
Mantineia 221 00, Greece
480
B.C.E.
A Comparison of Ancient Greek and Roman Sports Diets with Modern Day Practices
Dromeus, a long-distance runner, is said to have first thought of eating meat for training instead of just cheese and won multiple victories.
The second report is that of Pausanias, who writes of Dromeus, a long-distance runner from Stymphalos [23].
“...he won two victories in the dolichos at Olympia, the same number in the Pythian Games, three at the Isthmian and five at the Nemean. He is said to have first thought of eating meat (as part of his training diet). Until then the food for athletes was cheese fresh out of the basket.”
Clearly, if his success is anything to go by, then Dromeus had really found a winner’s diet. There are also reports of athletes eating meat from oxen, bulls, goats and deer, a very” red-meat” diet which is a rich form of protein. Moreover, with meat as a part of their diet, the performance of competing athletes would most certainly have improved noticeably.
5 A man named Dromeus from Mantineia was said to have been the first we know of to have won the pankration by default [ = akoniti]. Pausanias 6.11.4
Dromeus, Long-Distance Runner
There was a man from Stymphalos, named Dromeus, whose record as a long-distance runner was exceptional: he won two victories in the dolichos at Olympia, the same number in the Pythian Games, three at the Isthmian and five at the Nemean. He is said to have first thought of eating meat (as part of his training diet). Until then the food for athletes was cheese fresh out of the basket.
