Did Jesus Eat Meat?

Column #206

This is not about religion. It’s a review of what people ate in biblical times. Just the same though, I wonder, are there as many religions as there are diets? Everyone believes in something even if they believe there is nothing to believe in.

Scholars say the Bible’s 66 books were written between 1500 BC and 45 AD. (AD stands for “anno Domini” which is Latin for “in the year of the Lord.” There is no zero year.) This period is the focus of this column.

Computer searches using “King James Bible Online” provide the number of times a keyword is mentioned in the Bible. Of course, sometimes a word is mentioned more than once in a sentence. The searches below indicate to me that domesticated animals played a significant role in the lives of people living in the biblical period.

For diversity, I researched four cities with populations above 100,000 that were prominent in the years between 1500 BC and 45 AD.

Historians tell us that 3,500 years ago (1500 BC) Babylonians (Iraq) ate melons, plums, prunes and dates. Barley was their primary grain for flat breads and beer. The vegetables they preferred included peas, lettuces, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, turnips, chickpeas, garlic, shallots, cress, leeks, lentils, and beets. They did not drink wine. Their primary meats were pork, poultry, beef, fish, mutton, and goat.

For both the rich and poor citizens in Avaris (Egypt) the main crops were wheat for bread and barley for beer. The rich also had wine made from grapes, pomegranates, and plums. A variety of vegetables were available including onions, leeks, garlic, beans, lettuce, lentils, cabbages, radishes, and turnips. The daily diet of the upper class Egyptians was rich in beef, goat, mutton, fish (perch, catfish, mullet), or poultry (goose, pigeon, duck, heron, crane). Lower class Egyptians ate mostly grains, vegetables, some fruit, fish, poultry, and reserved the more expensive meats for special occasions.

While large cities were developing around the Mediterranean, they were also developing in China. Most notable was Yinxu in eastern China near the modern city of Anyang. There the main staple was rice in the southern regions and millet and sorghum in colder climes. Soybeans were also grown and became more prevalent as time went by. Cucumbers were always a favorite. Wine and tea were the preferred drinks. Pork was the most commonly consumed meat in China although the Chinese also ate beef, mutton, chicken, duck, pigeon, etc. These latter meats were primarily a food enjoyed by the upper class. Starting around 2500 BC the Chinese had started raising wheat which was not native to China. So wheat was also becoming a part of the diet.

Many people do not realize that the Romans invaded England in 55 BC. By 43 AD the Roman conquest of Britain was well underway and their control persisted until 410 AD. The Roman conquest of the Mediterranean region peaked in 117 AD. During this time Rome had well-established trade routes with the Ivory Coast in Africa and also India which indirectly linked to trade as far away as eastern China.

Back home in Rome the diet remained quite traditional other than for the upper class. Was it the forerunner of the Mediterranean Diet?

In Italy a favorite food for all classes was flat, round loaves of bread made from wheat. Barley was popular as a cereal. Grubs were raised as food as were vegetables such as dried peas, sweet peas, lupine beans, lentils and fava beans. Nuts, including walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and chestnuts, were common. Wine, diluted with water, was the favorite drink. Bread was often dipped in wine to soften it and then eaten with olives, cheese, grapes, pears, figs, and a wide variety of old world vegetables. The lower class ate seafood and poultry. Fish was more common than meat. Aquaculture was sophisticated, with large-scale industries devoted to oyster farming. The Romans also engaged in snail farming. Olive oil was the preferred oil.

Along with the many aforementioned foods upper class Romans could afford eggs, cheese, honey, milk, fruit, and butcher's meat. The most popular meat was pork, especially sausages. Beef was uncommon in ancient Rome, yet more common in ancient Greece.

Jesus was a Jew and Jews ate a variety of meats except for what they considered unclean animals (pork, snake, shellfish, etc.). Jesus was not an exception. In Luke 22:7-8, which discusses The Last Supper, it says: “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.’”

The world Jesus lived in was nothing like the world of the nomadic hunter-gatherer. Farming and animal husbandry practices were quite sophisticated. Genetic improvement by selective breeding had been in use for over 5,000 years! Selective breeding was even discussed in Genesis 30 and 31 which was written by Moses in the 6th or 5th century BC. In John 15 there are parables about pruning vines for greater yields indicating an almost universal understanding of the technique. For certain, by 1 AD the growing of vegetables, grain, and fruit was so successful those crops were the poor man’s food while meats were a luxury. Agricultural progress had inverted the diet of the nomadic hunter-gatherer.

Obviously, 3,500 years ago agricultural practices were far advanced over the crude beginnings that had commenced about 10,000 years earlier. Advancements may not have been rapid but over the course of those 10,000 years it was significant. It’s also obvious that after agriculture became the norm the human diet consisted of more carbohydrates and less meat. In spite of that meat remained a staple in many regions and was almost universally considered the best food.

Before farming, meat was the primary food for more than two million years. In just a few thousands years following the invention of agriculture, humans dramatically changed the chemical composition of their diet. They replaced their wild-caught meats, which were zero glycemic, nutrient dense and diverse, with low ratios of Omega-6 to Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs), with high glycemic foods that had differing nutrient densities and diversities, and very high EFA ratios. In the past 150 years Americans ramped up the biblical era diet with vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils, sugar, and the feeding of grain to livestock.

Our bodies are still the same as the bodies of the nomadic hunter-gatherers of 300,000 years ago. Therefore we require the same chemistry in our diet as was available in the distant past. But with the direction agriculture has taken, the chemistry of the combined foods enjoyed by most folks today does not jive with nutritional needs. This is the reason for so many modern chronic diseases.

Modern agriculture is fully capable of replicating the foods of the nomadic hunter-gatherer in great quantities at affordable prices. But the consumer has to change age-old habits and vote with their dollars for those foods to be produced.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don't miss these links for additional reading:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Health and Disease and Growth and Development by Dr. Artemis Simopoulos

King James Bible Online

Yes, Jesus Would Eat Meat & You Can, Too by Amanda Radke from Beef Magazine

History of the Domestication of Animals from History World

Animal Sacrifice from Wikipedia

List of Largest Cities Throughout History from Wikipedia

Ancient Civilizations/Babylonians from Wikijunior

Universal Truths & Facts About the Bible from BibleResources.Org

Roman Conquest of Britain from Wikipedia

The Romans in Britain 43 AD to 410 AD by Mandy Barrow

Ancient Roman Cuisine from Wikipedia