v for frequency?

Its fairly clear that affluent Romans lived on fruit fish and meats, mainly. No carbs at all. And not many vegetables, either. Beans maybe.

Carbs have always been the last resort of the lowest echelons of society, to be eaten when nothing else was available, along with insects.

They had olive oil, and wine.

The massive wheat growing farms, across the Empire farmed by slaves, went to the plebs as 'bread, and circuses'. Today it's 'Pizza, and reality TV'

I don't think the Romans were great on cattle (if you go to Italy, only the Northern plains are really suitable to graze cattle), but Cleopatra allegedly liked a bath of asses milk.

In reality sheep and goats were the herd animals of choice. And possible pigs. I think the Romans had rice, as well.

Why am I not surprised? I have seven hours to go before I sit down to anything at all.

I remember reading, not so long ago, that students at a South African university didn't want to be taught "White Science". My reaction was - OK

- turn off electricity and see how you get on.

Brucellosis is a crowd-pleaser as well. It's mostly passed by drinking unpasteurized milk and eating soft cheeses from infected milk.

"The consequences of Brucella infection are highly variable and may include arthritis, spondylitis, thrombocytopenia, meningitis, uveitis, optic neuritis, endocarditis, and various neurological disorders collectively known as neurobrucellosis."

No, thanks.

These days ALL herds at least in the UK are TT - tuberculin tested. And if some errant badger has passed it on they kill the herd instead of the badger, sadly.

I've never heard of ANY cases of brucella in the UK. Listeria perhaps. In any case these are all bacterial infections, treatable with antibiotics, that you are far more likely to catch from other sources than raw milk...

We can see why you don't post under your real name.

In reading 18th and 19th century novels, it's shocking how usual death was.

Confirms what I said

Confirms what I said

I am surprised you are not ashamed to post under yours. Assuming it is

Christ how old are you? I was about age 7 when I read the saccharine 'Secret Garden' in which a girl is orphaned by her parents dying of cholera. TB was a major cause of young death - half the bloody Romantics died of it.

Women would fall pregnant 10-12 times, if they survived, and be happy to see 4-5 live to teenage years. And maybe two to three beyond 30,.

I am genuinely astonished that all this is new to you.

Cite?

But that makes sense. There *are* many Americans. There are even many color-blind Americans.

I suspect that different people may see colors very differently. They certainly taste things differently.

The problem with the currently fashionable Bowdlerisation of old fiction is that a lot of the material removed is the kind of thing that gives readers a feel for the time in which it was set, and often, written. The language used and the general public feeling for various matters that are different today are exactly the kind of things necessary to get a feel for the characters and the world in which they lived.

A lot of real-world history, which perhaps is not often recorded by historians, can be found in period fiction. Thanks to Conan Doyle, who is unlikely to be 'revised', we know that in Victoria's reign the profession of GP was an honourable but not a particularly well-paid one, and that a letter posted in London might well be delivered in another part of London a few hours later.

God, dont we just know that.

I've seen letters in Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry, that show that in Victorian times, it was possible for a solicitor in Manchester to post a letter to a solicitor in Liverpool and not only expect it to be delivered that day, but for the reply to be received by close of business that day!

I don't doubt that, but I don't think novels are a good source of such information. In old stories people were always catching a "chill" and dying, which doesn't really happen.

The lesson from that novel would be that a disability can be cured by a magic garden.

Yes, TB was a very romantic disease.

It's been a long time since I read "The Secret Garden", but wasn't it the case that the boy who was cured by the "magic" garden in fact wasn't disabled at all? Purely psychosomatic.

Heh. Good one.

You don't really need a cite. The fact that Kraft sells millions of tons of orange cheese tells the story.

All of my references mention carbs. Bread has lots of carbs.

Well in essence it does.

If you have a viral lung infection, and get cold, you end up with viral pneumonia and possibly bacterial secondary infections. It is well known that virus thrive in particular temperature and humidity conditions.