Onto the Breads and Meats of Sparta!

    For some time now the legions of marching dieticians and health fanatics have been preaching and pushing "New and Better" diets upon the pudgy, flabby, obese, and/or glandular peoples of the world. There's no question that being healthy is indeed a good thing, but just how effective are some of these diets? Nowadays there seem to be four title-wearing champions who have right-hooked many people into believing that they are, in fact, worthy of their rank as top health diet. Most people who gaze upon these behemoths don't understand enough of the encompassing history, if it is based on historical people, like the Spartans, to know that, for the most part, it's all complete rubbish.
    So without wasting another sunrise, let us march out and meet...The Spartan Diet.    
    To be fair there is little that's clearly known about the true Spartan diet. Most of what we know comes from the artistry of the time, from pictures or diagram-like etchings made on pottery, or from literary works from such men as Aristophanes, Athenaeus, or Plutarch. However, with the information we do have on hand, especially in regards to the eating habits of ancient Greeks, the "Spartan Diet" may be seen as unflinchingly tilting the scales between modern habit, and true ancient practice. 
    Those who stand firm behind the Spartan Diet claim, with great admiration, that this diet is the healthiest of them all; it is the porridge that is "just right." And in good Spartan fashion, believers of the Spartan Diet attack and attempt to conquer any competing diet that dares stick its head out of the neighboring forests of 'Health' and 'Fitness'. So stand back, you Paleo-Persian Diet, you're no match for Sparta! 

    With regards to the real ancient Spartans, this "Spartan Diet" is nonsense. For example, if you wish to know the fundamentals of the advertised Spartan Diet, well, you have to pay for it. If you want to know the real workout habits of the Spartans, and get yourself in peak, ripped physical condition, per this advertised diet, you have to pay for it. 
    Really?
    The answer: No, you don't. 
    Why don't you? Because if archeologists, paleontologists, anthropologists, teachers, scholars, and modern philosophers don't have an exact account of the true exercise and food-eating habits of the Spartans, how would fitness trainers like Joe Schmoe of "SPARTA WORKOUT INC.!" know something that everyone else doesn't? 
    Simple. They don't.

Homer (800 B.C.E. - 701 B.C.E.)

    Of course many people will attack this statement, saying, "Oh yeah? How do you know?" The answer to that question is also simple. I don't. No one knows with absolute certainty what the realities of a Spartan diet was, but we are able to piece together a reasonable account based on the writings of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides. However, when you compare their writings to each other, sometimes the accounts can can have variations, making it difficult to ascertain which is correct. For example, Herodotus claimed, through his writings, that Therapne was the likely capitol of the Spartans. Homer, on the other hand, from his descriptions of the land and the, er, ladies, suggested that Sparta was the likelier Greek capitol for these fantastic manly men!
    Therein lies my point. You can't be completely certain of something in history, unless you have contemporary proof. Unfortunately, for the most part, we don't; except for pottery and poems, and those don't offer as much noteworthy information as say, a Spartan library. Another problem with epic poems, like Homer's "The Iliad", for example, is that sometimes poets have a habit of taking creative licenses with facts, making the job of separating fact from fiction a difficult one; especially when there is limited counter sources.
    To further my point, let us ask if the battle that took place in the Iliad really happened. Homer thought so. Remember, he did write an epic poem about it, telling us the dramatic events that took place between the Trojans and the Greeks. But there's a catch. He wasn't there. It happened before he was born; about 300-400 years, in fact. 
    

Herodotus (484 B.C.E. - 425 B.C.E.)

    Time changes all things, and with the passing of time the true accounts of what happened in a particular time in history can get muddied in the retelling. To further explain this, let's look at Herodotus, the "Father of History." It was from Herodotus that we get some of our insight into ancient Spartan life. However, Herodotus is not Spartan himself, nor is he Ionian, meaning he was not born in Greece or Peloponnese, but was born in the Greek settlement of Halicarnassus, Caria, which is modern day Bodrum, Turkey. What's more, he admitted that much of what he wrote was based on things he heard, not things he actually saw; not to mention little is known of the man himself, in as far as his personal history. Although Herodotus dismissed nonsensical rumors and easily disprovable lies, it was still difficult to make absolutely certain the information he wrote was based on pure facts, and was never contaminated with the urge to add creative decoration. If anything, those people who prefer solid facts may see Herodotus as little more than a fantastic storyteller, and not a historian scribing factual events.

    What does this have to do with the Spartan diet? Well...
    In regards to food, the varied diets of the Greek peoples in 450 B.C.E., might be different than the diets of 800 B.C.E. For example, Hesiod tells of a good feast including goat's milk and meat from a well-fed heifer. However, meat is shown to be less prominent in writings from 5th Century B.C.E. onward, though this may be a genre thing. If so, it shows us that as cultures change over time, their writings may reflect a different view on history, thus making accurate accounts rather difficult.
    In closing this point, it is unlikely that any fitness trainer who approaches you knows, with all certainty, what the true diet of ancient Spartans was. These trainers are doing what everyone who studies ancient Greece does, and, in some ways, even what the people of ancient times did, like Herodotus, they base their studies on second-hand knowledge and do their best to get it right.

    But Aristotle's Yo-Yo, in-between your time practicing 'walking the dog' and 'the cat's cradle,' how do we know you're not completely wrong? What if the "Spartan Diet" is the best diet, and is historically accurate? What then? 
    Whether anyone wishes to listen to a Greek philosopher's yo-yo is entirely up to them, but if you really want to live like a Spartan, and become fit and fantastic, then you don't need to pay money for it. You don't need a personal fitness trainer. You don't even need to wear to a tight-fitting leather thong with matching red cape; neither of which a Spartan hoplite wore in battle, thank goodness. If they had, the Persians would never have let them live it down, nor would the Athenians, for that matter. 
    No, what you need to do is research. However, if you're not very good at it, or don't have the time, let me give you some of the basics to get you on your way. First of all, I'm not going to carry on breathlessly about the 'Spartan Warrior Code.' I think we all know by now what the military mindset was, or might have been. We do not need spend our time focusing on it. Why? Because we aren't Spartans. Well, those of you who aren't native-born to the actual region in Greece, that is. But even if you are, you aren't the Spartans of antiquity, you're Spartans of today; and as such, I hope you aren't all running about in tight leather thongs and flowing red capes. 
    And I won't carry on about the exercise regiments of a Spartan hoplite either. Why? Because when it comes down to it, diet is 80% of it, and exercising 20%. Don't agree? Then go ahead and train like a Spartan on a lavish diet of lard-based cornbread and Twinkies. All the push-ups of Lacedaemon won't save you. So please, put aside your Laconophilia, and just listen for a moment longer.

    With what we do know, let's take a look at the diet of ancient Greece. First of all, meat seems to be a major component of the "Spartan Diet." This is true. The Spartans did eat meat, but what kind of meat was it? Well, if you've been eating beef then you're not quite living up to true history. A closer meat would be pork. Why? Without getting too deep into the agricultural reasons, Greece isn't exactly a hot spot for vast, fertile grazing land. So cattle, while present in ancient Greece, wasn't a staple part of most peoples' diet. Instead, smaller livestock would have been preferred. Animals such as pigs, sheep, goats, quails, chickens, geese, and hens. These animals are relatively low maintenance, easy to cage/pen and require little food in comparison to larger herds of cattle.
    So if you want to eat like a Spartan of the Hellenistic Era, you should sit down and enjoy a fine bowl of 'black gruel.' Oh, you'll love it! The main ingredients are: pork, salt, vinegar, and blood. Yum! This black stew was commonplace in Sparta, and likely eaten every day. It was also preferred by many of the older Spartans, leaving the flesh for the younger ones.
    Of course, not too many people today are going to be agreeable with this kind of dish. I'd be surprised if most people on the Spartan Diet even dare to try it once. Why? Because it's revolting. It's revolting today, and, if you asked them, it was revolting to people back then. The king of Pontus, according to Plutarch, found the flavor of black gruel to be "extremely bad." 
    Oh well. So much for Spartan cuisine.
    But what else is there on the ancient Greek menu?
    Well, during the time of the Spartan hoplite, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy, and made up a sizable portion of the ancient Greek diet. Now, I could go into massive detail about agriculture in ancient Sparta, but let's stay focused on the diet itself. Granted everything plays a role, and there are indirect effects, but for the sake of brevity let's keep things micro.
    So what would be genuine things to eat? The main part of the diet can be cereals--made of barley or wheat--eggs, cheese, water, wine, fruits, vegetables, honey, fish, poultry, pork, olive oil, milk--though not usually consumed--cottage cheese, yogurt, bread--wheat or barley--and...that's about it. Not much of a menu, but there you have it. Granted there could be more items to add, but these are the staples of an ancient Greek diet.
    The main thing to consider is not only what was eaten, but how much. A usual daily diet involved three to four meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and, maybe, an small evening meal. Breakfast might be comprised solely of bread and wine, where the bread would be dipped in wine to soften it, and add flavor. Lunch would involve any number of things, like a pork stew, or lentil soup; soups were commonplace, and could be made with a mixture of just about anything. Dinner was the largest meal, and usually taken before or at dusk. 

    Now, "fruits and vegetables" is rather generic, so let's be more precise, for those planning to head to the grocery store with their new Spartan shopping list. Vegetables would be: cabbage, onions, lentils, sweet peas, chickpeas, broad beans, artichokes, garden peas, and grass peas. Any of these can be mixed in any variation to make a soup, or simply mashed. Olives are also a possible appetizer for those on the go.
    Fruits would likely be figs, raisins, or pomegranates. Nuts were also on the menu. However, fruits and nuts were usually eaten as a kind of dessert, not as a constant snack like people might do today. Again, consumption amount is the key factor here.
    As for land meats and seafood, the list would include: pork, poultry, squid, octopus, shellfish, carp, pike-fish, swordfish, tuna, sardines, anchovies, eel, lamb meat, beef--though not common--and mullet. 
    As for the beverage menu, you're options can include wine, yes, but the number one consumed beverage was.....water. If a true Spartan had to pick, he would, with any good military sense, take a pitcher of water over a pitcher of wine any day. Milk might be another option, though it was not commonplace, and some felt the consumption of milk was barbaric.

    So there you have it, the ancient Greek diet in a very compact nutshell. If you take nothing else from the diet of antiquity, take the knowledge that what was eaten was not as important as how much. Remember, people lived off of what they grew, or raised--if referring to livestock. You couldn't overeat what the fields could not provide. If you ate all your bread in a weeks' time, you had to wait for the next harvest, or head to the market and buy it, which could be quite costly if you're poorer rural folk. In the meantime your menu of food options was smaller, thus you ate a little less. To remedy this, individual meals could be kept small so as to maintain the longevity of provisions, sort of like what we do today to stretch our money when food costs go up. What's more, an option like fish was rather expensive in ancient Greece, much like today, so if you couldn't afford fish or other meats, your entire diet would likely revolve around fruits, vegetables, and bread.
    Also, keep in mind that if one wished to travel to town, he or she was walking. People walked everywhere. Match that kind of simple exercise with a diet lean in proteins, fatty acids, carbohydrates, and proper hydration with a healthy-minded consumption of water, and you have a fantastic diet. 
    And this is the point. 
    You don't need to carry burdensome dead weight over your shoulders and run laps, or drag massive truck tires behind you for thirty odd feet, or do 100 sit-ups in fierce repetition, or know 103 different ways to stab a person with a pointy piece of bronze. 
    You just need to eat in proportion to what you're doing. Do less, eat less. Do more, eat more; within reason, of course. 
    For fun, let's take a look at the Spartans march on Athens during the Peloponnesian War. The distance from Sparta to Athens is 95.09 miles. Let's say the Spartans marched at an average speed of 3 miles per hour--they weren't in that big a hurry. So, 95.09 miles, at 3 miles per hour, means it would take approximately 31.7 hours to reach Athens. Now we have to take into consideration the arms and armor the Spartans would be carrying, which would come to, roughly, 95 pounds; once you include the helmet, shield, sword, spear, greaves, sandals, miscellaneous equipment, and tunic. Add that 95 pounds to the possible average body weight of the Spartan, let's say around 160 lbs., and you come to an approximate total weight of  255 lbs.
    How many calories burned is that? 
    About 16,156 calories; if you walked it non-stop, on flat terrain, without breaks; something the Spartan hoplites would most certainly not do, but it gives you an idea. Obviously there are other factors to consider, such as hills, mountains, weather (temperature changes), etc.
    If you're curious how many calories ancient Greeks may have burned based on walking habits, here's a website that can help you calculate that. Create a genuine ancient Greek meal based on the food options I've mentioned, figure the calories, plot a trip, and see how many calories your Greek burned in a day. Have fun with it!
    http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi

   
    The Spartan Diet is steadfast in its desire to be low-carb. This means bread and sugar are evil, and thou shalt not touch them, lest ye explode into clumpy bits! Well, not to burst too many Spartan Diet bubbles, but bread was a staple part of ancient Greek diets, and it was breads and cereals that kept the ancient Greek Empire moving.
    As for sugar, figs have a high amount of it, and low-carb enthusiasts reject them because of this. Ironically, the leaves of the fig plant may have properties that help regulate blood sugar in diabetics. But remember, figs were not consumed in mass quantity in antiquity, but treated as either a small snack, or a dessert. Raisins are another culprit of high sugar count, and may also be discarded by low-carb gurus. However, recent studies suggest that people with mild increases in blood pressure can consume small servings of raisins to possibly help lower their blood pressure by a significant amount. 

    According to the Spartan Diet, you should avoid any processed oils. How does this stack against history? Well...
    Olive oil was a huge part of the ancient Greek diet. It has a high amount of monounsaturated fats, which epidemiological studies suggest reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Furthermore, olive oil has a wide variety of antioxidants not found in other oils, with Hydroxytyrosol thought to be the main antioxidant compound. Olive oil also lowers cholesterol and LDL (low-density lipoproteins; 'bad' cholesterol), and is also known to lower blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. This, in turn, helps counteract the high sugar levels found in raisins, figs, and the dreaded monster, wheat--which can cause high blood sugar. From a macro perspective, the ancient Greek diet is a wonderfully well-balanced one.
    Another factor to remember is that Spartans used vinegar in their main course, which was black stew; made of salt, pork, vinegar, and blood. What are the benefits of all that vinegar? Small amounts of vinegar have been shown to reduce the glycemic index of carbohydrate foods, like wheat and barley. 
    Vinegar also satiates the "fullness" need, thus making the person, in this case a Spartan hoplite, feel fuller, faster, thus reducing the amount of consumed calories. Unlike high fructose corn syrup of today, which is a processed sugar that can induce leptin resistance, and defeat this "fullness" trigger, causing a person to eat more, and thus, take in more unneeded calories. Furthermore, with the Spartans' daily consumption of vinegar, it might even have been helpful in preventing metabolic syndrome. 
    Of course many people may denounce most, if not all, of the things I've stated, arguing instead that these foods "might" or "possibly could" do something healthy, which is not the same is "will" or "does."  
    I suppose this is true, but strangely enough the Spartans, whom the "Spartan Diet" is so deeply attributed to, ate these very things. In many respects, the Spartan Diet is rather a contradiction to the actualities of history. But if you wish to go along with it, if you wish to discard the likelihoods that are apparent in history, then no one is stopping you. Least of all the Persians. 
    So continue dismissing anything with carbohydrates, continue your consumption of a near meat-only diet, like Olympic champion, Milos of Croton; even though he also ate large amounts of bread. Go on eating like a famished rabbit. It's okay. You want to be as healthy as a Spartan, and eat the very things they ate! But keep in mind, it wasn't quite as popular as you might expect, given the prestigious decorations of modern thinking. 
    Spartan food was terrible. Just ask the people of Sybaris, an ancient Greek town in southern Italy, they'll tell you.

    "Naturally Spartans are the bravest men in the world. Anyone in his senses would rather die ten thousand times than take his share of such a sorry diet."

                                                                                                              - A Sensible Sybarite