I know from experience and general observation that boys of sixty years ago at the age of fourteen and fifteen years could endure and accomplish more than most young ones of the present can accomplish at the age of twenty one years owing I presume to their constant outdoor exercise and the plain substantial food on which they lived in the early settlement of the county.
A Walk Through Marine by Ronald Loos
Ah, the recollections of a man at the end his time. The above quote was written by a man of about sixty years not too long before his death in a letter. He apparently observed a softening of people and attributed it to earlier generations having “constant outdoor exercise’” and a diet of “substantial” food. He wrote this circa 1875. The teens he referred to had not grown up eating cereals which had only been around for a decade or so. They’d grown up on high-fat breakfasts.
He probably had never heard the term nutrient dense but he identified its impact. Nutrient dense is when you get “most nutrients for the fewest amount of calories.” Those high-fat breakfasts of meat and eggs started their days right. Every calorie counted for them. Make every one count for you. No one can guarantee that you’ll be chasing down rabbit bare-handed like he claims teens did then but you will definitely feel better.
A few other quotes of interest from the letter:
The menu for the pioneers would be wild game, birds, fruit and berries.
On the other hand honey of wild bees was in abundance and sugar was made in February from the maple trees…..
The wheat raised in 1823 was very unhealthy, causing nausea and vomiting when eaten in any form.
This article was first published on September 21, 2013 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.
