Our ancestors’ diet: surprising discoveries from a 5000 year old iceman
from ZOE Science & Nutrition
by ZOE
Published: Thu Jun 23 2022
Show Notes
A mummified man found in the mountains of Italy on a nutrition science podcast? Have we gone completely off track?
We haven’t - we promise.
This unfortunate soul could be the key that unlocks an entirely new understanding of human health.
This mummy, discovered in an alpine snow drift by two hikers, gives us a remarkable glimpse into the surprising dietary choices of our ancestors.
In today’s episode, Jonathan discovers some secrets held by our ancestors by speaking to two outstanding guests:
- Frank Maixner works at the Institute for Mummy Studies in Italy and travels the world uncovering the secrets of our ancestors.
- Tim Spector is a co-founder at ZOE and one of the top 100 most cited scientists in the world.
Download our FREE guide — Top 10 Tips to Live Healthier: https://zoe.com/freeguide
Timecodes:
- Intro
- Topic Introduction
- What happened thirty years ago high in the mounts on the border between Italy and Austria
- Who was the Iceman?
- What happened to him and what did we discover about him?
- How old was he and what do we know about his lifestyle?
- What was he eating?
- What’s surprising about his health?
- The Iceman & mushrooms
- Iceman’s microbiome
- The most surprising information about the Iceman’s microbiome
- What’s microbiome diversity?
- Iceman’s origins
- The start of a new academic discipline
- Finding out about salt miners
- What did these salt miners eat?
- How plant-based was their diet?
- Did they eat dairy?
- Their diet diversity
- What do their microbiomes tell us?
- What does this mean for us? What is the actionable advice?
- Summary
- Goodbyes
- Outro
Episode transcripts are available here.
Follow Frank: https://twitter.com/frankmaixner
Follow Tim: www.instagram.com/tim.spector/
Follow ZOE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoe/
This podcast was produced by Fascinate Productions.