Скачать или смотреть Gladiators were actually fat on purpose

Forget Hollywood's chiseled gladiators. When archaeologists analyzed bones from a 2,000-year-old gladiator graveyard in Ephesus, Turkey, they discovered something shocking: these fighters ate almost no meat. Their diet was barley, beans, and dried fruit — earning them the nickname "hordearii" (barley eaters). Why? Fat was armor. A layer of subcutaneous fat protected nerves and blood vessels from sword cuts. They also drank bone ash mixed with vinegar as a calcium supplement — and their bone calcium levels were far higher than normal Romans. They understood sports nutrition 2,000 years ago. They just optimized for survival.

Research: Medical University of Vienna (2014), PLoS ONE, Archaeology Magazine, National Geographic

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