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Some podcast I was listening to made an interesting argument along these lines around tea, although more in the context of the industrial revolution. Their poin
by tech_ken 3y ago
Some podcast I was listening to made an interesting argument along these lines around tea, although more in the context of the industrial revolution. Their point was that tea, a stimulant, was absolutely central in motivating workers to get up at the crack of dawn and work long hours doing precise, grueling work. So much so that it became a strategic necessity for the English economy, leading to much of their colonial policy in China and India. Not sure exactly how "valid" this reading is, but it's definitely interesting to think about coffee and tea as actual stimulant drugs with economic consequences. Certainly today tea has a very benign reputation
- BizarroLand 3y agoPlentiful, low cost sugar also might have been a contributing factor, being a quick source of calories and energy, combined with the caffeine. If your daily diet was previously primarily vegetables with some meat and in season fruits, and then suddenly you're having sugar with every meal, you would probably have more energy to work harder with the extra focus the caffeine provides.
- ke88y 3y agoYou left out grains, which were the majority of Europe's diet for the majority of the written history of Europe. The sugar hypothesis doesn't make such sense in light of (cheaper, more plentiful, and calorie-dense) grains.
- agumonkey 3y agoWe really are what we eat.