Abstract

This paper develops and utilizes novel methods that combine historical records concerning the diets of European naval mariners in the sixteenth century with modern information on the nutritional content of food. Energy, vitamin, and mineral intakes were compared to modern recommended values. Calorie provisions were sufficient and relatively constant in all Western European fleets. The absence of vitamin C was a universal failure of the naval diet. The limiting factor to variety and balance in the naval diet was the demands of preservation with limited technology. Fish declined in importance between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries while beef increased in importance. A database structure that allows for calculation of nutritional information was designed and utilized in this research and is provided online for future reference and calculation of diets.

摘要

本文开发并利用了新颖的方法，将有关16世纪欧洲海军水手饮食的历史记录与有关食物营养成分的现代信息相结合。将能量，维生素和矿物质的摄入量与现代推荐值进行了比较。在所有西欧舰队中，卡路里的供给已经足够并且相对稳定。维生素C的缺乏是海军饮食普遍失败的原因。海军饮食的多样性和平衡性的限制因素是对采用有限技术进行保存的要求。在十六至十八世纪，鱼的重要性下降，而牛肉的重要性上升。