Bread was cheap and easy to make as opposed to raising meat. Meat was for the rich, bread was for the poor. But still, their bread back then was FAR more nutritious and fuller than it is now. White, fluffy bread was a luxury for the rich, but it lacked nutrition. Denser, more hearty bread was the norm for regular workers and poorer people but at least it filled their stomachs and provided many nutrients.
I actually just watched a documentary on how Victorian bake houses operated, and they said that people would eat mainly only bread throughout the day. Breakfast would be bread alone. Lunch would be bread and a bit of meat if you were lucky. Supper would be bread and some cheese. They also said that people worked so hard back then that they would need to consume 5,000 to 8,000 calories a day to sustain themselves. Crazy right? This is the same for Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps who eats about 6,000 calories a day because he trains and works so hard.
Bread was a great source of calories to keep you going, and more hearty bread kept you fuller longer. Wheat back then also had far less gluten than today, so again it was much healthier. They cultivated wheat grains with more gluten over the centuries to make the bread fluffier, which is what everyone wanted (too bad they didn't realize how poor the bread would be in comparison to the original wheat).
Bread was cheap and easy to make as opposed to raising meat. Meat was for the rich, bread was for the poor. But still, their bread back then was FAR more nutritious and fuller than it is now. White, fluffy bread was a luxury for the rich, but it lacked nutrition. Denser, more hearty bread was the norm for regular workers and poorer people but at least it filled their stomachs and provided many nutrients.
I actually just watched a documentary on how Victorian bake houses operated, and they said that people would eat mainly only bread throughout the day. Breakfast would be bread alone. Lunch would be bread and a bit of meat if you were lucky. Supper would be bread and some cheese. They also said that people worked so hard back then that they would need to consume 5,000 to 8,000 calories a day to sustain themselves. Crazy right? This is the same for Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps who eats about 6,000 calories a day because he trains and works so hard.
Bread was a great source of calories to keep you going, and more hearty bread kept you fuller longer. Wheat back then also had far less gluten than today, so again it was much healthier. They cultivated wheat grains with more gluten over the centuries to make the bread fluffier, which is what everyone wanted (too bad they didn't realize how poor the bread would be in comparison to the original wheat).