Resumo

LEJAVITZER LAPOUJADE, Amalia. Healthy Diet, Pure Food and Purification in the Greco-Roman World. Nova tellus [online]. 2016, vol.34, n.1, pp.109-121. ISSN 0185-3058.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.nt.2016.33.2.711.

From the texts of authors of Classical Antiquity (De abstinentia by Porphyry and De re coquinaria attributed to Apicius, among others), this paper analyzes the notion of pure food and their implication in the diet and over it. First, it studies the concept of diet, as a part of the therapeutic, that is, one of the medical instruments to restore health. For ancient Greeks and Romans, in addition to healthy eating, rest and exercise, the diet includes baths and purges; both elements are related to the idea of purity. Secondly, this paper shows the Latin terms that are used to describe pure food, crudus, recens, viridis and purus, specifically in the cases of olive oil and honey, which are considered the pure foods most characteristics. To conclude, pure food requires neither cooking nor preservation for consumption, and also can be consumed without mixing or adding any element to the product itself. In consequence, the notion of purity is associated not only with a dietetic domain, but this notion also reaches ethical and metaphoric dimensions.

Palavras-chave : Healthy Diet; Pure Food; Purity; Food in Graeco Roman Antiquity; Porphyry; Apicius.

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