In anticipation of Bryan Kozlowski's newest book "The Austen Diet", please join in our conversation and win a copy of the book (released date: March 19, 2019)
What can Jane Austen teach us about health? Prepare to have your bonnet blown…
From the food secrets of Pride and Prejudice to the fitness strategies of Sense and Sensibility, there’s a modern health code hidden in the world’s most popular romances.
Join Bryan Kozlowski as he unlocks this “health and happiness” manifesto straight from Jane Austen’s pen, revealing why her prescriptions for achieving total body “bloom” still matter in the 21st century. Whether that’s learning how to eat like Lizzie Bennet, exercise like Emma Woodhouse, or think like Elinor Dashwood, explore how Austen’s timeless body beliefs are more relevant, refreshing, and scientifically sensible now than ever before. After all, it's still a truth universally acknowledged – Jane Austen’s heroines don’t get fat.
Bryan Kozlowski is a passionate champion of "lit wit" - bringing the wisdom of classic literature into everyday life. From Charles Dickens to children's cookbooks, his books celebrate the modern magic of living literarily. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Post, Slate, and other publications.
Here's a couple of ideas to start the discussions:
1. What kind of diet do you think was "Jane Austen Diet"?
2. Would "Jane Austen Diet" works in our time now?
Have fun...
No purchase necessary. Ends March 14, 2019 midnight. Winner will be announced March 15, 2019. Must be a member of JASNAMN. Prize: 1 (one) copy of "The Austen Diet" by Bryan Kozlowski. There will only be 1 winner at this time. Prize is courtesy of Bryan Kozlowski. Winner will be selected from participant of this Forum Thread "JASNAMN member giveaway (March 2019) randomly. Participants encourage to join in conversations, the more participations the more chance of winning. Prize will be sent to winner directly from publisher. Winner contact information will be collected then.
I think it's a mindful diet. Since there was no TV or Social Media. People ate very mindfully, taking their time to enjoy their meals.
Organic, since I doubt there's many pesticides or GMO then
Active lifestyle, seems like they walk a lot then. Lizzy (Pride & Prejudice) is very fond of walking.
Less stress, reduce inflamation anywhere. Since life moves in slower pace. How I would like to live like that.
I agree about exercise, at least for people who did not own their own carriage; walking would be a more common way to get places when feasible. There would be less sugar in their diet, especially during the fight for abolition when there was a sugar boycott, but also because there would be no processed food like there is today (almost all have salt, sugar or both). And I believe that sugar was locked up with the tea in the Austen household, so it must have also been expensive. The types of meat people ate was more varied than most of us eat now (there are recipes for calves head, pigeons, and mutton in Marha Lloyd’s household book). Salting meat would also be more common. Vegetables would only be in season, unless canned. No (or rarely) exotic fruits (pineapples, bananas, maybe even oranges, although lemons seem more common) except for the rich. Tea rather than coffee, although both were drunk at the time. Wine and beer, potentially home made. Also homemade bread (yum!).
Jane Austen was able to live a middle-class lifestyle. Poor people mostly relied on bread.
Hi Kaylara, I am reading a book called "I quit sugar". It's interesting how much hidden sugar there is in today's diet. I do think it is messing up with our system. I also saw in netflix "cooked" by Michael Pollen, he thinks that yeasts is messing up with our digestion system. In the old day, bread are made with natural process of fermenting (yeast) and people seemed to have less digestion issues.
It’s also worth noting that the today’s bread is made from horrifically overprocessed flour compared to Jane’s time. So while some people were more dependent on bread for meals it was more nutritious. Pair it with a bit of butter and beer and you have enough calories to keep your body going.
Two of my favorite tidbits about Jane is that she brewed the family beer and once wrote a letter to Cassandra whilst hungover (she said something to the effect of drinking too much wine the previous night).
If you ever want to watch a Georgian recipe being cooked, I highly recommend heading over to Youtube to watch Jon Townsend- https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson His channel is a delight to watch and it’s facinating to watch him cook authentic late 18th Century recipes over an open fire with delicious results!
Thanks. Will take a look!
I sometimes wonder how they stay hydrated. Did they drink water in the country (though they avoided it in the city) or did they mostly drink tea and fermented beverages?
There was a British show about how Brits have eaten through the centuries called “The Supersizers Go...”. The two performers (Giles Coren and Sue Perkins) lived, dressed, and ate like a particular time period for a week to see what it was like. While not 100% accurate , I felt like the show gave a good gist for whatever period they were doing for the week. In every pre 20th Century episode there was no water. They stayed hydrated by drinking beer (historical beer had less alcohol than modern beer), wine, and tea/coffee when accurate.
Hi Julie,
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