From Past to Plate: What History Can Teach Us About Fiber

For most of human history, no one talked about “fiber.” Nobody counted grams or downloaded apps. And yet, across cultures and centuries, people ate meals that were naturally rich in it. Legumes, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and roots were the building blocks of daily eating, because that’s what the land produced and traditions passed down.

Take classical Greece around the 5th century BCE. Every meal delivered gut health. Barley breads and maza, lentil or chickpea stews, seasonal greens, olives, and figs were staples of everyday life (Weiss, Food in the Middle Ages). This “staple + simple relish” model was a way of life. And it meant fiber showed up on the plate, meal after meal.

Fast forward to medieval Europe. Religious calendars marked out meatless days and long fasting seasons, especially during Lent. For most families, that meant turning again to beans, peas, cabbage, onions, leeks, and hearty loaves made from rye or barley (Andrew, Food in the Ancient World, from A to Z). These were affordable, filling, and accessible foods. 

Even before agriculture, some foraging communities leaned heavily on plant-based staples. At Taforalt in present-day Morocco—roughly 15,000 years ago—new research using bone isotopes shows that local hunter-gatherers relied mostly on plant foods for protein and calories. That’s right: long before farming, some human diets were already quietly fiber-forward.

And in a few parts of the world, they still are. In places like Ikaria, Greece and Okinawa, Japan, elders often eat vegetables, legumes, and whole grains as the core of their diets. These regions—called Blue Zones—stuck with traditions that prioritized simple, plant-rich staples. Meals are unhurried, shared, and deeply satisfying. And yes, fiber is doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes work: supporting heart health, digestion, blood sugar, and more.

But today, most people—especially in the U.S.—live in a food environment that makes those kinds of meals harder to come by. Ultra-processed foods now make up about 58% of calories in the American diet and deliver 90% of added sugars. They’re cheap, convenient, and heavily marketed, but they rarely offer meaningful fiber.

It’s no wonder that up to 97% of children don’t get enough fiber. The food we eat is determined by when you’re busy, hungry, or on a budget. And that matters, because fiber is still a “nutrient of public health concern,” linked to better health across the board.

So what can we learn from the past? Not that we need to replicate ancient meals or romanticize history, but that fiber-rich foods can be the default again, just like they were for generations. Especially in schools, where kids eat hundreds of meals each year, we have the chance to rebuild that foundation.

That’s why at Balanced, we focus on making fiber easier to access and enjoy. Through our Focus on Fiber campaign, we help schools shift menus toward simple, high-impact foods:

• Beans and lentils in familiar dishes

• Oats and whole grains in breakfasts

• 100% whole-grain breads, buns, and pasta

• More vegetables and whole fruits (not just juice)

When these foods show up more often, fiber takes care of itself. And when meals are designed to support health by default, it’s not just fiber intake that improves. It’s learning, energy, equity, and lifelong well-being.

Fiber should be timeless. And with the right tools and support, we can help schools and communities reconnect with the foods that have kept people nourished for thousands of years.

Sources:

Adamson, Melitta Weiss. Food in the Middle Ages. Routledge, 1995.

Dalby, Andrew. Food in the ancient world, from A to Z. United Kingdom, Routledge, 2003.