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Ancient Egyptians Used Moldy Bread as an Antibiotic

Ancient Egyptians Used Moldy Bread as an Antibiotic - Malevus

https://malevus.com/ancient-egyptians-used-moldy-bread-as-an-antibiotic/

There is evidence suggesting that ancient Egyptians used moldy bread, specifically containing a type of mold called Penicillium, as an early form of antibiotic.

Ancient Egyptians Used Moldy Bread as an Antibiotic - Malevus

There is evidence suggesting that ancient Egyptians used moldy bread, specifically containing a type of mold called Penicillium, as an early form of antibiotic.

13 comments

voracitude

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Important to note, Penicillium mold is not Penicillin. Bread commonly available in modern grocery stores is often not made the same way as back then, and will be growing and carrying other pathogens which you don't want to be getting into an open wound. Penicillin, the modern medicine, is highly processed, and impossible to manufacture without what amounts to a laboratory.

They covered this a bit, at the end of the article:

Furthermore, Egyptian bread was leavened without yeast, in contrast to ours, which typically contains yeast. Therefore, using our moldy bread to cover wounds is not recommended. Our bread contains numerous chemical elements that, instead of aiding in wound healing, could worsen the condition and potentially lead to more serious pathologies. Additionally, Egyptian bread was manufactured using clay pots baked on hot ashes, while our bread involves machines that, despite hygiene efforts, may harbor microbes or bacteria.

I got interested in how to make my own modem medicines because there's a nonzero chance I'll need to know how in my lifetime, so learning how hard it is to refine was a great disappointment.

Bassman1805

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Boo, AI cover image

I_Has_A_Hat

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Oh fuck off.

stoly

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It was really unnecessary to make that personal.

PyroNeurosis

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hot wine served as an alcohol substitute

And I suppose they would have substituted petroleum for gasoline?

Maeve

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Additionally, today's wheat, corn and other grains (food in general) isn't the same, as ancient times. Too many added chemicals, added gluten, sugars, etc. The nutritional value is mostly lost, but for the added nutrients, and I'm not entirely sure they're absorbed the way we think they are.

boredsquirrel

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"Added gluten" makes no sense, but yes the modern wheat is bred to have waaay less bitter taste and secondary nutrients, whild being high in short carbohydrates like sugar. It also contains way more gluten.

The fact that especially wheat seems to only be used in a highly filtered form, doesnt help.

And yeah, genetic diversity is important here too.

stoly

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I’m not sure why you’re being downvoted here. It’s common knowledge that although we produce more food it’s not as nutritious as before. We get more mass but less dietary value.

Maeve

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We get more mass but less dietary value.

Absolutely. Obese people have died from malnutrition, and that's a whole other ball of wax.

PiousAgnostic

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Wtf you talking about

Maeve

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This isn't anything new, and a quick search can tell you more. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/

ChicoSuave

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Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s," he said on "CBS This Morning."

I hate to be the guy pointing out the obvious but farming is low budget genetic engineering. A huge number of crops have seen so much attention by farmers, scientists, and agribusiness that they are different from the food grown 100 years ago.

The person in the article, which doesn't source their findings and which has no other voices of concern, sounds like they are churning up worry from nothing. appreciate the article as evidence but it sounds like vague shade towards wheat. The only chemical mentioned is gliadin, which if you look at you will see is a component of gluten, a protein that we have been eating for 12,000 years. If it was dangerous, we would have found a clue long ago and had a defined issue by now, like celiac disease.

Maeve

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I just picked a news source most Americans would find palatable. There is plenty of decent research, and science changes when data changes. The issue is sorting out junk science, which is harder when research is made up and peer reviews are "yes, seems legit, I didn't have time to dig in "