Humanity Owes is Existence to Beer

According to Bread, Beer and the Seeds of Change, from the rise of ancient Sumerian civilization to the rise of the British Empire, most people on this planet got their nutrition from bread and beer, since both were made from the same grains. This diet generated 5000 calories a day, necessary for the backbreaking work the people did, and also yielded a high rate of "vitamin deficiencies, cognitive impairment, high infant mortality and fetal alcohol syndrome".  Gradually, over the millennia, machines began to replace people and the work we did, lowering our caloric needs, until today when we consume far too much food for the work we do.  Now excuse me, I have to walk around the block. . .