A mummified man found in the mountains of Italy on a nutrition science podcast? Have we gone completely off track? We haven’t - we promise. This unfortunate soul could be the key that unlocks an entirely new understanding of human health. This mummy, discovered in an alpine snow drift by two hikers, gives us a remarkable glimpse into the surprising dietary choices of our ancestors.In today’s episode, Jonathan discovers some secrets held by our ancestors by speaking to two outstanding guests: Frank Maixner works at the Institute for Mummy Studies in Italy and travels the world uncovering the secrets of our ancestors. Tim Spector is a co-founder at ZOE and one of the top 100 most cited scientists in the world. Download our FREE guide — Top 10 Tips to Live Healthier: https://zoe.com/freeguide Timecodes:00:00 - Intro00:10 - Topic Introduction01:45 - What happened thirty years ago high in the mounts on the border between Italy and Austria03:02 - Who was the Iceman?03:39 - What happened to him and what did we discover about him?05:10 - How old was he and what do we know about his lifestyle?06:01 - What was he eating?09:02 - What’s surprising about his health?11:56 - The Iceman & mushrooms13:08 - Iceman’s microbiome14:13 - The most surprising information about the Iceman’s microbiome15:27 - What’s microbiome diversity?17:30 - Iceman’s origins17:56 - The start of a new academic discipline19:41 - Finding out about salt miners21:02 - What did these salt miners eat?23:05 - How plant-based was their diet?23:39 - Did they eat dairy?25:05 - Their diet diversity26:40 - What do their microbiomes tell us?32:31 - What does this mean for us? What is the actionable advice?36:24 - Summary38:16 - Goodbyes38:40 - OutroEpisode transcripts are available here.Follow Frank: https://twitter.com/frankmaixnerFollow Tim: www.instagram.com/tim.spector/Follow ZOE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoe/This podcast was produced by Fascinate Productions.