The purple nut sedge, or nut grass, is generally considered a nasty, fast-spreading, and hard-to-kill nuisance weed today. But for our ancestors, it not only served as a nutritious meal, it cleaned their teeth, according to a new study on PLoS ONE. An analysis of hardened bits of plaque from the teeth of ancient skeletons in Sudan reveals that those who ate the plant had surprisingly few cavities, Nature World News reports.
Who Needs Dentists? Early Humans Ate This Weed - Ancients who snacked on purple nut sedge had few cavities