@paulisci in Britain, there was a real peak in lifestyle for common folk around 1000 AD, largely established by examining skeleton bone density. They ate well, weren't too stressed etc. They didn't have the benefits of modern medicine and you could probably get hung for giving the local toff a funny look but they were healthy and had a good life expectancy. After that with wars & plagues etc they didn't get back there until the 1950s.