HEALTH:
OR,
RULES to preserve the Body to a good old Age.
I.
T is not good to eat too much, or fast too long, or do any thing else that is preternatural.
II.
Whoever eats or drinks too much, will be sick.
If thou art dull and heavy after Meat, it’s a Sign thou hast exceeded the due Measure, for Meat and Drink ought to refresh the Body, and make it chearful, not to dull and oppress it.
IV.
If thou findest those ill Symptoms, consider whether too much Meat or Drink occasions it, or both, and abate by little and little, ’till thou findest the Inconveniency remov’d.
V.
Pass not immediately from a disorder’d Life, to a strict and precise Life, but by degrees abate the Excess, for ill Customs arrive by degrees, and so must be wore off.
As to the Quality of the Food, if the Body be of a healthful Constitution, and the Meat does thee no Harm, it matters little what it is; but all Sorts must be avoided that does Prejudice, though it please the Taste never so much.
VII.
After Diet is obtain’d, the Appetite will require no more than Nature hath need of, it will desire as Nature desires.
VIII.
Old Men can fast easily; Men of ripe Age can fast almost as much, but young People and Children can hardly fast at all.
Let ancient People eat Panada, made of Bread, and Flesh Broth, which is of light Digestion; an Egg now and then will do well.
X.
Growing Persons have a great deal of Natural Heat, which requires a great deal of Nourishment, else the Body will pine.
XI.
It must be examin’d what Sort of Persons ought to feed once or twice a Day, more or less; Allowance being always made to the Person, to the Season of the Year, to the Place where one lives, and to Custom.
XII.
The more you feed foul Bodies, the more you hurt your selves.
He that studies much, ought not to eat so much as those that work hard, his Digestion being not so good.
XIV.
The near Quantity and Quality being found out, it is safest to be kept to.
XV.
Excess in all other things whatever, as well as in Meat and drink, are to be avoided; excessive Heats and Colds, violent Exercises, late Hours, and Women, unwholsome Air, violent Winds, the Passions, &c.
XVI.
Youth, Age, and Sick require a different Quantity.
And so do those of different Complexions, for that which is too much for a Phlegmatick Man, is not sufficient for the Cholerick.
XVIII.
The Measure of the Food ought to be proportionable to the Quality and Condition of the Stomach, because the Stomach is to digest it.
XIX.
The Quantity that is sufficient, the Stomach can perfectly concoct, and answers to the due Nourishment of the Body.
XX.
Hence it appears we may eat a greater Quantity of some Viands than of others of a more hard Digestion.
The Difficulty lies in finding out an exact Measure; but eat for Necessity not Pleasure; for Lust knows not where Necessity ends.
XXII.
Wouldst thou enjoy a long Life, a healthy Body, and a vigorous Mind, and be acquainted also with the wonderful Works of God, labour in the first Place to bring thy Appetite to Reason.
XXIII.
Beware of Variety of Meats, and such as are curiously and daintily drest, which destroy a multitude of People; they prolong Appetite four times beyond what Nature requires, and different Meats are of different Natures, some are sooner digested than others, whence Crudities proceed, and the whole Digestion depraved.
XXIV.
Keep out of the Sight of Feasts and Banquets as much as may be, for it is more difficult to retain good Cheer, when in Presence, than from the Desire of it when it is away; the like you may observe in all the other Senses.
XXV.
Fancy that Gluttony is not good and pleasant, but filthy, evil, and detestable; as it really is.
XXVI.
The richest Food, when concocted, yields the most noisom Smells; and he that works and fares hard, hath a sweeter and pleasanter Body than the other.
Winter requires somewhat a larger Quantity than Summer; hot and dry Meats agree best with Winter, cold and moist with Summer; in Summer abate a little of your Meat and add to your Drink, and in Winter substract from your Drink and add to your Meat.
XXVIII.
If a Man casually exceeds, let him fast the next Meal and all may be well again, provided it be not often done; or if he exceed at Dinner, let him rest from, or make a slight Supper.
XXIX.
Use now and then a little Exercise a Quarter of an Hour before Meals, or swing your Arms about with a small Weight in each Hand, to leap, and the like, for that stirs the Muscles of the Breast.
Shooting in the long Bow, for the Breast and Arms.
XXXI.
Bowling, for the Reins, Stone and Gravel, &c.
XXXII.
Walking, for the Stomach: And the great Drusus having weak and small Thighs and Legs, strengthened them by Riding, and especially after Dinner.
XXXIII.
Squinting and a dull Sight are amended by Shooting.
XXXIV.
Crookedness, by Swinging and hanging upon the Arms.
A temperate Diet frees from Diseases; such are seldom ill, but if they are surprized with Sickness, they bear it better, and recover it sooner, for all Distempers have their Original from Repletion.
XXXVI.
A temperate Diet arms the Body against all external Accidents, so that they are not so easily hurt by Heat, Cold, or Labour; if they at any Time should be prejudiced, they are more easily cured, either of Wounds, Dislocations, or Bruises; it also resists Epidemical Diseases.
XXXVII.
It makes Mens Bodies fitter for any Employments; it makes Men to live long; Galen, with many others, lived by it a Hundred Years.
Galen saith, That those that are weak-complexioned from their Mothers Womb, may (by the Help of this Art, which prescribes the coarse Diet) attain to extreme old Age, and that without Diminution of Senses or Sickness of Body; and he saith, that though he never had a healthful Constitution of Body from his Birth, yet by using a good Diet after the Twenty-seventh Year of his Age, he never fell into Sickness, unless now and then into a One Days Fever, taken by One Days Weariness.
XXXIX.
A sober Diet makes a Man die without Pain; it maintains the Senses in Vigour; it mitigates the Violence of Passions and Affections.
It preserves the Memory; it helps the Understanding; it allays the Heat of Lust; it brings a Man to that weighty Consideration of his latter End.
