The late Mr. William Banting, author of a "Letter on Corpulence," gives the following excellent advice, with a dietary for use in cases of obesity (corpulence):
- Medicine.—None, save a morning cordial, as a corrective.
- Dietary.
Breakfast.—Four or five ounces of beef, mutton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon, or any kind of cold meat except pork, a large cup (or two) of tea without milk or sugar, a little biscuit or dry toast.
Dinner.—Five or six ounces of any fish except salmon, any meat except pork, any vegetables except potatoes; one ounce of dry toast; fruit out of a pudding; any kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of claret or sherry. Port, champagne, and beer forbidden.
Tea.—Two or three ounces of fruit; a rusk or two, and a cup or two of tea, without milk or sugar.
Supper.—Three or four ounces of meat or fish as at dinner, with a glass or two of claret.
Nightcap (if required).—A glass or two of grog,—whisky, gin, or brandy,—without sugar; or a glass or two of sherry.
Mr. Banting adds,
"Dietary is the principal point in the treatment of corpulence (also in rheumatic diseases, and even in incipient paralysis). If properly regulated, it becomes in a certain sense a medicine. It purifies the blood, strengthens the muscles and viscera, and sweetens life if it does not prolong it."
1769. Advantages of a Regular Life
The advantages to be derived from a regular mode of living, with a view to the preservation of health and life, are nowhere better exemplified than in the precepts and practice of Plutarch, whose rules for this purpose are excellent; and by observing them himself, he maintained his bodily strength and mental faculties unimpaired to a very advanced age. Galen is a still stronger proof of the advantages of a regular plan, by means of which he is said to have reached the great age of 140 years, without having ever experienced disease. His advice to the readers of his "Treatise on Health" is as follows:
"I beseech all persons who shall read this work not to degrade themselves to a level with the brutes, or the rabble, by gratifying their sloth, or by eating and drinking promiscuously whatever pleases their palates, or by indulging their appetites of every kind. But whether they understand physic or not, let them consult their reason, and observe what agrees, and what does not agree with them, that, like wise men, they may adhere to the use of such things as conduce to their health, and forbear everything which, by their own experience, they find to do them hurt; and let them be assured that, by a diligent observation and practice of this rule, they may enjoy a good share of health, and seldom stand in need of physic or physicians."