On the Regimen of Health

This Servant says: If man were to conduct himself as he manages the animal he rides, he would be safeguarded from many ailments. That is, you find no one who throws fodder to his animal haphazardly, but rather he measures it out to her according to her tolerance. Yet he himself eats indiscriminately, without measure. Moreover, he takes into consideration the activity of his animal and exercises her, so that she does not stand still forever and be ruined. Yet he does not do this for himself, or pay attention to the exercise of his own body, which is the cornerstone of the conservation of health and the repulsion of most ailments.

Long before us, Hippocrates stated that the maintenance of health lies in forsaking the disinclination to exertion. Nothing is to be found that can substitute for exercise in any way, because in exercise the natural heat flames up and all the superfluities are expelled, while at rest the flame of the natural heat subsides and superfluities are engendered in the body, even though the food is of the very best quality and is moderate in quantity. And exercise will expel the harm done by most of the bad regimens that most men follow.

Not all motion is exercise to the physicians. What is termed exercise is powerful or rapid motion or a combination of both, that is, vigorous motion with which the respiration alters, and one begins to heave sighs. Whatever exceeds this is exertion, that is to say that very strong exercise is called exertion. [ . . . ]

It is one of the rules of the regimen of health not to introduce one meal upon another, and not to eat except after true hunger, when the stomach is empty, the saliva is drawn into the mouth, and the hunger is justified. This is the time when a meal is beneficial. One should not drink water except after genuine thirst; that is to say, that should one be hungry or thirsty, he should wait a while since a false hunger and also a false thirst can arise from an evil and mordicant humor vexing the mouth of the stomach. Should these subside, one should not take anything, but if this hunger or thirst increases, one should then eat or drink. [ . . . ]

[I]‌t is proper to relinquish the sick to Nature when an accomplished physician cannot be found. The meaning of leaving it to Nature is that one should not take remedies other than those customary for the healthy to take, or forsake nourishment altogether; when thirsty one should drink and when hungry one should eat, at whatever time it is his habit to eat. At that time he should eat the lightest meal that he is accustomed to eat. One should know that even if attended by a well-known physician, or several physicians, he should not submit, and take the strong remedies except on the advice of a physician who is very accomplished, whose knowledge has been verified, and whose experience has been attested. Otherwise, one should, when ill, employ the weak remedies, not the strong. [ . . . ]

The physicians have already admonished all practitioners not to employ medicaments if they can manage the sick by regulating nourishment alone. If they cannot manage without medication, they should manage with things that are customary, like the nourishing medicaments or the nutrients that are medicinal. If they cannot do without what is solely medication, they should begin with the weaker medicaments. If this suffices, it is good; should it not suffice, they should repair to the stronger in potency. Whenever it is possible to manage with a simple medicament they should not manage with the compounded, and if it is not possible without the compounded, they should manage with one of lesser complexity. They should not resort to very complex medicaments except when absolutely necessary. [ . . . ]

[T]‌he physicians have directed that concern and care should always be given to the movements of the psyche; these should be kept in balance in the state of health as well as in disease, and no other regimen should be given precedence in any wise. The physician should make every effort that all the sick, and all the healthy, should be most cheerful of soul at all times, and that they should be relieved of the passions of the psyche that cause anxiety. Thereby the health of the healthy will persist. This is also foremost in curing the sick, and especially those whose disease is psychic, like those who harbor hypochondria and morbid melancholy, because solicitude for the emotions in these is obligatory. It is the same for someone who is overcome by grief and obsessions, or by terror of whatever is unnatural to fear, or by the diminution of satisfaction in what is natural for him to enjoy. In all of these, the skillful physician should place nothing ahead of rectifying the state of the psyche by removing these passions. Nonetheless, the physician, inasmuch as he is a physician, should not insist upon his own art as the rationale for the stratagem in removing these passions, for truly, this virtue is to be attained from practical philosophy, and from the admonitions and disciplines of the Law. [ . . . ]

The behavior of all men regarding coitus is known. And that is, that there is not one who uses it for the sake of the regimen of health, or for the sake of procreation, but merely for pleasure; thus they lust until fatigued, at all times, and at every opportunity. It is already manifest among those who know, that coitus is detrimental to all men except some few whose temperament is such that a little of it does no harm.