According to the CDC, seasonal influenza activity continues to increase across the country. Cold and flu remedies from prescription antivirals to OTC brands to home remedies and immune boosting foods swirl through the media like the airborne viruses they seek to control leaving most of us wondering what is the best way to stay healthy.
Citizens of the early Renaissance relied on the advice and recommendations of the Tacuinum Sanitatis, a medieval handbook on health and sanitation based on the Taqwim al‑sihha تقويم الصحة (Tables of Health) by Ibn Butlan, a Christian physician born in Baghdad who died in 1068. This eleventh-century Arab medical guide focused on the ancient concepts of the Greek sciences that emphasized balanced eating, sleeping and exercising as a guide to healthy living. The word taccuino in modern Italian means any kind of pocket handbook, guide or notebook; in this case a reference manual with helpful hints for the Renaissance household on how to prevent illness and promote well-being. During the late fourteenth-century in Lombardy this illuminated manuscript of four notebooks was completed with sections on six things that are necessary for the daily preservation of health.
The first is the treatment of air, which concerns the heart. The second is the right use of food and drinks. The third is the correct use of movement and rest. The fourth is the prohibition of the body from sleep, or excessive wakefulness. The fifth is the correct use of elimination and retention of humors. The sixth is the regulating of the person by moderating joy, anger, fear, and distress. The secret of the preservation of health, in fact, will be in the proper balance . . . from the Tacuinum Sanitatis.
The notebooks also emphasize the benefits of different kinds of foods and ingredients, their benefits and harm. Among the recommendations for the elderly in winter and cold regions is eating garlic, parsley, wheat gruel, dried fruits, nuts, figs and raisins and the drinking of fragrant and mature full-bodied red wine. For the youth, barley, peas, truffles and sweet milk. Fresh cheese was recommended as a “good food that relaxes and fattens the body” yet it could be harmful “because it produces obstructions”. The recommended remedy for this was to eat it with walnuts and almonds. Good advice when making a cheese board! White bread was considered to be nutritious when made from the finest flour but brown bread was “advisable for all temperaments, ages, seasons and inhabited regions”.
There are a number of what we would now refer to as folk medicine remedies. The herb elecampane was the Renaissance version of Mucinex. Inula helenium also known as elfwort, elfdock or yellow starwort, it was used for congestion, coughs and respiratory conditions but unlike modern medications, without reliable information on dosing and side effects their relevance cannot be compared to their modern counterparts.Yet there is much to be learned from this Renaissance version of Web MD.
The Tacuinum Sanitatis emphasis a lifestyle approach to health and well-being that focuses on healthy social determinants everyone needs to thrive. Vivid scenes of the harvest of vegetables, fruits and flowers connect them with human health and well-being. The notebooks not only include a medieval herbarium with descriptions, illustrations and names of plants and their medicinal uses but topics on rest and mental health. Wholistic in its approach, the Tacuinum Sanitatis pointed out the importance of spiritual well-being and mentions the benefits of listening to music, dancing and having a pleasant conversation.
The Renaissance version of Web MD includes lively illustrations that give us a fascinating picture of the lifestyle of late medieval and early Renaissance with detailed drawings of men and women in their linen shirts and aprons, dresses and caps going about their daily lives and encourages the reader to enjoy each season of the year and the consequences of each type of climate.
Foods from the Renaissance Version of Web MD - Vinegar and Olive Oil
Comments