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An alphabetical #histmed list of what/ what not to eat and drink if you suffer from melancholy, mainly drawn from #AnatomyOfMelancholy.
A=apple cider. Theoretically bad: causes wind, breeds black bile. BUT...
A=apple cider. Theoretically bad: causes wind, breeds black bile. BUT...
...residents of Glos, Heref, Worcs in England, Normandy in France, northern Spain don't get melancholy. Why? Local custom wins out over usual dietary rules.
B=Beer. Light beer is better than darker. Avoid anything 'over-new, or over-stale, over-strong, or not sod', says Robert Burton.
C=chicken. Recommended for melancholics as a meat that's 'moist, easy of digestion, and apt not to engender wind'. Best boiled, not roasted.
Babs (pictured) is at no risk of this. She's a rescue hen, now a freeloading slacker.
Babs (pictured) is at no risk of this. She's a rescue hen, now a freeloading slacker.
D=dates. Anything 'luscious and over-sweet' is bad news for sufferers of #Renaissance #Melancholy. They're obstructive to the digestion and turn into bile.
E=Eels.
They 'breed viscosities, slimy nutriment', and are 'unwholesome for all cold and melancholy complexions'. All fish that 'have a taste of mud' are bad for you if you're a melancholic...
They 'breed viscosities, slimy nutriment', and are 'unwholesome for all cold and melancholy complexions'. All fish that 'have a taste of mud' are bad for you if you're a melancholic...
... and the 16th-c Italian physician Paolo Giovio is especially scathing about eels. He 'abhorreth in all places, in all times; all physicians detest them, especially about the solstice'.
Sorry for the eel diss, @greenleejw
Sorry for the eel diss, @greenleejw
F=Fried food. It's not just what you eat, but how it's prepared that can cause melancholy.
Frying's bad for digestion because of the fat and the colour. Likewise roast meat, though it's ok 'if the burned and scorched superficies, the brown we call it, be pared off'.
Frying's bad for digestion because of the fat and the colour. Likewise roast meat, though it's ok 'if the burned and scorched superficies, the brown we call it, be pared off'.
G=Goats. Don't go there.
'Savonarola discommends goat's flesh, and so doth Bruerinus, calling it a filthy beast, and rammish: and therefore supposeth it will breed rank and filthy substance'.
Young and tender goats are an exception, says Galen.
'Savonarola discommends goat's flesh, and so doth Bruerinus, calling it a filthy beast, and rammish: and therefore supposeth it will breed rank and filthy substance'.
Young and tender goats are an exception, says Galen.
H=Hare. Solitary and timid, the hare is a symbol of melancholy.
In Aesop's fable, the hares are so fearful that they decide to drown themselves, until they frighten some frogs and realise they're not the worst off...
In Aesop's fable, the hares are so fearful that they decide to drown themselves, until they frighten some frogs and realise they're not the worst off...
... and their character transfers to their meat, 'condemned by a jury of physicians', says Burton.
On the plus side, hare's blood is a great face mask if you're prone to blushing - another symptom of melancholy.
On the plus side, hare's blood is a great face mask if you're prone to blushing - another symptom of melancholy.
I=Incubus. A bit cheaty as it's a symptom, not a food, but Burton has nothing to say about ice-cream.
Acc. Burton, eating hare 'breeds incubus': not the nocturnal sex demon, but rather nightmares, broken sleep, heaviness on the stomach. Also known as being ‘witch-ridden’.
Acc. Burton, eating hare 'breeds incubus': not the nocturnal sex demon, but rather nightmares, broken sleep, heaviness on the stomach. Also known as being ‘witch-ridden’.
Let's pause a moment to register the existence of the 1966 film 'Incubus' starring William Shatner, in Esperanto. Truly, no end to that man's talents.
J=Jams and marmalade.
Fruits are risky for melancholics because they cause windiness, but 'preserved cherries, plums, marmalade of plums, quinces, etc.' are healthy: 'they strengthen the stomach, and keep down vapours'. Now we know Paddington's secret.
Fruits are risky for melancholics because they cause windiness, but 'preserved cherries, plums, marmalade of plums, quinces, etc.' are healthy: 'they strengthen the stomach, and keep down vapours'. Now we know Paddington's secret.
K=Kaffa=coffee
Burton notes that 'The Turks have a drink called coffee...so named of a berry as black as soot, and as bitter, (like that black drink which was in use amongst the Lacedaemonians, and perhaps the same,) which they sip still of, and sup as warm as they can suffer'...
Burton notes that 'The Turks have a drink called coffee...so named of a berry as black as soot, and as bitter, (like that black drink which was in use amongst the Lacedaemonians, and perhaps the same,) which they sip still of, and sup as warm as they can suffer'...
...they spend much time in those coffeehouses, which are somewhat like our alehouses or taverns, and there they sit chatting and drinking to drive away the time, and to be merry together...
... because they find by experience that kind of drink, so used, helpeth digestion, and procureth alacrity.'
Good news, then. Coffee is medicinal. Keep on drinking.
Good news, then. Coffee is medicinal. Keep on drinking.
L=Lettuce.
Good news, salad-dodgers! You should avoid all raw herbs and salads, which 'breed melancholy blood', acc. many Renaissance physicians. There are some exceptions: 'Calenus and Arnoldus tolerate lettuce'. Only tolerate, mind.
Good news, salad-dodgers! You should avoid all raw herbs and salads, which 'breed melancholy blood', acc. many Renaissance physicians. There are some exceptions: 'Calenus and Arnoldus tolerate lettuce'. Only tolerate, mind.
M=Melons.
'Disallowed'.
'Disallowed'.
N=Necessity.
The exception to all Renaissance dietary rules. 'Poverty, want, hunger... drives men many times to do that which otherwise they are loath', e.g. on ships, in sieges, 'to feed on dogs, cats, rats, and men themselves'.
The exception to all Renaissance dietary rules. 'Poverty, want, hunger... drives men many times to do that which otherwise they are loath', e.g. on ships, in sieges, 'to feed on dogs, cats, rats, and men themselves'.
O=Oat Bread.
And any bread made of 'baser grain' like rye, or hard-baked, crusty bread causes 'melancholy juice and wind'.
Bread of 'good wheat, pure, well purged from the bran' is best. Laurentius recommends kneading it with rainwater.
And any bread made of 'baser grain' like rye, or hard-baked, crusty bread causes 'melancholy juice and wind'.
Bread of 'good wheat, pure, well purged from the bran' is best. Laurentius recommends kneading it with rainwater.
P=Peacocks.
An interesting example of Girolamo Cardano's rule that if you really like something, you can sometimes eat it even if it's bad for you.
Burton's example is the pope who liked peacocks: Julius III.
Over to Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs'...
An interesting example of Girolamo Cardano's rule that if you really like something, you can sometimes eat it even if it's bad for you.
Burton's example is the pope who liked peacocks: Julius III.
Over to Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs'...
Acc. Foxe, Pope Julius (1487-1555) was at dinner when he wasn't brought the cold peacock he wanted. He fell into 'an extreme rage'. His cardinals suggested he shouldn't lose his temper over something so small. Julius's answer:
'What ... if God was so angry for one apple, that he cast out our first parents, out of Paradise for the same: why may not I, being his vicar, be angry then for a peacock? Sithens a peacock is a greater matter then an apple.'
Image: Vatican Museums.
Image: Vatican Museums.
Q=Quails.
'Approved' for melancholics.
Also effective in other ways, Burton tells us: Henry III of Castile 'was much affected' with catching quails; Severus Alexander enjoyed watching quail fights.
Poor quails.
'Approved' for melancholics.
Also effective in other ways, Burton tells us: Henry III of Castile 'was much affected' with catching quails; Severus Alexander enjoyed watching quail fights.
Poor quails.
R=Root vegetables.
Acc. Bruerinus: 'windy and bad, or troublesome to the head: as onions, garlic, scallions, turnips, carrots, radishes, parsnips'.
Magninus and Crato think they 'send gross fumes to the brain, make men mad'.
Acc. Bruerinus: 'windy and bad, or troublesome to the head: as onions, garlic, scallions, turnips, carrots, radishes, parsnips'.
Magninus and Crato think they 'send gross fumes to the brain, make men mad'.
S=Salt.
Another controversial subject. Some 16th-c doctors recommend it, but others think salty foods are 'great procurers' of melancholy.
Burton says that Egyptian priests abstained from salt 'that their souls might be free from perturbations'.
Another controversial subject. Some 16th-c doctors recommend it, but others think salty foods are 'great procurers' of melancholy.
Burton says that Egyptian priests abstained from salt 'that their souls might be free from perturbations'.
T=Twelve to fourteen ounces.
How much should a melancholic eat? Lessius the Jesuit says this is the ideal daily amount for 'students, weaklings, and such as lead an idle sedentary life'. Those who live in the north are allowed sixteen.
How much should a melancholic eat? Lessius the Jesuit says this is the ideal daily amount for 'students, weaklings, and such as lead an idle sedentary life'. Those who live in the north are allowed sixteen.
U=Urchins.
(Sea, not Dickensian.) A surprising entry for one of the few aquatic things that are recommended for melancholics. The 'Erinaceus marinus' [lit. 'sea hedgehog'], as Burton calls it, was endorsed by Oribasius, personal physician to Julian the Apostate.
(Sea, not Dickensian.) A surprising entry for one of the few aquatic things that are recommended for melancholics. The 'Erinaceus marinus' [lit. 'sea hedgehog'], as Burton calls it, was endorsed by Oribasius, personal physician to Julian the Apostate.
V=Vinegar.
All 'sharp and sour things' are bad for melancholy because they're corrosive. Likewise anything fatty: oil, verjuice, mustard.
So no salad dressings, but that's fine because you're not allowed salad either.
All 'sharp and sour things' are bad for melancholy because they're corrosive. Likewise anything fatty: oil, verjuice, mustard.
So no salad dressings, but that's fine because you're not allowed salad either.
W=Wine.
We've reached Wednesday so it's fine to crack open the wine. Unless you're young, of a sanguine or choleric complexion, or inclined to head melancholy But it's therapeutic for those who suffer from 'cold, or sluggish melancholy'...
We've reached Wednesday so it's fine to crack open the wine. Unless you're young, of a sanguine or choleric complexion, or inclined to head melancholy But it's therapeutic for those who suffer from 'cold, or sluggish melancholy'...
...Wines to avoid: dark, strong, thick ones, 'muscadine, malsey, alicant, rumney, brown bastard, metheglin, and the like'.
Antonio Guainerio tells the story of two Dutchman who became melancholy in a month by drinking wine: 'one did naught but sing, the other sigh.'
Antonio Guainerio tells the story of two Dutchman who became melancholy in a month by drinking wine: 'one did naught but sing, the other sigh.'
Wine could be a symptom of melancholy. The sixteenth-century Spanish physician Cristóbal de Vega had
a patient who believed that he was a cask of wine.
a patient who believed that he was a cask of wine.
Then again, it can be a cure. Matthiolus says it 'fortifies the stomach, takes away obstructions, provokes urine, drives out excrements, procures sleep, clears the blood, expels wind and cold poisons, attenuates, concocts, dissipates all thick vapours, and fuliginous humours.”
X=the Axius:
a river (now known as the Vardar) in Macedonia that turned cattle black. Burton mentions it to show how impure water can cause melancholy: muddy water damages the body and, since the body works on the mind, drinkers end up with 'dull, foggy, melancholy spirits.'
a river (now known as the Vardar) in Macedonia that turned cattle black. Burton mentions it to show how impure water can cause melancholy: muddy water damages the body and, since the body works on the mind, drinkers end up with 'dull, foggy, melancholy spirits.'
Y=yogurt.
Not in The Anatomy of Melancholy (the word 1st appears in English 1625). BUT 'milk, and all that comes of milk, as butter and cheese, curds, etc. increase melancholy (whey only excepted, which is most wholesome: some except asses' milk.'
Not in The Anatomy of Melancholy (the word 1st appears in English 1625). BUT 'milk, and all that comes of milk, as butter and cheese, curds, etc. increase melancholy (whey only excepted, which is most wholesome: some except asses' milk.'
Z=Zafferano=Saffron.
'Sometimes in broth may be tolerated'. It's also good for the heart.
You can use 'bastard saffron' (safflower) in a suppository to draw melancholy humours away from the brain and heart to 'the more ignoble parts'. But that's another story.
'Sometimes in broth may be tolerated'. It's also good for the heart.
You can use 'bastard saffron' (safflower) in a suppository to draw melancholy humours away from the brain and heart to 'the more ignoble parts'. But that's another story.
