The virtues of common water

Collected from Physical Authors.

In a little treatise, intituled, Kitchen-physic, written by Dr. Cook, the author declares, he can hardly be told of any disease which he cannot relieve or cure by a proper diet, p. 39. And in the same book we find his opinion to be this, that all tender sickly people, and all aged and decrepid persons, ought to eat often, and but a little at a time, because weak and wasted bodies are to be restored by little and little; and by moist and liquid food also, rather than by solid, because moist and liquid diet does nourish soonest, and digest easiest.

Those, he saith, that eat much, and get little strength by eating, shew, that they have used themselves to too full a diet; and the more you cram such bodies, the less they thrive by it, but rather grow worse and worse: Because by much feeding you do but add to the bad humours wherewith the body is already filled, which should rather be wasted by purging, and using a spare diet.

And a spare diet he describes to be this, that we never eat at once till the appetite is fully satisfied, and never to eat till we have an appetite; and men never have a true appetite till they can eat any ordinary food: And he adviseth to keep constantly to a plain diet, for those, he says, enjoy most health, and live longest, that avoid curiosity and variety of meats and drinks, which only serve to entice to gluttony, and so work our ruin.

Another saith, that the less food the sick person eats, the sooner he will recover; for it is a true saying, the more you fill foul bodies, the more you hurt them. The stomach being the place where diseases have their origin, when that part therefore is weak, and out of order, and cannot make a good digestion, if much is eaten, raw and crude humours must needs be bred, and bad humours cannot produce good blood.

All men find by experience, that, in the morning before they have eaten, they are light and pleasantly easy in their bodies; but, after they have indulged their appetites with plenty of food, they find themselves heavy and dull, and often sleepy: which sufficiently shews, that those full meals are prejudicial to the welfare of the body; for a moderate meal would have continued the ease and lightsomeness they before found in themselves, and would have refreshed any faintness that emptiness might occasion. And he certainly, who useth the most simple meats and drinks, avoideth the snare of provoking his appetite beyond the necessities of nature; whereas variety enticeth to a fresh desire of every dainty, till at last the stomach is gorged, and made uncapable of performing a good digestion; and this produceth those crudities which are the cause of all diseases, and of so many sudden deaths.

It is generally observed, that the most unhealthy are found among those who feed high upon the most delicious dainties, and drink nothing but the strongest and most spirituous liquors; whereas others who want this delicate fare, are seldom sick, except they have such unsatiable appetites as to eat too much; which a man may do of the plainest diet, whose belly is his god, as an apostle expresses it. Phil. iii 19. But tho’ men may glut themselves with coarse food, yet coarse food, and long life are very confident, as appears by John Bill, mentioned in the history of Cold Baths, p. 408. whose food was bread, cheese, and butter; and drink, whey, butter-milk, or water; and yet he lived 133 years, and was a strong, strait, upright man. And the food of John Bailes, whose age amounted to 128, was for the most part brown bread and cheese; and his drink, water, or small beer and milk, Cold Bath, p. 416. He had buried the whole town of Northampton twenty times over, except three or four, and said, Strong drink killed them all.

Dr. Pratt adviseth to sup sparingly; for to sup sparingly, he saith, is most healthful, because of the experience of an infinite number of persons who have received the greatest benefit from light suppers. For the stomach being not overburdened, the sleep is more pleasant; and from sparing suppers the breeding of those humours it prevented, which cause defluxions, rheumatisms, gouts, dropsies, giddiness, and corruption in the mouth from the scurvy: And from light suppers a freedom from sickness and reaching in the morning is obtained, and concoction is made perfect, which prevents obstructions.

Another saith, it is well known, that many indispositions are cured by fasting, or a very spare diet; for what is taken into the stomach being no more than can be well digested, the chylous juice, so rightly prepared, is conveyed into the lacteal vessels, and from thence into the blood; so that, nature being duly supplied with well-concocted nourishment, the corrupted blood will free itself from that corruption in time, by throwing it out, through the pores of the skin, in perspiration, and supply itself with the purer juices; and, in this way, consumptions and scurvies, and other chronical distempers, will be overcome. Which way of curing diseases by fasting, swine do naturally betake themselves to, who, when sick, will eat nothing till they recover, as they always do after they injure themselves by over-eating; in which over-eating they are imitated by all who delight in gluttony, tho’ not in using the same means of recovery, by fasting; so that hogs are wiser in that particular than such people.

That men in health may prevent diseases, it was advised, that one meal should not be eaten, till the other, which was eaten before, was passed off clean out of the stomach; which never is done till the appetite of hunger is found to call for another supply: By means of which constant observation, the food will be converted to good chyle, and from good chyle, which is a milk-like substance, good blood will be bred, and from good blood generous spirits will be produced, on which a healthy constitution will ensue; but, on the contrary, when too great a quantity of food is taken for pleasure only, which the stomach cannot well digest, the chyle will be raw and corrupt, which will foul the blood, and render the body disordered and unhealthy.

Others say, that abstinence and sobriety free from most diseases, especially catarrhs, coughs, wheesings, giddiness, pain in the head and stomach, sudden death, lethargies, gout and sciatica, an ill digestion being the cause of all these; it also prevents pains in the splene, stone, and gravel, and a dry itch; it makes the body vigorous and nimble, maintains the five senses in a good state, preserveth the memory, quickens the wit; and quencheth all undue lust in mankind; and, in short, all misers, who eat and drink but little, do live long.

Two meals a day is said to be sufficient for all persons after fifty years of age, and all weak people; and the omitting of suppers does always conduce much to the health of the weak and aged: since, if no supper be eaten, the stomach will soon free itself from all tough, slimy humours wherewith it is slabbered over on the inside, and thereby the appetite will be renewed, and digestion made more strong. Moreover, all that are troubled with sweating in the night, any ill taste in their mouths, belching and troublesome dreams, must avoid suppers; for in sleep the fibres of the stomach relax, and are not able to contract themselves so strongly, as when awake, to embrace the food, and by tituration reduce it into a pap fit to pass into the intestines, out of which the nourishment is sent to other parts.

It was said by Dr. Curtis, that tho’ those who use a spare diet cannot well bear long labour; yet such people, when their exercise is suitable to their strength, do live longer than those of a robust constitution, that think large feeding adds strength; especially such as, being strong, use no exercise proportionable to it, to consume the superfluities which a full feeding doth occasion: So that the only way for those to live long, who have much wealth, and need not labour for a livelihood, is to live temperately; and this temperance doth consist in not letting the common custom of meals invite you to eat, except your appetite concur with those times. We must not indulge the cravings of a depraved appetite, as those do who eat to please their fancy, and not the necessities of nature; and, when we do eat, we must not think that the more plentifully we eat, we shall be the more strengthened; for it will not prove so: A little well digested will make the body stronger then the being glutted with superfluity, most of which will be turned into a corrupt juice, and must be cast out by physic, or else sickness will ensue. The easiest physic is that which the Germans call the Hunger-cure, if continued a due time.

It is the opinion of learned men, that the early distemper of the bodies of children, called the rickets, proceeds from the faults of their mothers, in making them gluttons from their cradles, gorging them with food till they lothe it, out of a mistaken opinion, that this is the way to make them thrive and grow strong: which excess is not only the cause of this disease, but of the immature death of many; and in others it lays the foundation of many distempers, which afflict those afterwards who live to years of maturity. And as they gorge them with food, so they vainly think to cherish them with strong drink, than which nothing can be more pernicious to the health of children, whose diet should be little and often, and their drink cooling. As it also should be when men arrive at the time of becoming children again in old age, that is, in an helpless state, which should be prevented as much as can be, by a cooling, moistening diet, in opposition to the hot, dry, and withered state of age; for it is heat and dryness that are the cause of most old men’s miseries, especially the wasting of the substance that fills the parts with moisture, and keeps the body plump and smooth; they who stile wine the old man’s milk, being greatly mistaken, for milk cools and wine heats.

It was the opinion of Dr Pitt, who was formerly physician to St. Bartholomew’s hospital, that fasting, rest, and drinking water, would cure most diseases. And there seemeth to be a great deal of reason in what he asserts: for fasting will give time to the stomach to unload itself of the cause of distempers, the cause of all diseases being begun in that bowel only: to which cleansing, the drinking of water plentifully will much contribute; which also will keep the action of the stomach upon the hinges, by filling of it when empty, at which time there will be need of rest, for thereby the body will be less fit for business: Tho’ the mere drinking of water, which affords nourishment sufficient for the growth and support of all vegetables, will, in some measure, supply the want of food; as hath been shewn in the example of two, who were supported a long time by nothing else. In short, the best way for a sick man to recover, is to eat little or no food till he finds an appetite, according to that saying,

And fasting from food may be continued long enough to be a remedy for many diseases, with the assistance of common water; by the drinking of which warm, in a due quantity, without a total fasting, two persons, I am informed, were recovered out of consumptions, with which they were extremely weakened, and that in about six weeks time; as another by drinking milk and whey, equal parts, made blood hot, without using any other diet, which is thought to be far more effectual than asses milk, whose virtue consists in being thinner than other milk.

But, besides a spare diet, cool dry air is also very helpful to preserve men in health, who are not sick; for it mixes with the blood, and without it the motion of the blood and spirits can never be preserved; as appears by diving vessels, in which men cannot live when the air therein is made hot by their own body and breath: And is proved also by an experiment of Dr. Croone’s, who stifled a chicken till it seemed quite dead; and yet, by blowing cool air into the lungs with a small pair of bellows, it revived. Hence it appears, that the common custom of managing sick people is very pernicious, and so far from helping them to recover, that it is sufficient to make a healthy person sick: For were a person, who was not sick, confined for three or four weeks in a room made hot like a stove, and kept in his bed, with the curtains drawn, and all the windows close shut, and the room made unpleasant with the nauseous fumes of physic and a close-stool, which will almost make a healthy man sick when he enters into it; we can never think that this is the way to recover one that really is sick, and wants the fresh air and reviving scents to cherish his blood; a fresh, open, sweet air being one principal means to strengthen the body, make a good appetite and digestion, and render the spirits brisk and lively: which advantage should be allowed to all but childbed women, and those who are afflicted with the small pox: for the fresh air can be prejudicial to no other, whose bodies are clothed warm, either in bed, or sitting in a chair in their chamber.

Some years since, a neighbour became very feverish, and his wife persuaded him to go to bed; and hearing of it soon after, I gave him a visit where I found the windows close shut, the curtains of the bed drawn, and the room very hot, for it was in July: He was burning hot, and complained for want of breath. I drew open the curtains, covered him warm, and then opened the windows, and the wind blew into the room; upon which he soon told me, his shortness of breath had left him. I persuaded him to drink water, which he found did much refresh him; and, after I had taken my leave of him, he called for more water: and, while he had the cup in his hand, an apothecary came in, whom his wife had sent for, who, finding him about to drink the water, told him, if he did it, he was a dead man; but, instead of forbearing, he drank it up in his presence: upon which the other took his leave, and told him, he would say no more to him. However, before night, the person got up, went abroad, and was cured of his fever. Which is one instance, among many others that might be given, of the benefit of fresh air to a person who is kept warm in his bed; for thereby his body was cooled inwardly, and his breathing made more free, by the air which was drawn into his lungs to refresh and comfort the blood as it passed through them.

I shall only add, that by keeping the blood cool as well as clean, is to be understood, not only moderation in diet, but to feed most on cooling food made of wheat, barley, oat-meal, rice, and ripe apples, as also on milk, which, joined with oat-meal, is the chief food of those lusty and strong men, the Highlanders of Scotland, who abound in children, as Dr. Cheyne tells us in his Treatise of the Gout, p. 108. edit. 4. which demonstrates milk and oat-meal to be a most strengthening food, and such as keeps the blood in due order; so that therewith men may subsist, tho’ they abstain from beef, pork and venison, and all other meats hard to digest, and drink water as the highlanders do: Of the efficacy of which cooling milk-diet the said Dr. Cheyne gives a notable instance in a doctor that lived at Croyden, p. 103. who had long been afflicted with the falling-evil; for, by slow observation, he found the lighter his meals were, the lighter were his fits. At last he also cast off all liquids but water, and found his fits weaker, and the intervals longer; and finding his disease mend, as its fewel was withdrawn, he took to vegetable food, and water only, which put an entire period to his fits without any relapse: But finding that food windy to him, he took to milk, of which he drank a pint for a breakfast, a quart at dinner, and a pint for supper, without fish, flesh, bread, or any strong or spirituous liquor, or any drink but water, with which he lived afterwards for fourteen years, without the least interruption in his health, strength or vigour, but died afterwards of a pleurisy. Which is a confirmation of what Dr. Cook did affirm, of the possibility of curing diseases by a diet only, that is temperate and cooling; of which milk is a part, as are also the roots and seeds of vegetables, such as potatoes, turnips, wheat, rice, barley, oat-meal, and full ripe fruit.

In short, temperance or a spare diet, void of dainties, never was injurious to the strongest constitution; and, without it, such as are weak and sickly cannot long subsist; for the more such persons eat and drink, the more weak and disordered they will still find themselves to be: so that if the strong despise temperance, yet the comfort of weak, sickly and pining people, does depend entirely upon their constantly observing it; which, when they are accustomed to it, will be easy to do: So that they will deny all intemperate desires with as great pleasure, as they before delighted in what is falsely stiled good eating and drinking; for nothing of that is good, which is injurious to health. It is custom only that makes men hanker after gluttony and drunkenness, and a contrary custom will make men abhor it as much: And therefore it is a wonder the rich do not strive to attain to it; for

Temperance being that which will enable them to live most at ease, and enjoy their wealth the longest; this, and water-drinking, being the surest way to bring men to old age, tho’ it hath not power to make those young who are aged, yet it will make the aged more free from decripedness, and die with most ease, if the deathbed hath been well prepared for by a good life.

FINIS.

PRICE EIGHTPENCE.