The Four Humors

Diagnose yourself the old fashioned way!

The following excerpt from the 11th c. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, attributed to John of Milano, give the basic run-down as to the effects of too much of one humor or another:

	If Sanguin humour do too much abound, These signes will be thereof appearing cheefe, The face will swell, the cheeks grow red and round, With staring eies, the pulse beate soft and breefe, The veynes exceed, the belly will be bound, The temples, and the forehead full of griefe, Unquiet sleeps, that so strange dreames will make To cause one blush to tell when he doth wake: Besides the moysture of the mouth and spittle, Will taste too sweet, and seeme the throat to tickle.
	If Choller do exceed, as may sometime, Your eares will ring, and make you to be wakefull, Your tongue will seeme all rough, and oftentimes Cause vomits, unaccustomed and hatefull, Great thirst, your excrements are full of slime, The stomacke squeamish, sustenance ungratefull, Your appetite will seeme in nought delighting, Your heart still greeued with continuall byting, The pulse beate hard and swift, all hot, extreame, Your spittle soure, of fire-worke oft you dreame.
	If Flegme abundance haue due limits past, These signes are here set downe will plainly shew, The mouth will seeme to you quite out of taste, And apt with moisture still to overflow, Your sides will seeme all sore downe to the waist, Your meat wax loathsome, your digestion slow, Your head and stomacke both in so ill taking, One seeming euer griping tother aking: With empty veynes, the pulse beat slow and soft, In sleepe, of seas and ryuers dreaming oft.
	But if that dangerous humour ouer-raigne, Of Melancholy, sometime making mad, These tokens then will be appearing plaine, The pulse beat hard, the colour darke and bad: The water thin, a weake fantasticke braine, False-grounded ioy, or else perpetuall sad, Affrighted oftentimes with dreames like visions, Presenting to the thought ill apparitions, Of bitter belches from the stomacke comming, His eare (the left especiall) euer humming.

Hippocrates (b. ca. 460 B.C.) urged that sine qua non of science: observation. In the course of the studies that merited his becoming known as "the Father of Medicine," he noticed that blood removed from the body separates into four parts: the clear red, a yellowish liquid that rises to the top, the dark liquid that settles to the bottom, and whitish fluid. He and his students, especially his son-in-law, Polybus, took these observations and developed a theory of medicine that was to hold sway in the West and in the Islamic world for thousands of years -- a theory further expounded upon by Galen: that physical and mental health are a matter of a good balance of four liquids ("humors"), all believed to be produced in the liver, but which are found in the veins and are associated with various organs of the body. This theory of bodily humors  -- called "humorism " or "humoralism" -- holds that each person produces all of these humors, but that the preponderance of one relative to the others -- a condition called "dyscrasia" -- brings on illness. Each of these humors was believed to be associated with one of the four elements which, when combined in various proportions, make up all things:   The humor of Blood, associated with the liver and with Air, which is the hot and moist element. A person in whom blood predominates is said to be "sanguine," from the Latin "sanguis" (blood).   The humor of Yellow Bile, associated with the spleen and with Fire, which is the hot and dry element. A person in whom yellow bile predominates is said to be "choleric," from the Greek "khole" (bile).   The humor of Black Bile, associated with the gall bladder and with Earth, which is the cold and dry element. A person in whom black bile predominates is said to be "melancholic," from the Greek "melas" (black) and "khole" (bile).   The humor of Phlegm, associated with the lungs and brain and with Water, which is the cold and moist element. A person in whom phlegm predominates is said to be "phlegmatic," from the Greek "phlegmatikos" (abounding in phlegm) . Foods and the Four Humors      Each one of the Four Humors has certain foods that aggravate it.  Consumption of these foods should be greatly reduced or avoided by those with an excess or aggravation of that humor, whether it be innate and constitutional, or an acquired condition or imbalance.  The main problematic or aggravating foods for each humor are:       Phlegm:  milk, dairy products, fresh cheeses, refined sugar, refined starches and flours, wheat and glutinous foods, cold foods, ice cold drinks; moist, creamy rich foods.      Yellow Bile:  salt and salty foods, fats and cholesterol, fried foods, vinegar, alcohol, excessive sour or fermented foods, aged cheeses, excessive hot spices and chillies, excessive beef and red meat.       Black Bile:  old, dry stale foods: excessive beans, soy, nuts, astringent foods, peanuts, rancid fats, nightshade vegetables - especially tomatoes and eggplant.      Blood:  As blood is the healthiest, most desirable humor, it's good to cultivate it with blood-building foods like spinach, green leafy vegetables, molasses, dark red and blue berries, and various types of meat in moderation.  Excessive meat consumption may produce a lot of blood, but it won't be of very high quality, often being too thick, toxic or acidic; blood circulation is also often compromised.  Therefore, one shouldn't rely exclusively on meat to build the blood.       Excessive consumption of proteins, rich fatty foods and sweets may lead to Sanguine excesses of the blood, like uremia and gout, diabetes or high cholesterol in those so predisposed.  Above all, moderation is needed to avoid the extremes of either overfeeding the body on the one hand or malnourishing it on the other.