Today, issues related to health and well-being are of interest to millions of people.We care about what we eat, enough exercise, relax...and it seems to us that this interest is something that is intimately linked to modern societies .However, this is not so and although it seems impossible in the Middle Ages we already had this effort.the Tacuinum sanitatis, the amazing medieval manual of health and well-being
Tacuinum sanitatis: health and well-being
Tacuinum (or Taccuinum) sanitatis is a Medieval manual on health and is based on the written treatise on 1050 by the Arab doctor Ibn Butlan called «Taqwim al-Sihha», which means «Health Maintenance» From it two series of Latin manuscripts were created, the first faithful to the Arabic original and the second, simplified but with numerous illusions.tractions.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages , the second version, profusely illustrated , was well known in Western Europe and proof of this popularity is the fact that in Italy any type of pocket manual, notebook or guide is still called by name: «taccuino».
The topics that Tacuinum dealt with they were very varied, with special emphasis on hygiene, dietetics and exercise , emphasizing the importance and the numerous benefits that provides regular attention to both physical and mental aspects of people.

Despite describing the benefits of plants, it is much more than an herbarium since among other things it establishes six basic elements to achieve well-being .
Eat and drink from sufficiently, but in moderation.
Fresh air
Alternate activity with rest.
Alternate wakefulness with sleep hours
Secretions and excretions of moods
Mental health
For Ibn Butlan, the disease was a consequence of the imbalance between these six principles.The doctor, following Hippocrates in his theory of moods, based its indications on the valuation of the remedies and everything that it considers may affect health (atmospheric phenomena, food, stations, etc.) in the cold/hot, humid/dry sorting them into four different grades.

As an example we can see what it says about figs:
From its nature , it tells us that they are hot and humid in grade 1. Its optimal state is white and bare. Its medicinal value is mainly the cleanliness of the kidneys and the sand.The harmful effects are the swelling and that make you gain weight.To combat the harmful effects advises pickle and vinegar syrup.
Other aspects that also classifies according to the theory of moods are the human behaviors (joy, sadness, dance, intercourse...), exercise, clothes , water, weather or regions in which inhabits, among others.

Tacuinum sanitatis is also curious and interesting, in addition to knowing medicine in the Middle Ages, for the study of agriculture and cooking , being the first book in which a carrot is drawn.The first impression was made in 1531.
If you have been interested in this ancient book related to health, you may want to read the article:
–4 health benefits of reading
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