Six Medieval Rules for Healthy Living - Medievalists.net

"Fresh air, balanced food, regular exercise, emotional moderation-this might sound like modern wellness advice, but medieval physicians were already promoting these ideas centuries ago. One popular medieval text even reduced healthy living to just six simple rules. The Theatre of Health ( Theatra Sanitatis) was a widely read work in medieval Europe between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. Better known as Tacuinum Sanitatis, the original version of this work was by Ibn Butlan, a physician who worked in Baghdad during the eleventh century."

"The first rule is always to breathe good fresh air. The second is to consume the right food and drink. The third is regular activity and repose. The fourth is to refrain from too much sleep and from too much wakefulness. The fifth concerns the retention and expulsion of the humours. The sixth is to be moderate in joy, in fear and in anxiety."

Theatre of Health (Theatra Sanitatis) presented six rules for healthy living: breathe fresh air; consume appropriate food and drink; balance activity and rest; avoid excessive sleep or wakefulness; regulate retention and expulsion of humours; and moderate joy, fear, and anxiety. The work originated with Ibn Butlan in eleventh-century Baghdad and became widely read in medieval Europe from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. The guide prioritized practical, concise advice over theory, stating people prefer conclusive results rather than demonstrations. Humoural theory framed health as the balance of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, with diet and lifestyle controlling that balance.

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