Hippocrates prescribed healthy food (among other things) for his ill patients. What kinds of food were considered healthy (and unhealthy) 2400 years ago?

by nthensome
michellesabrina

Hippocrates, in his Corpus Hippocraticum, laid out the foundations for humoral theory that Galen expanded upon and solidified. The recommendation for diet would depend entirely on the patients' humoral balance. Men and women both had different humoral balances, too, so even if a man and woman were exhibiting the same symptoms, they might be prescribed different diets. He usually suggested light or liquid meals during times of illness, and meat was generally avoided while sick. Again, all of this would depend on the particular illness, the means of the patient (i.e. are they rich enough to afford certain foods?), and what the physician determined was the proper humoral balance.