[Herbalist] water

[Terri Spencer]

What does he say - to drink or not to drink?  Hmm - found this at
http://us.cambridge.org/Books/kiple/water.htm

The principal later medieval medical text, Avicenna's Canon of
Medicine, for example, advised one not to drink water with a meal, but
only at the meal's end, and then in small quantities. Water taken
later, during digestion, would interrupt that process. One was also not
to drink water while fasting, or after bathing, sex, or exercise. Nor
should one give in to night thirst. To do so would disrupt digestion
and would not quench the thirst for long. For Avicenna, a water's
temperature was also a crucial determinant of its physiological effect.
Too much cold water was harmful, whereas "tepid water evokes nausea."
Warm water acted as a purgative; yet too much of it weakened the
stomach (Gruner 1930: 228, 401, 407-8; Lorcin 1985). The effects of
habitually imbibing certain waters could be cumulative. The Hippocratic
text "On Airs, Waters, and Places," for example, held that cold waters
had a detrimental effect on women's constitutions: Menstruation was
impaired and made painful; breast feeding was inhibited (Hippocrates
1939: 22).

Of course, this is just what the doctors said, not what the people
did...

Curious Tara

--- "Amy L. Hornburg Heilveil" <aheilvei at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
> I know I won't spell his name right.  Avichena mentions drinking
> water.
>
> Smiles,
> Despina



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