Maimonides was the major doctor of his time and his ideas about health are worthy of knowing today. He devotes a chapter in the Mishna Torah to maintaining a healthy body. In it he states “Maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God . . . therefore one must avoid things which harm the body and accustom himself to that which is healthful and helps the body become stronger”, (Book of Knowledge, Section on Character, chapter 4). He briefly discusses the following topics: diet, excretion, exercise, cleanliness, sleep, and intercourse. The most relevant of his position on diet, is that one should not overeat. He advocates eating until a person is close to three quarter's of full satisfaction and lists obesity as the cause of many serious illnesses. Concerning excretion a person should urinate or defecate as soon as they feel the need and avoid holding it in. A person’s diet should be one that does not cause constipation. He advocates regular exercise and warns against being idle. Regular bathing is important especially to cleanse away sweat. One should sleep eight hours a day, retiring after sunset and awakening before sunrise. Intercourse should done sparingly. He does not discuss remedies to specific diseases here.
The section on character (3:1) opens by saying, “Some of the sick even desire and crave that which is not fit to eat . . . and hate healthful foods, such as bread and meat - all depending on how serious the sickness is. Similarly, those who are morally ill desire and love bad traits, hate the good path, and are lazy to follow it.” In his medical writings the Maimonides states explicitly that there are those with bad character who engage in practices that are detrimental to health. Conversely the juxtaposition here hints that leading a healthy life leads to good character.
In fact the Rambam wrote twelve books on the subject of health and medicine. In addition the subject comes up in other works of his. Separate books are devoted to hemorrhoids, cohabitation, asthma, hysteria, and poisoning. He follows the ancient practice of prescribing cannabis for the treatment of asthma, however he does not seem to be particularly familiar with psychedelics and plant teachers. Two books deal with the writings of Galen and Hippocrates who were the authors of the principal texts on medicine at the time.
Aphorisms of Moshe (פרקי משה) is about the general practice of medicine. In the preface Maimonides explains many people have written many books about academic subjects, and the subject that is in the greatest need is the subject of medicine. The concepts are difficult in and of themselves. Plus many are complex. Also one must be able to distinguish between technical and common language. Unlike other academic disciplines one can not have a blurry picture or understanding of its aspects. This means that the doctor must know the material clearly. One of the difficulties is that the doctor must be constantly mindful of very many details and it is not sufficient to only remember the general rules. In addition he must be mindful that many details come from the patients, who may be neither intelligent nor informed. The book has 25 chapters which include discussions of specific maladies, the workings of the body, healthy practices, and the four humors.
The four humors was a system of medicine that revolved around four bodily fluids. An imbalance in them resulted in interrelated physical diseases and emotional distress. Lymph was associated with fire and related to anger. Bile was associated with earth and related to depression. Blood was associated with air and related to optimism. Phlegm was associated with water and related to tranquillity.
In the first chapter of the section on a person’s viewpoints (דעות), Maimonides lists anger and pride as the worst of the character traits and takes a dim view of frivolity, deceit, depression, and greed. He praises moderation and self control. Generally he believed that frameworks which maintain mental health strengthen a person’s abilities to develop skills for maintaining a healthy body. The best way to achieve this is by studying Torah and keeping the mitzvot on a high level. This is so because body and soul are one, which is the basis of the Rambam’s philosophy of health and medicine.
לע"נ הסבא אהרן בן יוסף ז"ל נלב"ע כז טבת תשכ"ו
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