Commentary on Hippocrates' Regimen for Health

​He seems to be making his discourse now not about those who exercise for the sake of health, but about those who pursue some athletic training and are able neither to cease from it completely nor to contract it into a very small scale; for this reason he subtracts from them a third part of their exercise, and half of their food. For he hopes to control it to such an extent that they no longer suffer from indigestion or diarrhea. And he did rightly here too by writing in addition their reasoning, using which he advised both these very things and those mentioned alongside them. For he says, “this kind of diarrhea occurs in those with dense flesh, whenever they are forced to eat meat,” thus showing here that his discourse is about athletic matters. For they force these people to eat meat. Then next he says, “the veins, having become dense, do not take up the food coming in.” But he said this obscurely, and for this reason the commentators were forced to understand him to mean by “having become dense” “becoming hard and difficult to expand,” so as not to receive the food. And they say this is indicated by “they do not take up the food”; but this sort of thing is accustomed to harm distribution rather than digestion, so that they pass indeed moist, but not undigested stools. But it was said before by him that such people pass food-like and undigested stools. But when, though he wrote in addition the reasoning, trusting which he advised what he advised, nevertheless some difficulty remains, what must we think happens in those of his discourses in which he did not write in addition the cause of what he commands us to do? But for my part, if he had not written in addition about those with dense flesh, I would confess that I was completely at a loss, as in many other cases, in which, though nothing of the sort was added by the author, the boldest of the commentators declare whatever comes to their minds. But since he himself made mention of those with dense flesh, he gave an occasion to write something useful also themselves on such natures. For these people very quickly accumulate abundance, being insufficiently ventilated, and because of this, when distribution is blocked in them, their stools certainly become moist, and sometimes not only moist, but also thin, and especially in the case of those who eat greedily. For when some of the swallowed things are distributed, the stomach more readily digests the rest. But when the abundance of food remains in it, whenever it is weighed down by them, it expels everything before it is digested. And perhaps also because of the hardness of the veins, the distribution of food was prevented, they not being able to expand further. But he ought to have written of the care of such natures by means of leading them to the opposite. For the goals are the loosening and softening of the whole habit, occurring through gentle rubbing and much oil in the baths. But he stops at the symptom alone, neglecting to cut out its root, as it were. And this also has been said by him in the proposed passage: “For it is indeed clear that the belly cannot warm them through.” And yet, if indeed he truly blamed the density of the habit and the veins not taking up the food, he does not rightly blame the belly. If indeed anyone should grant him to speak truly in this, he would also grant that the regimen written next was rightly stated: the thoroughly baked bread and the well-tempered drink; and still less eating once a day and not walking after meals. “But this nature is acute and turns to either side and good condition flourishes for a short time in such types of bodies.” [q.1] He called the nature of those with dense flesh “acute”, in the sense of making rapid changes. At least, in what follows he will say, “and turns to either side”, that is, to good condition and the opposite. And next he further says, “and good condition flourishes for a short time in such types of bodies.” For it was shown in the commentaries on the Aphorisms that athletic well-being, along with the fullness of blood and flesh, preserves the strength of the natural faculties. But just as there we showed that extreme well-being is dangerous, not occurring quickly in rare bodies, so also in the case of those with dense flesh, since it occurs very quickly, because of its being difficult to bear, being forced obviously to change immediately, it makes its generation and dissolution acute. “But the rarer of the forms and hairier both receive meat- eating and endure hardships more, and their well-beings become longer-lasting.” [q.2] That the hairier of bodies have both the skin and the fleshy kind rarer we learned in “On Temperaments”. Naturally, therefore, he says that these also tolerate meat-eating more, as being ventilated, and hardships; for they are less seized by fatigues. We learned this too in “On Health”. And if indeed these will also have their well-beings longer-lasting, as not readily arriving at the extreme.