Concise Observations ON THE NATURE OF OUR COMMON FOOD, &c.
GENERAL RULES, &c.
BY attention to Diet, many diseases may be prevented, and others mitigated.—It is a just observation, ‘He who lives by rule and wholesome diet, is a physician to himself.’
Weakly people should eat little and often, as, by long fasting, weak stomachs are apt to be oppressed by wind: whenever such people find an appetite for food, they should indulge it by eating moderately.
Drinking little at a time, and often, is most wholesome to promote digestion: large and copious draughts distend the stomach, and pall the appetite. If a person takes a large draught of water, or any other small liquor, just before he eats, it will generally spoil the appetite.
[Page 8]Drinking cold beer after hot soup is pernicious, as it generates wind, and hurts the tone of the stomach.
Strong drinks of every kind, as is well known, are very hurtful to the stomach, nerves, and digestive faculties; but, when carried to excess, become a poison to the body, and in the event destroy it. Even the faculties of the mind fall a victim to their fatal effects.
Those who are subject to bilious complaints should avoid all unripe fruits, cucumbers, new liquors, bad wines, and bad spirits, and every thing which is flatulent or windy: their food should be light and simple; they should never mix too many things together upon the stomach at any meal whatever: their drink should be moderate, nourishing, but not heating: and above all things, they should pay particular attention to keep the body open.
Dr. Cullen very justly observes, nothing affects the mind more than the state of the stomach, and nothing draws the stomach into sympathy, more than affections of the mind: the stomach has a very general consent with the whole system. Hence we see an attention to diet, &c. is of the utmost importance, as the state of the stomach (consequently health) in a great measure depends upon it.
[Page 9]Those who have weak stomachs, or are troubled with indigestion, should observe nearly the same rules as those which are laid down for bilious constitutions; that is, they should pay a more than ordinary attention to their diet: they should eat little and often, and then of one thing only at a time. It is the improper mixture of different things which lays the foundation for variety of diseases; for the stomach being weak, is not able to assimilate or unite together such an heterogeneous mass as arises from a mixture of things opposite in their qualities. Every thing should be avoided which is flatulent, or in its nature hard of digestion. New liquors, thick beer, bad wines and spirits, unripe fruits, pickles, rich sauces, soups, &c. (as was observed) should be avoided, as inimical to the relaxed and weakly stomach.
Intemperance and excess, both in regard to eating and drinking, should be avoided as the parent of indigestion: on the contrary, exercise, (but not too soon after meals, as it would disturb digestion) and every diversion, which does not fatigue, are particularly useful.
Light suppers, and early rising, are of the utmost consequence to those who are troubled with indigestion, for reasons too obvious to mention.
One thing I must not omit, which is generally practised, consequently its ill effects [Page 10] are little thought of; that is, eating custards, tarts, pies, almonds, walnuts, nuts, cream, &c. directly after dinner upon a full stomach; this is a very unwholesome habit, for the stomach having already received sufficient food for the nourishment of the body, and probably as much as it can well digest, the additional quantity overloads the stomach, creates a fever, and becomes prejudicial to the constitution.
I am of opinion, that the same things, eaten upon an empty stomach, would be of no prejudice at all; surely, in this case, it is the quantity, more than the quality, which does the mischief.
Whenever the stomach is employed in digesting our food, it seems to be an established law of the animal oeconomy, that there is more or less degree of fever excited during the time of digestion; necessary, indeed, in some degree, as Cullen observes; but when it proceeds to a noxious one, that is, too high, we ought to change our diet.
We should always chew our food well, as by that means it will digest much easier upon the stomach: indeed, nature seems to have provided teeth chiefly for that purpose.
Keeping the stomach and bowels warm, by a flannel waistcoat, or otherwise, is very wholesome, and proper for those who are [Page 11] subject to complaints of those parts, particularly in the winter time.
Having premised these few general Rules, I shall now proceed to some concise Observations on the nature and properties of our common food, so far as they relate to the animal oeconomy.
On WATER.
I Shall not mention its peculiar or chymical properties as an element, but chiefly confine myself to its internal use.
Water, as a diluent, is wholesome; it promotes digestion, and allays thirst, perhaps more agreeably than any liquor whatever; this daily experience testifies, and to have it good is of the utmost importance.
It is well known, even among the common people, that there is no means more effectual in procuring a sweat, than drinking cold water.
In simple colds, from obstructed perspiration, a pint of cold water, drank immediately upon going to bed, is, among the common people, a very usual, and often successful remedy. In these cases, it acts by sweat, and relieves the body. But as there are ways of [Page 12] exciting sweat with less hazard of mischief, a prudent man would prefer them. For it should be remembered, that it is very prejudicial, and may be attended with very ill consequences, if drank in inflammatory fevers, as the quinsey, or pleurisy, &c.
I have no doubt but the poor, who frequently can get nothing else, are oftentimes relieved in fevers by draughts of cold water.
Cold water will often relieve a vomiting, where there is a great want of determination (as it is called) to the skin. This I mention from repeated experience, as well as from the testimony of others.
Common water, Dr. Cullen observes, when taken in considerable quantity, proves purgative.
A large draught of water taken in a morning fasting, is a very wholesome custom, and frequently procures a stool.
As a bath, water conduces both to health and pleasure.
On BREAD, PUDDING, &c.
I SHALL confine myself simply to its use as food.
In England, bread is sometimes made of rye, oats, and barley; but that prepared from wheat is by far the most wholesome.
Coarse bread, as it contains more of the husk of the grain, is more purgative than fine.
Bread, not properly fermented, will cause the heart-burn, and when too acid, from over-fermentation, will purge.
Stale bread is more easy of digestion than new; when toasted, it is lighter and more wholesome.
Home-made bread (as it is called) is most wholesome, when properly prepared, because it is not adulterated. There is no doubt but bakers use allum, or some other ingredient, to make their bread white, to please the eye of their customers: but to children's tender bowels such bread is very pernicious; biscuit-powder, as being less flatulent, is more proper.
I cannot by any means agree with Dr. Cadogan, that plain, simple bread, well fermented, can be unwholesome: there is no doubt but that it is of the greatest use, when mixt with animal food in our ordinary meals. Indeed, bread seems designed by Providence for food, from the earliest ages of antiquity, either leavened [Page 14] or unleavened.—I would ask, who are more hardy and healthy than our peasants, and their children, whose diet, in these dear and trying times, is almost bread alone? To see the truth of this, we need only to observe the children of the villages, as we pass along: their ruddy looks, and athletic forms, plainly tell us, that nature and simple diet point the way to health.
All pastry, pye-crust, &c. are very unwholesome, hard of digestion, and apt to produce heart-burn, &c.
Plain simple puddings sit light and easy upon the stomach; but when made rich, with a variety of ingredients opposite in their qualities, require a strong stomach to digest them.
Dumplings are not so easy of digestion as light puddings: and pancakes, from being fried in an oily, greasy substance, are more indigestible than either.
But, in fact, there is no laying down a general rule in this case; as some stomachs digest puddings best; others, dumplings; and some few, pancakes. As an instance of this, a particular friend of mine, whose stomach is naturally weak, can digest nothing but hard dumplings: either light puddings or meat create violent pain in the stomach, and he has no ease till he is relieved by vomiting: he has several times attempted to change his diet, but was sure to suffer from it.
Of MEAT.
BEEF, VEAL, MUTTON, LAMB, &c.
BEEF is not so easy of digestion as mutton, being of a more firm texture, but is equally nutritious.
The lean part of fat meat is most easy of digestion.
Veal is not so easy digested as beef, nor is it so nutritious.
Mutton is also more wholesome than lamb.
The gravy of meat is not so unwholesome as is generally imagined.—Dripping is very prejudicial to weak stomachs.
Beef tea, mutton tea, &c. (which are made by pouring boiling water upon them, and seasoning to the palate) are good for those whose stomachs will not bear fat or oily broths, &c.
VENISON
Is very easy of digestion, and passes readily off the stomach; which cannot be said of the sauce, jelly, &c. which are usually eaten with it.
HARE
Is hard of digestion, and, contrary to the vulgar opinion, that is most wholesome which is not hunted; owing to the oily and nutritious parts of the animal being dissipated by a long chace.
RABBIT
Is one of the lightest of the white meats.
PORK
Is very nutritious; but on account of its containing a great quantity of jelly, and being in general more fat, is not so easy of digestion as beef, mutton, &c. consequently is not fit for weak stomachs.
FOWLS.
TURKIES, chickens, &c. are food of easy digestion; though the very young are not so wholesome as the middle-aged.
A good barn-door fowl is more wholesome than one hastily fatted.
The legs, and darker parts of a fowl, are more wholesome than the wings and breast.
PHEASANT
Is more easy of digestion than the peacock.
PATRIDGES AND QUAILS
Are more tender and easy of digestion than tame fowls.
GEESE AND DUCKS
Are both difficult of digestion, and unfit for weak stomachs. The seasoning and gravy which are generally eaten with them, make them hot and feverish.
THE WILD-DUCK
Is easier of digestion than the tame.
THE TEAL
Is lighter than either.
WOODCOCKS AND SNIPES
Are tender and easy of digestion. The wing of the woodcock is tough, whilst that of the partridge is tender; which is owing to the woodcock flying about more than the partridge.
PIGEONS
Are heating food; the young are the easiest of digestion: but even these are unfit for weak stomachs.
Boiled meats, fowls, &c. are more hard of digestion than roasted; and the less boiled or roasted they are, the more wholesome.
Fat meats are more nutritious than lean, but harder of digestion. Animal food promotes scurvy, and vegetable corrects it: hence a due mixture of both animal and vegetable food, is most wholesome to the constitution.
Fried meats, dried meats, baked meats, and the paste usually baked with them, are not easily digested.
The longer meat is kept, the sooner it digests: this, in some measure, accounts for venison being more easily digested than any other meat, it being usually kept a longer time; by which means its fibres are more easily broken down by the powers of the stomach.
JELLIES
Made from meat, being of a viscid nature, are not so easy of digestion as is generally imagined.
Of FISH, &c.
THE texture of fish is more tender than that of flesh: hence some aver that fish is more easily dissolved upon the stomach; whilst others maintain that flesh passes off the stomach more readily than fish. In my opinion, fish, as being more viscid, is more difficult of digestion than flesh upon weak stomachs. Of this I am firmly persuaded, that it is the butter, sauces, &c. which we are accustomed to eat with fish, to give them a relish, which make them more unwholesome than they would be in their simple state.
SHELL-FISH
Are nutritious, but not easy of digestion. They should never be eaten without vinegar, &c.
SALMON
Is nourishing, but heating, and not easy of digestion.
TURTLE AND TURBOT
Are nourishing, and much more easy of digestion than salmon.
MACKEREL
Are drier, consequently less nutritious.
HERRINGS
Are heating and feverish.
FLOUNDERS AND SOALS
Are more tender than turbot.
PERCH, PIKE, HADDOCK, CODS, WHITINGS, &c.
Are easy of digestion.
EELS
Are oily, nourishing, but heating, and not easy of digestion: they rarely sit easy upon weak stomachs.
LOBSTERS
Come under the class of insects: as food, they are not easy of digestion. They should never be eaten without vinegar, pepper, &c.
MUSCLES, CRABS, SHRIMPS, &c.
Are very viscid and unwholesome.
OYSTERS,
Contrary to the opinion of some, are certainly more wholesome raw, than when dressed in any form whatever—more easily digested—very nourishing, and not heating. They are very proper for people who are recovering from a fit of sickness, whose weak stomachs will not digest flesh-meats, &c.
EGGS,
As well as oysters, are most wholesome raw. They contain a larger proportion of pure [Page 20] nourishment than any other food, but are not easy of digestion. They promote costiveness. The white, when boiled, is the part most difficult of digestion.
On MILK.
I Shall confine myself to its internal use, so far as it relates to food, &c.
Milk, generally speaking, is acescent, yet it frequently cares the heart-burn.
Where the stomach is weak, and an acid prevails, milk coagulates. Indeed, some authors aver, that it always coagulates previous to digestion. Be that as it may, wherever there is bile upon the stomach, milk, as being acescent, will become purgative; but is generally reckoned to produce costiveness.
Milk, from its animal nature, is very nourishing, and from its vegetable, &c. easy of digestion.
When milk is too heavy for a weak stomach, it is much more wholesome to dilute it with water, than to skim it.
Milk diet is very proper in hectic constitutions: if duly persevered in, it will correct, or, as it were, change the whole mass of blood. It is well known that gouty people, who have had resolution to persevere in the use of milk, have experienced happy effects from it.
[Page 21] Boiled milk is more costive than raw.
CHEESE
Is apt to produce costiveness: that sort is most wholesome which is warmest to the palate, such as Cheshire, &c.
Cream cheese is very unwholesome, liable to rancidity, and hard of digestion. Indeed, like cucumbers, it ought never to be eaten at all: whenever it is, plenty of pepper and salt should be used with it.
THE CURD
Made from milk by rennet, is hard of digestion.
THE WHEY
Is more acescent than milk, and more purgative: it retains some of the qualities of milk, consequently is nourishing, and fattens: it is a great corrector of the blood, and passes off easily by the secretions of the body.
BUTTER-MILK
Is nourishing, easy of digestion, but not without acidity.
Nutmegs, and all spices, correct milk.
Sugar makes milk turn more acid upon weak stomachs; but as it prevents the spontaneous separation of milk, is proper for convalescents, or those who are recovering from sickness.
CREAM,
By being too rich, is improper for weak stomachs, liable to turn rancid, and difficult of digestion. Upon strong stomachs, which can digest it, it is very nourishing.
It is an unwholesome custom to eat cream or milk with apple-pies, strawberries, &c. &c. directly after dinner, if you mean to drink wine; for the wine ferments, coagulates the cream, and makes the whole mass hard of digestion; and upon weak stomachs, such a mixture will promote sickness, vomiting, &c. This I myself have experienced more than once.
Drinking rum and milk in a morning is a very unwholesome custom: rich milk alone is often too heavy for weak stomachs, and when rum, which is an inflammable spirit, is mixed with it, becomes of course more pernicious.
Instead of rum and milk, use the following, an it is much more wholesome. Take a large tea-spoonful of common bohea tea, with about three lumps of sugar; put them into a bason, and pour upon them a quarter of a pint of boiling water; cover it over, and let it stand all night; in the morning pour it off clear, and add about a quarter of a pint of new milk: drink it fasting, an hour or two before breakfast.
BUTTER,
As partaking more or less of the qualities of oil, is liable to turn rancid, not easily assimilated, or digested upon the stomach, consequently is apt to produce disorders of the first passages, to foul the blood, and of course to throw out eruptions of the skin.
OIL
Is wholesome with sallad, greens, &c. but, as Cullen justly observes, is liable to particular changes: out of the body it checks fermentation, but is apt, on weak stomachs, to turn rancid, and occasion heart-burn, a disease more frequent from this than any other cause.
SALT
Is said to be antiseptic, that is, to resist putrefaction: it certainly stimulates the stomach, and promotes appetite.
Salted meats are said to produce scurvy; yet it is well known, that animal food alone, long continued, will have that effect.
Salt alone has not yet been known to produce scurvy; it certainly prevents coagulation, and in a moderate degree is very wholesome.
Salted meats are harder of digestion than fresh, and should be eaten with plenty of vegetables.
[Page 24]The scurvy is a natural consequence of our way of living wholly upon animal food, and also of drinking so much strong liquors.
SUGAR
Is very nutritive: its moderate use appears to be innocent; it preserves both animal and vegetable substances from putrefaction, and appears to possess this power in a higher degree than even salt.
The impure, brown, or coarse sugar, is the most laxative.
All sugars are more or less viscid or foul, and when liberally used, apt to occasion disorders of the skin.
HONEY,
As it consists of acid and sugar, is very apt to occasion heart-burn, and to disagree with weak stomachs.
VINEGAR.
Its moderate use is wholesome in hot, bilious constitutions, and wherever there is a tendency to inflammation or putrefaction.
Drinking large quantities of vinegar, as is frequently practised by those who wish to grow thin, is very unwholesome, as it hurts the digestive faculties, and brings on complaints [Page 25] in consequence, which are not easily removed, particularly in females.
Vinegar, as a sauce, gives a grateful taste to our food, stimulates the stomach, and excites appetite.
Mixed with our animal and vegetable food, in our ordinary way of using it, vinegar is wholesome.
Vinegar, as an acid, is much more wholesome than the juice of lemons.
NUTMEGS, CLOVES, MACE, PEPPER, GINGER, &c. &c.
In moderate degree, are wholesome, as they stimulate the stomach, and take off the spasms arising from the flatulency of our food, and moderate its putrid tendency in the bowels.
For these reasons, horse-radish, mustard, cresses, &c. are wholesome, and very properly joined both with animal and vegetable food.
Of FRUITS, &c.
PLUMBS, CHERRIES and PEACHES
Are liable to fermentation, cold, viscid, and apt to produce purging, &c.
APRICOTS
Are a sweeter, richer, and less hurtful fruit than either plumbs or cherries.
GOOSEBERRIES
Are grateful, cooling, and wholesome, if eaten in moderation: when green, they are acid and astringent; when ripe, inclining to viscidity: hence they are apt to surfeit in large quantities.
CURRANTS
Quench thirst, and are not unwholesome, unless eaten in too large quantities. Sugar corrects them, and makes them more wholesome than they are without it.
FIGS AND GRAPES
Are among the most wholesome fruits.
PEARS
Are heavier than water, and APPLES are lighter, and swim on the surface: hence pears are more easy of digestion, as they sink to the bottom of the stomach. Pears have more sweetness than apples, and are more nourishing.
MULBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES & RASBERRIES
Are very innocent fruits: the most wholesome, as being the most simple way, is, to eat them by themselves.
RAISINS
Are not so laxative as currants, but more so than figs.
PRUNES AND CURRANTS
Are nearly alike in their qualities, both being gently purgative.
ORANGES
Are very wholesome, and allay thirst.
Oranges and lemons are gathered green; the sea air, and their being shut up close, gives them that golden colour we so much admire.
MELONS
Are more wholesome than cucumbers, as being of a more tender texture, and containing a proportion of sugar; are more easily digested; but still they are cold, viscid, and far from wholesome, for those whose stomachs are weak.
Baked or boiled fruits are wholesomer than fresh.
Eating a great quantity of fruit directly after a hearty dinner, is hurtful, inasmuch as it loads the already satisfied stomach.
All fruits possess an acidity, with a degree of sweetness, consequently are more or less liable to fermentation upon the stomach, as these abound. The more compact their texture, the longer they stay upon the stomach, and are in proportion more hard of digestion.
Dried fruits are most wholesome.
Swallowing the stones of any fruit, is very unwholesome.
The best time to eat fruit is in a morning.
CUCUMBERS,
As being acescent, are very apt to produce flatulency; are hard of digestion, and have even been brought off the stomach after forty-eight hours.
Oil and pepper are proper to check their fermentation: and they are more wholesome when eaten with their skin, or peel, (in their early state) as it is bitter, and may supply, in some measure, the place of aromatics.
I observed before, that cucumbers were very improper for those who were subject to bilious complaints. Indeed, it would be better if they were totally rejected from our tables.
LETTUCE AND ENDIVE
Are most wholesome eaten with vinegar, as it corrects them: they are acescent, cooling, and opening.
CELERY
Is most wholesome when boiled, as in soups, &c.
SPINACH
Is light and wholesome.
PARSLEY, FENNEL, MINT, &c.
Are not wholesome eaten in large quantities; in small ones, they are agreeable, and can do no harm.
SAGE
Has been formerly held in much higher esteem than it is at present: it is wholesome, and said to be a sweetner of the blood.
CABBAGES
Are most wholesome when in their young state, as they are more tender, and less flatulent.
The stalk, as being of the firmest texture, is the most unwholesome part, being the hardest of digestion.
The inner part (or the heart of the cabbage, as it is called) is less windy than the outer leaves.
TURNIPS
Are not very nutritious, but their moderate use is wholesome.—With many people they gently purge; hence they are good for those who are subject to be costive.
RADISHES
Are wholesomest when scraped: they act by urine.
ASPARAGUS AND ARTICHOKES
Are nourishing, and (being but little acescent) not flatulent, but diuretic and cleansing.
TUFFLES, MORELS AND MUSHROOMS
Are in general unwholesome, stimulating, and hard of digestion.
CARROTS AND PARSNIPS
Are nutritious, but flatulent.
LEEKS, ONIONS AND GARLICK
Are rather acrid and heating, but used moderately, are harmless to the human body.
POTATOES
Are very innocent and safe nutriment: the mealy sort is most wholesome.
PEASE
Are of more soluble texture than BEANS, consequently less flatulent, and more easy of digestion.
SALEP,
From its mealy quality, is rather liable to acidity; yet still it is very fit (where acrimony abounds in the first passages, as the stomach, &c.) in the bloody flux, &c.
SAGO
Is the pith of a certain oriental tree, which is broke down into a fine meal, and dried in the sun.
Sago is very light and wholesome, and, though it does not afford much nourishment, it is very proper for weak stomachs.
FRENCH BEANS,
In their young state, are tender, light, and wholesome.
ALMONDS
Are wholesomest without their skins or husks; they are cooling, healing, and cleanse [Page 31] the urinary passages. But Dr. Cullen, whose opinion is scarcely to be controverted, does not allow them to be at all wholesome, on account of the oil they contain. In medicine, they are frequently useful. The bitter almond is esteemed most unwholesome.
NUTS, WALNUTS AND CHESNUTS
Partake of nearly the same qualities as almonds. They are not so hurtful as is generally imagined. In my opinion, it is their being eaten directly after meals, upon a full stomach, which makes them more unwholesome than they would be if eaten at any other time. In that case, they frequently pass through the bowels undigested.
CHOCOLATE,
Which is the cocoa-nut mixed with either flour or sugar, is very wholesome when not boiled too much; it should only be properly dissolved, as heat, when too great, coagulates it, and consequently makes it harder of digestion.
COFFEE and TEA.
DR. Cullen thinks the assisting digestion, relieving the stomach from a load of aliment, from crudities, and from head-achs arising from them, promoting urine, and perhaps perspiration, may all fairly be attributed to the warm water.
There is no doubt but the tea itself will produce tremors, and spasmodic affections, by frequent use; though the warm water certainly assists.
Green tea is more unwholesome than bohea, and is not so proper for people of thin hectic habits.
Strong coffee is said to relieve the headach: it certainly is more wholesome than tea.
Coffee or tea, in most habits, weakens the tone of the stomach, and affects more or less the whole nervous system.
Plenty of milk should generally be drank with tea or coffee, except where plenty of wine has been drank just before, then it should be omitted for reasons too obvious to mention.
Observe, never to drink either tea or coffee too hot.
Indeed, I cannot help thinking with Dr. Cheyne, that their chief virtue consists in custom, and their harm in excess.
WINE, &c.
ALL wines are in some degree heating and inflammatory.
Dr. Cullen says, the same quantity of wine diluted, intoxicates sooner than the same quantity drank in the same time without that dilution; at least, this is a common observation of drinkers. The reason seems to be this, that the wine by this means is applied to a larger surface in the stomach, and its dilution causes a quicker diffusion over the system. But though wines thus diluted sooner intoxicate, yet their effects are also sooner over.
Wine which provokes urine soonest, also sooner intoxicates, which proceeds plainly from its being applied to a larger portion of the system.
CLARET
Is lighter, and less heating than Port.
RED WINES
Are more astringent than WHITE, owing to the red husks being thrown in, which also give it a colour.
MADEIRA AND SHERRY
Are cordial and stomachic, but, when liberally used, heating.
THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUEZE WINES
Have brandy in them, consequently are inflammatory and heating, and when adulterated, as they too frequently are, with noxious ingredients, become a poison to the constitution.
NEAT, GENUINE PORT
Is wholesome, but French wines are least heating.
RAISIN, ORANGE, GRAPE, CURRANT, &c. WINES,
When dry and sound, are each of them wholesome. In a state of fermentation, they are hurtful to weak stomachs.
Good, generous wine, with meals, is very wholesome for weak stomachs, especially in warm weather; and where we eat much fruit after dinner, a few glasses should always be drank.
The best strong liquor we can drink, is good wine.
Good wine, mixt with water, is better than beer, for those whose stomachs are weak, &c.
The idea that good eating requires good drinking, is a very erroneous one; for wine, and all other strong drinks, are as hard to digest, &c. as strong food itself. If food lies heavy upon the stomach, nothing tends to relieve so much as a draught of warm water. [Page 35] Water is the original primitive beverage appointed by Nature, and is the most wholesome of all drinks, as it quickens the appetite, and promotes digestion.
SPIRITS
Of all kinds, as being inflammatory, are heating and pernicious. Using ourselves to them is all a custom, and the less we observe it, the more healthy we shall be.
Happy had it been for the race of mankind if spirits had never been introduced.
BRANDY, RUM, AND GENEVA,
Each agree differently with different constitutions, and each is nearly alike prejudicial to the human body.
Those whose appetites and digestion are good, want no strong liquors.
Hard drinkers generally die with diseased livers, &c. &c. which evidently shew how pernicious strong drinks are to the vital parts.
BRANDY AND WATER
Is proper when an acid quality predominates in the stomach, and when persons have flatulent, griping pains, in the stomach or bowels: beer would then disagree, and even wines, from their tendency to acidity.
PUNCH, SHRUB, &c.
Are more unwholesome than wine, owing to their ingredients promoting fermentation, &c. in the stomach.
Cheyne justly observes, punch, and all fermenting liquors, are highly injurious to weakly constitutions, as is evident from those who live in the West-Indies, where (from the necessity of drinking much, because of the violence of the heat, and from the want of proper liquors there, they are forced to drink much punch) they are universally afflicted with palsies, dry belly-achs, cramps, convulsions, &c. To obviate the effects of too free living, it is well known that the Bath water is the best remedy.
BEER
Is more nutritious than wine, more acescent and laxative.
Hard stale beer is very flatulent, and improper for people of weak digestion.
New beer disorders those who have weak bowels.
Thick beer is highly improper for those afflicted with the gravel.
That beer is most wholesome which is clear, limpid, and not heady.
At all times good beer is more salutary to the constitution than bad wine.
[Page 37]All fermented liquors, which are too strong, hurt digestion, &c.
YORKSHIRE, NOTTINGHAM, AND OTHER STRONG ALES,
Are very feverish, and improper for weak stomachs.
PORTER
Is more nutritious than common ale, and will frequently agree with a weak stomach when ale will not.
Bottled porter, as well as bottled ale, is more windy than when drawn from the cask.
TOBACCO,
By taking off the saliva, which is necessary to the system, palls the appetite, and hurts digestion: hence to lean hectic people it is very pernicious.
CONCLUSION.
They who would wish to enjoy health, should avoid luxury and intemperance both in eating and drinking; should eat light suppers, rise early, and use exercise. The great secret of health, consequently of long life, consists in keeping the blood in a proper state; to do which, nothing tends so much as an attention to what is set forth in these few, and, I hope, not useless pages.