Phenomena caused by what you eat and drink

What is eaten and drunk affects the human body in three ways: food and drink act only by their quality, act as an element, and act with all their substance. Sometimes the concepts contained in these words come together in common linguistic usage, but we, using them, agree to understand the things that we will now point out.

As for the factor that acts by its quality, it is food that tends to become hot or cold when it enters the human body and it warms with its warmth and cools with its cold, without being like the composition of the body.

Food acting as an element is such that its substance undergoes a transformation and takes the image of a part of some human organ, but it happens that in its elements, which have taken the image of this organ, a remnant of the former qualities remains from the beginning until the completion of the process of binding and assimilation , stronger in their kind than the qualities inherent in the human body. Such, for example, is the blood born of lettuce: it is accompanied by a coldness greater than the coldness of human nature, although this blood has become blood suitable to be part of a human organ. But the blood generated by garlic acts in the opposite way.

As for food, which acts by its substance, it acts by the species form in which it exists as such, and not by quality, not by being like the human body or being likened to it.

By “quality” I mean here one of the four primary qualities of things.

Matter does not take part in the influence of what acts by quality. Food acting as an element, when its elements change their substance and undergo a transformation due to some force in the body, acts, firstly, as a substitute for food assimilated by the body, and, secondly, kindles the innate heat, increasing the quantity of blood . Sometimes, thirdly, she also acts thanks to the qualities that remain in her.

Food, which acts by its substance, acts due to the species form that appears after the displacement of the elements.

When its simple bodies are mixed and something single is formed from them, it becomes capable of perceiving specific differences and a form more perfect than that of simple bodies. This form is not identical with the primary qualities inherent in the elements, and is not a nature arising from the elements; it is a certain perfect form acquired by the elements according to the ability for this obtained through mixing.

Such, for example, is the attractive force of a magnet and the nature of every species of plants and animals, acquired after the mixing of elements, thanks to the predisposition created by it. This force did not arise from the elements of nature and is not nature itself, since it is not heat, not coldness, not wetness and not dryness. It is not a simple body or a mixture - no, it is something like color, smell, soul or other form, 6 not belonging to sensible things.

This form, which arises after mixing, happens to find its perfect manifestation when exposed to the influence of something else, since it is then a passive force. It happens, however, that the perfection of this form is expressed in influencing something else, if it is a force capable of influencing other things. When it acts on something else, sometimes its action is manifested in the human body, and sometimes it does not take place. When this force is a force acting in the human body, then sometimes it produces an action that is suitable, and sometimes it produces an effect that is not suitable; this action in its totality does not come from the nature of a given thing, but from its specific form that arose after mixing. Therefore it is called “the action of the whole substance,” that is, the specific form, and not the qualities - I mean, not the four primary qualities and not what is the result of their mixture. As for the action that is suitable, this is, for example, the action of peony, which stops epilepsy, and the action that is not suitable is the power of aconite, which destroys the substance of the human body.

Let us now return to the subject of speech and say that when we say that something taken internally or applied externally is hot or cold, we mean that it is so in potency, but not in reality; we only want to say that this thing is potentially hotter or colder than our body. And by “potency” we mean a force considered at the time when it is acted upon by the heat of our body, meaning that after the bearer of the force is exposed to the innate heat existing in us, this property will become inherent in it in fact.

But sometimes we meant something else by “potency,” namely, we took the word potency in the sense of “good disposition,” “ability.” Thus, we say that sulfur is “hot in potency.” Sometimes we are content with saying that such and such a thing is hot or cold, meaning in most cases: “by the mixing of the original elements,” and not taking into account the effect of our body on it. So, we say about a medicine that it acts in potency. This is the case when the word potency is used in the sense of “acquired ability,” as, say, the ability of a scribe to write who at the moment has stopped writing. We say, for example, “monkshood is potentially harmful.” The difference between these meanings and the first is that in the first case the potency does not pass into action until the substance undergoes a clear transformation in the body, and in this case the force acts either by the very fact of contact, such as the venom of vipers, or after the most insignificant change in its qualities like aconite.

Between the first force and the one we have just mentioned there is a mediating force. It is like the power of poisonous drugs.

Next we will say that there are four degrees of medicine. The first is when the effect of the medicine taken in the body is insensible in its quality, for example, when it is hot or cold, but the warming and cooling are not realized or felt unless this medicine is taken repeatedly or often. The second degree is when the medicine is stronger, but not so much as to cause obvious harm to the functions of the body and only insignificantly alters their natural course, unless taken repeatedly and often. The third degree is when the action of the drugs causes obvious and significant harm, but does not go so far as to destroy and destroy the body. The fourth degree is when the drugs are so strong that they destroy and destroy; This is the property of poisonous drugs.

This is the effect of drugs in terms of quality; as for a substance that is destructive throughout its entire substance, it is poison.

Let us say again: every substance, from those that enter the body, and between them and the body there is a mutual influence on each other, is either changed by the body, but does not change it, or is changed by the body and itself changes it, or is not changed by the body, but changes it. his. As for substances that are changed by the body, but do not produce any significant change in it, then they are either likened to the body or not likened. What is likened to the body are nutrients in the absolute sense, and what is not likened are drugs of moderate strength.

Substances that are changed by the body and themselves change it must either change and themselves change the body, but in the end, having changed, stop changing it, or things don’t work out that way, and in the end the substance itself finally changes the body and destroys it.

In the first case, the substance is either such that it is like a body, or it is not such that it is like a body. If it is likened, then it is a medicinal food, and if it is not likened, then it is medicine in the absolute sense. In the second case, these are poisonous drugs.

As for a substance that does not change at all from the action of the body, but changes it, then this is poison in the absolute sense. When we say that such a substance is not changed by the action of the body, we do not mean that it is not warmed in the body by the action of the innate heat existing there; this is not so, for most poisons, which do not warm the body from the action of its innate heat, do not produce an effect on it. No, we mean that such a substance does not change in its natural form, but continues to act, being stable in strength and form, until it destroys the body. The nature of this substance is sometimes hot, and then helps its special quality to dissolve pneuma, as does the venom of vipers and aconite, and sometimes it is cold, and then helps the special quality to quench and weaken pneuma, as does the venom of scorpion and hemlock.

Anything that nourishes eventually produces a natural change in the body, namely warming. The fact is that when a nutrient turns into blood, it inevitably increases warming, even lettuce and pumpkin produce such warming. But by change we mean not this warming, but what comes from the quality of a given thing, while its form still remains unchanged. A food medicine undergoes a transformation in its substance from the influence of the body and undergoes a transformation in its quality, but the transformation of quality occurs earlier. Some nutrients first turn into heat and warm, like garlic, and some turn into cold first and cool, like lettuce.

When the transformation into blood is completed, the effect of the substance is most expressed in warming due to the increase in the amount of blood, and how can it not warm when it has become hot and has thrown off its coldness? However, each of these two processes is accompanied by a certain share of innate quality, which remains in the substance even after transformation. Thus, in the blood formed from lettuce there remains some ability to cool, and in the blood formed from garlic there remains some ability to warm, but only for a certain time.

Among food medicines there are those that are closer to medicines, and those that are closer to food, like the nutritional substances themselves, some of which are closer to the substance of the blood, such as wine, egg yolk, meat juice, some are a little further from it, for example bread and meat, and some much further, such as medicinal food.

We say: a nutrient changes the state of the body by its quality and its quantity. As for the change in quality, this has already been explained, but when changing in quantity, the latter is either more than necessary, and then this causes indigestion and blockages, and then rotting of the juices, or less, and then this causes thinness. Food in excess always cools, of course, if it does not cause decay, in which case it warms. The fact is that just as decay itself arises from extraneous heat, so also from decay extraneous heat arises.

We also say: nutrients are soft, some are coarse, and some are balanced. Soft food is the kind from which thin blood is born, rough food is the kind from which thick blood is born. Each of these types of food is either very nutritious or low nutritious. An example of a mild, highly nutritious substance is wine, meat juice, heated egg yolk and soft-boiled eggs - all of these substances are very nutritious, since most of their substance is converted into food. And an example of coarse, low-nutrient food is cheese, dried meat, eggplant and the like. What turns from this food into blood is insignificant.

Rough, but very nutritious food is, for example, boiled eggs and beef, and an example of soft, but low-nutritive food can be julab, vegetables, balanced in consistency and quality, and fruits - apples, pomegranates and the like.

In each of these types of food there is one that gives bad chyme, and there is also one that gives good chyme. An example of soft, very nutritious food that produces good chyme is egg yolk, wine, meat juice; an example of soft, low-nutrient food that produces good chyme - lettuce, apple, pomegranate; soft, low-nutritive foods that produce bad chyme are radishes, mustard and most vegetables, and an example of soft, highly nutritious foods that produce bad chyme are lungs and chickens. Coarse, very nutritious food that gives good chyme is boiled eggs and meat of one-year-old lambs, and an example of coarse, very nutritious food that gives bad chyme is beef, goose, and horse meat. Rough, low-nutrient food that produces bad chyme, such as dried meat. Among all this you will find food that is balanced in terms of softness and roughness.