Certainly, life is “more than food“ (Matthew 6: 25), yet it also is not less. So today I’d like to share with you a couple of food recommendations from Saint Hildegard of Bingen’s book Physica.
Saint Hildegard, and medicine
The Benedictine nun, who is quite famous for her medicinal texts and contributions even among people outside the Church, wrote two books relating to health and medicine entitled Physica and Causae et Curae. While the first one describes the medicinal features of various things of the physical world – of stones, plants, and animals – , the second one gets into the causes and cures of specific diseases.
Saint Hildegard‘s medical knowledge stemmed from her own practical experience with the herbs and plants growing in the monastery‘s garden and with applying healing methods to sick people, as well as from studying ancient Greco-Roman medical sources.
In line with the Catholic tradition, Saint Hildegard would view man in light of the creation story in the book of Genesis: The world God created is not a cosmos of chaos, but of order and purpose. In this world everything has its proper place.
“God has arranged everything in the universe in consideration of everything else.“
Saint Hildegard of Bingen
“Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.“
Man is made in the image of God, and he is this one being in whom matter and spirit are uniquely fused together. He is both a bodily and a spiritual creature. He is made from the dust of the earth, like the animals, yet God Himself breathed His breath into his nostrils. Every man has an everlasting soul made for communion with God, made for living in the kingdom of heaven – with the angels. Man is called to be a child of God reflecting His image; he is called to be a king, a just ruler over the earth; and called to be a priest, a holy intercessor, mediating between the Creator and His creation.
Everything on earth is related to man‘s calling and destiny and is given man for his use – every plant and every animal, except for “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil“, of which Adam and Eve should not have eaten…
Through their disobedience sin, disease, and death entered the world. With the eyes of the Catholic tradition, disease is never just a merely bodily, and physical ailment, and health is never just the health of one‘s body, but always the health of one‘s body, mind and soul. There are multiple layers of connection between the three. Even the ancient pagans, though not knowing the one true living God, who is the Creator, the Savior and the Physician of the human body and soul, shared this view of an interconnection between the physical, the mental, and the spiritual dimension of existence.
Our modern Western civilization stands out as the only one in the history of mankind that has come to a point of completely excluding the spiritual realm from everything, and therefore also from its medical practice.
Healing through food and fasting
In classical medicine, there was an ironclad principle by which a doctor would first of all prescribe to a sick man a change of diet in an attempt to cure his disease or ailment before taking more invasive measures like surgery.
For the ancients, food was medicine, and fasting from all food an approved and frequently used method of cleansing and healing. That one‘s diet regiment and one’s rhythms of eating and fasting can have a profound, even decisive, influence on one‘s health and well-being is an utterly self-evident conclusion just from knowing the basics of our human physiology and metabolism, and each and everyone of us can certainly testify to it by his or her own experience.
Surprisingly enough, and despite all scientific evidence confirming the efficacy of the ancient method of applying the natural remedies of a healthy diet or of abstinence from certain foods, or even fasting, these non-invasive methods – though having the potential of getting to some of the root causes of an illness – are completely ignored in modern medicine. There is so much more money to be made in our hospitals by using industrially fabricated pharmaceuticals and conducting surgeries…
Saint Hildegard followed the classical theory on the four basic humors in the human body (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegma), which explained disease as the result of an imbalance in the proportion of these humors. She applied this framework to food, classifying the effects which the essence of a certain plant or animal would have on the humors in man‘s metabolic system.
We can say that health, in the ancient sense, comes about through achieving “balance“, practicing “moderation“, and most certainly applying “wisdom“ – a deeper understanding and knowledge of things and their effects. Everything in excess, and everything chosen unwisely, without prudent consideration, might lead to disorder – to dis-ease, to a loss of peace in the body.
Yet if one has a bit of “wisdom“, one may know how to use the things of this world – including food, whether made from plants or animals – for the benefit of the human body and soul. Saint Paul the Apostle advises Saint Timothy in one of his letters to him to “not still drink water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake, and thy frequent infirmities“ (1 Timothy 5: 23).
If one suffers from certain chronic ailments or a general lack of vigor, it is almost always advisable to think about one‘s diet and to try out a new path when it comes to how and what one eats. In the following chapters, I share Saint Hildegard‘s food recommendations in my own free and rough translation into English from the German version of Physica published by Ortrun Riha in 2012, so that you can get a glimpse into what we could call the “Saint Hildegard diet“. Yet the lists and excerpts that follow are not exhaustive. Someone may find it worth figuring out for themselves whether some or all of her recommendations are helpful guidelines for vitalizing one‘s body.
Some recommended spices and herbs
“Cinnamon is also very hot, and has strong powers, and contains a bit of humidity as well, but its heat is so big that it surpresses the humidity; and whoever eats of it often, in him the bad humors will be diminished, and good humors be prepared.“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
“Nutmeg has a lot of warmth, and a good mixture in its powers. When a man eats nutmegg, it will open his heart, purify his senses and bring him a cheerful mood.“
“Lemon balm is warm, and the man who eats it loves to laugh, as the warmth touches his spleen and thereby gladdens his heart.“
“Both raw and cooked it is good for everyone to eat common sage, if bad humors plague him, because it is combating them.“
“In which manner whatsoever one eats fennel, it makes man cheerful, and brings him tender warmth, and good sweat, and a good digestion.“
“Salt is very hot, and a bit humid, and for many applications very useful. If a man eats meals without salt, it makes him tepid inside; but when he eats them mixed with moderate amounts of salt, it strengthens and heals him.“
“Mugwort is very hot and its juice is very useful. And when it is cooked and eaten in a squish, it heals the sick inner organs and warms a cold stomach.“
“Cannabis is warm, and it grows when the air is neither too hot nor too cold, and such is his nature. Its seed has healing powers, and when healthy people eat it, their health is preserved.“
“Hyssop is of a dry nature, and moderately warm, and has such a strong effect, that not even a rock can withstand it in the place where hyssop is sown. Eaten regularly, it drives out the sick and foul foam of humors, that means: it skims them (purifies them), just like heat in a pot makes foam bubble. Cooked it is useful for all kinds of dishes (…).“
“Wine vinegar is cold and dry, and it fits all meals, when you add it to the meals in a way that does not take away their taste, but so that you only notice a bit of vinegar in them. Taken in such moderate amounts, vinegar expels putrefaction from man, and it diminishes the bad humors inside of him, and blazes the right trail for the meals.“
Some recommended meat and animal products
“The meat of chicken is good to eat for healthy people, but does not make one fat when one eats it; and it also revitalizes sick people in a certain way.“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
“Deer has an arduous warmth inside, and is less cold, but warm instead, and is peaceable, and halfway reasonable, and eats pure food. And its meat is good to eat for healthy and sick people.“
“The lamb (…) is cold, but warmer than beef, and also humid and simple, and it has no bitterness or sharpness. Its meat is good to eat for healthy and sick people.“
“Cow butter is better and more healthful than sheep or goat butter. A man who is short of breath, or coughs, or is dried up in his body, should eat butter, and it will heal him from inside and revitalize him, as he is weak and meager. And also for a healthy man of medium figure it is good and healthy to eat butter. But if he is fat, he should only eat it in moderate amounts (…).“
“Perch stems more from warm than cold air, and loves the day, and likes to be in the sunshine, and in clear waters, and there it looks for its food. (…) and that is why its meat is healthy and good to eat for both healthy and sick people.“
It is interesting to note here, that Saint Hildegard strongly advises against eating the meat of swine (pork) and eggs. In line with the dietary laws of kashrut in the biblical book of Leviticus, Saint Hildegard classifies pigs as “impure“ animals, as they are omnivores. She is also not much in favor of drinking milk, and of eating salmon or herring.
Some recommended vegetables and fruits
“Chick peas are warm, and mild, and light, and pleasant to eat, and they do not increase the bad humors in the one who eats them.“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
“Radish is more warm than cold. (…) When eaten it purifies the brain, and through its good warmth and its sanatory juice it reduces the bad humors in the inner organs.“
“The common bean is warm, for healthy and strong people it is good to eat, and better than peas, because when sick people eat the common bean, it does not harm them much (…). Bean flour is good and useful for both sick and healthy people, as it is mild and easy to digest.“
“Pumpkins are dry, and cold, and grow from the air, and they are good to eat for the sick and the healthy, and they do not increase the bad humors in man.“
“The quince tree is more cold than warm (…). Its fruit is warm, and dry, and has a good mixture, and when it is ripe, it does not harm the sick or the healthy man when eaten rawly, but cooked or fried it is very valuable for the sick or the healthy man.“
“And therefore (raw apples) are good to eat for healthy people, because they became ripe from strong dew. But for sick people raw apples are quite harmful (…); yet cooked or dried they are good for both the sick and the healthy.“
Some recommended grains
Basically, Saint Hildegard favors only two grains: spelt and oat.
“Spelt is the best grain, and it is warm, fat, rich, and more tasty than other grains; it gives the one who eats it strong flesh and strong blood, as well as a merry mind, and grants joy in man‘s temper. With whatever it will be eaten, whether in bread or in other meals, it is good and tasty.“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
“Oat is warm, and has a sharp taste, and a strong smell, and it is a pleasant and healthy dish for healthy people. It gives them a merry mind, and an enlightened and clear intellect, and grants them good color, and healthy flesh. And also for those who are a bit sick it is good to eat oat, whether in bread or in flour, and it does not harm them.“
And what about alcoholic beverages? On wine, beer, and dogs
Last but not least: What did Saint Hildegard say about fermented drinks like beer or wine? Which one of the two did she favor? “Beer or wine“ is often like the “cats or dogs“ question: One has to take a stand.
We find no explicit statement on beer in Physica. But when describing the cooking and dissolving of healing herbs in alcohol to brew a medicinal potion, she almost always refers to wine. And she makes the following general statement on wine:
“The wine that comes from the grapevine produces good and healthy blood in the one who drinks it, when the wine is pure (…).“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
What about beer then? One has to know that during the Middle Ages the so-called “German purity law“ for beer did not yet exist. This law prescribes that one can only use water, malt, yeast, and common hops for making beer, the latter being the one and only herb allowed to flavor the beer. But when people were making beer in the Middle Ages, they were adding all kinds of herbs. Everything was possible. The beer Saint Hildegard knew and used is not like our beer today. But we can deduce how she would view our beer today from her remarks on common hops:
“Common hops is warm, and dry, and contains a bit of humidity. And it is not very useful for man, as it increases melancholy in man, and makes man‘s temper sad, and strains the inner organs with its dryness, because when it dries up the humors in man, it makes man sad and gloomy.“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
If you have ever noticed that drinking beer at times makes you more melancholy than merry, you now know why: It‘s the hops. Though part of the same family of plants as cannabis, therefore exhibiting a similar calming and soothing effect, hops apparently found less favor with Saint Hildegard than the hemp plant.
And I think we can safely say that Saint Hildegard seems to prefer wine over beer. And also dogs over cats, by the way.
“The dog belongs to perfection, and is very warm, and in its nature has something in common with the behavior of men, and therefore feels and understands man, and loves him, and likes to live with him, and is faithful to him. Because of this the devil hates the dog, and shrinks back from him due to the faithfulness of the dog toward man.“
my own free and rough translation into English, source: Saint Hildegard, Physica, Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012
Sounds like everyone should get themselves a dog…