Diet according to Rambam

Diet according to Rambam

Health and diet are a very popular topic of our time, and vitamins and dietary products are one of the most profitable areas of production. Even in the recent past, people had to work hard to get food. Women cooked from the food they had on hand, and men, returning from hard daily work, ate their meager bread only in order to be satisfied and not die of hunger. There was no talk of delicacies.

Today, in an era of abundance, the choice of products is huge, and most of them are available even to people with relatively low incomes. Previously, in order to get a piece of bread, you had to cultivate the land and process the crop for a long time. Now you can, without leaving your home, with one click of a computer mouse, order the most exotic products in any quantity to your home.

It's no wonder that conversations about healthy eating have become so popular. In an era of abundance, society is trying to find a middle ground between the pursuit of culinary pleasures and health. We all know that overeating or consuming junk food poisons our body, and therefore we need to know some rules that will help us stay healthy and take care of the body that God has given us.

As with many other areas of human knowledge, the Torah and the sages spoke about dietetics. “And take great care of your souls...” - this is what the Torah tells us to emphasize that caring for a healthy body is part of caring for the soul. We cannot rely only on the mercy of the Almighty; we must make efforts ourselves to keep our body healthy.

Rambam, one of the greatest sages of the Torah, the author of works on Jewish philosophy and law, being a doctor, thoroughly researched the opinion of the Torah on the issue of proper nutrition. The rules he formulated nine centuries ago allow us today to take care of our body at the proper level.

***

Rambam studied medicine in Morocco. He wanted to become a doctor not out of a desire to acquire a good profession, but out of a desire to help his neighbors. Later he moved to Egypt and became famous there as an excellent doctor. He treated both members of the ruling family and ordinary poor people, without distinction of class or nationality.

Rambam spoke out against the prejudices that dominated medicine at that time. He was an opponent of talismans and conspiracies.

According to Rambam, most diseases come from disorders of the digestive system as a result of overeating or eating harmful foods. He considered the quality of food and its composition to be the main conditions for health, and called too abundant or harmful food a poison that poisons a person.

Moreover, Rambam was convinced that with the help of diet, even seriously ill and elderly people could achieve a dramatic improvement in their well-being and strengthen their immune system.

Reli Abal – nutritionist, holder of a second degree in dietetics and epidemiology; defended her doctorate in biochemistry; specializes in the use of Chinese medicine in combination with conventional medicine; Heads the department of nutrition and dietetics in one of the Israeli hospitals. Her medical experience is 38 years.

As a Chabadite, she could not ignore the Rambam’s recommendations in the field of diet. Rely included them in the teaching literature for the weight loss groups she leads. "It's amazing," Rely says. – You open the book “Mishneh Torah” and see that everything has already been said before us! In detail, with justifications, as accurately as possible. When I first discovered Rambam’s dietetics, my approach to nutrition changed radically.”

The Rambam’s medical ideology is based on the Torah instruction: “And take great care of your souls” - this means that health should come first. According to Rambam, all diseases come from poor nutrition: high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, allergies, obesity, reduced immunity.

Effective digestion leads to the removal of waste from the body once or twice a day. It improves not only overall well-being, but also vision, mood, and strengthens thinking.

Rambam adheres to the “golden mean” in everything: a strict diet is just as bad as overeating.

Rules for healthy eating according to Rambam

How much?

It is best to eat a little less than you need to fill your stomach. It is important to stop eating before you feel full and heavy. Even if there is a clear appetite. The feeling of fullness will come about twenty minutes after eating. Rambam states that the stomach should be 3/4 full. When the stomach is full, digestion is difficult. This can be compared to a food processor filled to the brim: in this case, it will be difficult for it to grind the contents.

When there is?

It is not recommended to eat when you just want to chew something, but only after a real feeling of hunger arises. According to Rambam: breakfast should be plentiful and nutritious, like a king’s breakfast, lunch should be average, like a prince’s meal, and dinner should be modest, like a beggar’s food.

In addition, nutrition should be appropriate to the time of year. In summer, it is recommended to eat cold and non-spicy food, in several meals and little by little. In winter, it is better to eat hot food with seasonings, less often and in large quantities.

As it is?

When eating, the body should lean to the left, since the stomach is slightly shifted to the left, and this position makes it easier for food to enter it. It is better not to mix different foods and sweet and sour together, since “each has its own special digestion process.”

First, you should eat lightly cooked foods, which are therefore digested faster. Finish the meal with heavier food. A small number of dishes in a meal allows our stomach to cope with its task faster.

Chewing must be correct, since food digestion begins in the mouth, with the help of saliva. Food must be completely crushed by teeth. Anyone who does not follow this rule runs the risk of acquiring one or another disease within a few years.

What is?

Rambam recommends a permanent menu. “How nice it would be for a person to establish a constant and unchanging menu! His life would be long and healthy, because the appearance of new dishes, even very tasty ones, is harmful to health.”

Modern researchers confirm: animals get sick much less often than people because they eat the same food all their lives.

Nutritionists, like the Rambam, do not recommend eating sweet and sour fruits together. Sour fruits include, in particular, citrus fruits and some varieties of apples. For sweets - bananas, grapes, dates, figs, pears.

Bakery

Baking made from non-sour dough and white flour is harmful. The same applies to wheat cereals (for example, semolina), confectionery and pasta: refined wheat contains little dietary fiber. Lack of dietary fiber leads to weakened intestinal motility, and food remains in the intestines for a long time. This can lead to various diseases, from chronic constipation to colon cancer.

The more dietary fiber in the flour and the longer the dough is kneaded, the healthier the baked goods. This type of baking stimulates peristalsis. It is recommended to eat flour made from whole wheat, rye, and spelt.

Meat

In general, poultry is preferred over animal meat because it is easier to digest. Therefore, if you want to serve poultry and animal meat at the same meal, you must serve poultry first. Of the animals, the most dietary, according to Rambam, is the meat of kids and lambs. It is not recommended to eat fat, brains and internal organs of animals.

Fish

In general, the Rambam does not recommend eating fish, especially for elderly or frail people. But if you really want to eat fish, it is better to avoid large fatty fish, as they stimulate the production of fluids in the body. It is better to eat fish in limited quantities, sea or freshwater.

Dairy

Dairy products are digested quickly. Rambam recommends them only to those who do not suffer from gas in the stomach and inflammation of the stomach and intestines. The best milk is goat milk.

According to Rambam, consumption of dairy products is not recommended for people prone to headaches, gas and flatulence, as well as high fever and diarrhea, especially with blood.

Milk is recommended for tuberculosis with low fever, long-term chronic diseases, weakness and exhaustion.

Salt

Excessive salt intake is harmful, especially if you have high blood pressure.

Sweets

Rambam recommends eating a small piece of sweet dessert at the end of the meal and claims that this stimulates the stomach to digest food more thoroughly.

Drink

You should not drink water during meals, or half an hour before, as water dilutes gastric juice. You can drink no earlier than an hour after eating. According to Rambam, it is beneficial to drink a little wine during meals.

It is recommended to drink plenty of liquid during the day - it cleanses the intestines and thereby prevents intestinal disease. The best drink is chilled boiled water.

Rambam considers wine a cure for many diseases and recommends drinking it, albeit with some restrictions. These restrictions relate to the amount of wine, the age of the drinker and the time of drinking.

Wine should not be consumed by young people under 21 years of age; it is bad for both their body and soul. The older a person gets, the healthier wine is for him.

Wine improves digestion and... thinking. The best aperitif according to Rambam is wine diluted with water.

An important principle of the Rambam: it is better to eat a little unhealthy food than a lot of healthy food. Overeating or too frequent snacking overloads the digestive system, leading to excess gastric juice and absorption of poisons into the blood.

Physical activity

A person should exert physical effort every morning to such an extent that his body warms up, and only after that have breakfast. According to Rambam, physical activity should also be moderate. You need to do it before meals and to such an extent that the blood flows faster, but at the same time severe fatigue does not occur.

Hygiene

Physical exercises should precede food intake. You can’t sit down at the table without checking to see if you need to recover. According to the Rambam, a person who eats food without relieving himself is like a person who adds wood to a stove without removing the ashes. The ash covers the new firewood and prevents it from burning. It is necessary to ensure that the intestines are relaxed. Constipation is a sign of disorder in the digestive system.

Dream

Sleep is extremely important for health, both physical and mental. It calms mental strength and nerves. During sleep, all organs restore strength. The best time to sleep, according to Rambam, is from the beginning of the evening to the middle of the night. Starting in the middle of the night, sleep is much less efficient because, from a biological point of view, it is already morning.

It is not recommended to go to bed immediately after eating; you should wait three to four hours. And daytime sleep is completely unnecessary, from Rambam’s point of view.

If you eat right, Rambam vouches for your health!

Rambam writes that for those who lead a healthy lifestyle according to his recommendations, he guarantees that this person will never get sick. He was once asked: “How can you guarantee the health of your neighbor, let alone an entire nation?” To this Rambam replied that this was not his personal guarantee. It’s just that a person who follows the recommendations of a healthy lifestyle, as well as avoids anger and discontent, has nothing to get sick from.