Rambam’s (Maimonides) dietary guidelines – sefer Hamada, Paragraph Two – The Book of Knowledge

One should not eat until one’s stomach is [very] full, but one should [only] eat until one’s stomach is three-quarters full. Nor should one drink water during a meal, except a little mixed with wine, but once the food begins to digest one should what one needs to drink, but one should never drink too much, even when the food digests. One should not eat unless one has checked oneself to make sure that one does not need to relieve oneself. One should not eat unless one has first relieved oneself, or until one’s body gets warm, or unless one has worked at something else first. The general rule of the matter is that one should always answer one’s body. In the morning, one should work until one’s body gets warm, then one should wait until one’s soul has settled, and then one may eat. It is good to wash in hot water after having worked, then wait a while, and then eat.

Reduced Calories

Modern research and Oriental medicine both stress the value of eating only until 2/3 full. In fact, studies show that animals that eat a 2/3 calorie restrictive diet achieve maximum lifespans and strengthened immunity. Overeating is a leading contributor to many of our “modern” diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, degenerative diseases, accelerated aging and heart disease. Societies that eat a caloric restrictive diet while maintaining adequate nutrition, such as the the Okinawans of Japan, have the highest lifespans in the world and enjoy reduced morbidity from many diseases. They eat up to 40 percent fewer calories than Americans and 17 percent fewer calories than the Japanese average. Almost all longevity practices utilize this principle of limiting calories. When you eat 1/3 less calories you will need to maximize each calorie (otherwise you will feel hungry and fatigued) in order to maintain adequate nutrition. You accomplish this by eating nutrient dense foods and forgoing less nutritious junk foods, which are appropriately called ‘empty calories.’ By this method a person gets all the nutrients and vitality they need without getting hungry or gaining weight. There are many modern approaches for accomplishing this. Most count calories and analyze the calories of all foods eaten. In this article we are just mentioning these systems. If you wish to follow these systems you will need to be under the guidance of a professional trained in calorie restrictive diets. Here our goal is to illustrate the benefits of eating less but better foods. The simplest manner of accomplishing this is to eat 3/4 full and only healthy foods.

Overeating also causes other health problems such as the disruption of the digestion by putting great strains on it and damaging the digestive organs. It is human nature to want to feel satisfied with a particular taste. This is why it is very difficult to just have a tiny taste of something. When a person overeats they tend to sample a greater variety of foods and flavors in their diet. Even though the person is satiated, he still needs to sample “enough” of this particular food. We all have experienced this. After a meal we feel stuffed, not being able to have another bite of the meal, but when dessert comes out we all of a sudden have room for a nice helping of sweets. This kind of eating, which is very popular in the West, overstresses the digestion leading to unhealthy food byproducts which can clog and damage our bodies.

Simply eat when you are hungry, eat only nutrient dense foods and do not eat too much. Following this principle will lead to a bodily state that the Rambam calls “listening to ones body to achieve maximum health.”

Drinking During Meals

Many are shocked to read that the Rambam discourages drinking during meals, thinking that this is some backwards, ancient idea. In fact all Asian medical systems advise against drinking during meals. While they do drink tea prior to a meal, please keep in mind that the size of a Chinese teacup is 2-4 oz! Drinking (excessive) water during a meal dilutes digestive enzymes necessary for proper digestion, causes bloating and interferes with the digestion of the solid foods. According to Oriental medicine this is a weakening of the “digestive fire” and of the “warmth” the Rambam says to cultivate prior to eating. Wine has a warming nature and thus if mixed with water can aid digestion and mitigate the negative effects of the water. Rambam recommends to add enough wine to the water so that the water develops a muscatel flavor.

The body contains a digestive vitality or “fire,” which in modern terms is related to the metabolism. By warming the body(discussed in detail later in this article) this digestive fire is stimulated, boosting digestion and the assimilation of nutrients. It also protects the body from the possible negative consequence of eating, namely the production of phlegm, which in modern terms may be translated as free radical oxidizing damage.

Bowel Health

The Mishna Torah is a sefer whose every word is analyzed and relevant; there are no superfluous words. This being the case it is very significant that the Rambam discusses bowel health in four paragraphs of this section (see paragraphs 1, 3, 15, 16). Obviously, bowel health must be of paramount importance in one’s physical and spiritual pursuits.

Constipation and holding back one’s bowel movements is detrimental to one’s health. The gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the colon, is essentially one long tube. If waste matter accumulates to a point that it backs up in one place the rest of the tract will also stagnate and get stuck. This will impede the stomach’s ability to digest efficiently and move the food (called ‘chyme’) into the small intestines. The result is food sitting in the stomach longer than necessary, which then starts to rot and leads to phlegm and food stagnation, which over time will harm the body and cause disease. Food that sits in the stomach too long can also damage the lining of the stomach leading to ulcers and hernias. Furthermore, slow digestion wastes the energy of the body. Instead of this energy being used in productive service it is being used to digest food and detoxify noxious wastes, leading to fatigue and weakness.

In this section the Rambam is discussing the need to be vigilant and check to see if a person needs to relieve himself, and if he does, to not push it off for later. By holding back one’s bowel movements a person is literally retaining waste matter in his body. This will poison the body if left in the colon too long. Habitual holding back of the bowels will lead to habituation, where a person will come to ignore his bodily signals and thus lose touch with his body language. Holding back bowel movements will also lead to slackening of the intestines and hemorrhoids.

There are many lymph nodes in close proximity to the colon which can become polluted if excessive waste matter is retained in the colon. Do not think of the colon as a simple storage area. It is the home of many neurotransmitter nerve endings. In fact, there are more neurotransmitters in the gut than in the brain!

Autointoxication of the colon is a major cause of disease. In the naturopathic healing systems autointoxication is considered the primary cause of all disease, also called the “primary disease” of the body. A sluggish and toxic colon can lead to a variety of serious illness.

The Rambam is teaching us the basic axioms of proper health: wholesome, nutritious foods coming in and healthy, regular waste matter going out.

Four ways to warm your body

Warming the body stimulates the metabolism and readies the stomach for eating and digesting. There are four main ways in which to warm the body prior to eating:

• Physical work – Exercising, walking, working, deep breathing, stretching, massage
• Warming foods & drinks -Green & black tea, herbal tea, vinegar, salty soups, wine, condiments, spices
• External warmth – Hot packs, sunning, heat lamps
• Chewing food completely and slowly

Summary

In order to keep ones body in optimal shape: Do not over eat, over drink, keep the body warm, keep regular bowel movements and maintain regular daily physical exercise.

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