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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Rav Kook was a great man, he was the first Chief Rabbi of Israel and was a hugh proponent of the Land, Spirituality and Health.
Rav Kook, the founder of the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva said:
“-The purely righteous do not complain about evil, rather they add justice.
-They do not complain about heresy, rather they add faith.
-They do not complain about ignorance, rather they add wisdom. “
Arpilei Tohar p. 39
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Judaism, Health, and Vegetarianism
Article from jewishveg.com
“Be extremely protective of your lives.” (Deuteronomy 4:15)
Judaism requires of us that we mind our health. In Deuteronomy, we are told “Be extremely protective of your lives.”[1] Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explained, “You may not in any way weaken your health or shorten your life. Only if the body is healthy is it an efficient instrument for the spirit’s activity….Therefore you should avoid everything which might possibly injure your health…. And the law asks you to be even more circumspect in avoiding danger to life and limb than in the avoidance of other transgressions.”[2] G-d repeatedly exhorts us to take care of ourselves: “Do not commit suicide!” “Do not injure yourself!” “Do not ruin yourself!” “Do not endanger yourself!” “Do not weaken yourself!” “Preserve yourself!”[3] According to Maimonides, “Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of G-d – for one cannot understand or have knowledge of the Creator if one is ill – therefore one must avoid that which harms the body and accustom oneself to that which is helpful and helps the body become stronger.”[4] Jews are thus required to keep themselves healthy.
Rabbi Alfred Cohen has said, “Following the many precedents prescribed in the Code of Jewish Law, we would have little difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that, if indeed eating meat is injurious one’s health, it is not only permissible, but possibly even mandatory that we reduce our ingestion of an unhealthful product to the minimal level.”[5] Historically, the rabbis believed that eating meat was necessary for our health, and thus accepted its consumption. Today, however, the scientific evidence has shown that animal products are harmful to us. Today, eating animal products is a violation of our obligation as Jews to care for our health.
The consumption of animals products has been linked to higher rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, stroke, impotence, and other diseases. Vegetarians have just 40% the cancer rate of meat-eaters. On average, vegetarians outlive meat-eaters by six years.[6]
Heart disease in particular kills 50% of Americans– more than all other diseases put together– yet only 4% of strict vegetarians suffer from it.[7] In fact, the average vegan cholesterol level is 123, and no one with a cholesterol level below 150 has ever been documented as having died from a heart attack.[8] The only two studies ever to successfully reverse heart disease have included vegetarian diets.[9]
The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada has clearly stated the nutritional science: “It is [our] position that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases… Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.” [10]
Rabbi David Rosen has said, “As it is halachically prohibited to harm oneself and as healthy, nutritious vegetarian alternatives are easily available, meat consumption has become halachically unjustifiable.”[11] If we value our life, if we care about our health, we as Jews should become vegetarians.
NOTES:
(1) Deuteronomy 4:15
(2) Rabbi Samsom Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, Chapter 62, Section 428
(3) Ibid., Section 427
(4) Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deot 4:1
(5) Rabbi Alfred Cohen, “Vegetarianism From a Jewish Perspective”,Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Fall, 1981, p. 61.
(6) William Castelli, M.D., Director of the Framingham Heart Study.
(7) John Robbins, Diet For A New America.
(8) Dean Ornish, Eat More, Weigh Less.
(9) Ornish and Esselstyn.
(10) “Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian Diets,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2003, 103:748-765. Quoting further: “Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. . . A vegetarian, including vegan, diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. . . Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals.”
(11) Rabbis and Vegetarianism, Micah, 1995, p.54.
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Guard yourself & Caring for your body!
© AZAMRA INSTITUTE 5766 – 2006
Guard yourself!
The mitzva of caring for body and soul
Our sages teach us that the true purpose for which we enter this world is to come closer to God through study of the Torah and fulfillment of its commandments. Through this our souls are elevated, attaining good in this world and forever.
The soul can only enter the physical world in the garb of the physical body. The body is the soul’s instrument to attain its purpose in this world. Only through the body can we carry out the practical mitzvos of the Torah, which relate to things of this world.
In order to survive in the physical world we are obliged to provide the body with what it needs, such as food and drink. Enjoyment of the material world has a legitimate place in our service of God when it assists us in linking the physical with the spiritual. But when satisfaction of our material inclinations goes beyond the proper bounds, this can cause damage to the soul and the body. The soul’s mission is to take control of these inclinations, directing the body to its true purpose.
To ensure that the body will be a fitting instrument with which to perform the mitzvos, God has commanded us to protect and guard our bodies. : “Guard yourself and guard your soul very carefully” (Deuteronomy 4:9-10).
This commandment is so important that our rabbis taught that it is part of the commandment not to forget the Giving of the Torah: “Guard yourself and guard your soul very much lest you forget. the day when you stood before HaShem Your God at Horev” (Deuteronomy 4:9-10). The classic commentator Kli Yakar explains: “‘Guard yourself’ means taking care of the body.”
Bodily health is the foundation for keeping all the commandments of the Torah since in most cases they are bound up with physical action of some kind. When the body is unfit and unhealthy, this detracts from proper fulfillment of the commandments.
In the words of Rambam (Maimonides): “Bodily health and wellbeing are part of the path to God, for it is impossible to understand or have any knowledge of the Creator when one is sick. Therefore one must avoid anything that may harm the body and one must cultivate healthful habits” (Hilchos De’os 4:1).
– Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Derech Hashem 1:4:7.
Our health is in our hands
“Everything is in the hands of heaven except chills and fevers (which sometimes come though negligence)”. (Babylonian Talmud, Kesuvos 30a and Rashi.)
The time, place and circumstances in which each soul is born into this world are decreed by God. Each person has his or her own unique body and constitution. Not everyone is born with the gift of a healthy body. When we are born with this precious gift, we must be grateful to God for His kindness and do everything in our power to cherish and protect it.
Our health and the length and quality of our lives are to a large extent in our own hands. The body grows older every day and must eventually die. Yet proper attention to its needs and avoidance of harmful habits can increase the length and quality of our lives, saving us from many illnesses, accidents and other troubles that can strike through neglect and abuse.
“The wise person has his eyes in his head” (Koheles 2:14) — “He sees what is ahead” (Avot 2:9). Good health is a precious gift, and the wise person does everything necessary to protect it from possible hazards by taking proper care of the body.
On the other hand, “The fool looses everything he is given” (Chagiga 4a). Our sages teach us that when a doctor heals the sick, the doctor is performing the mitzva of returning lost property: “And you shall return it to him” (Deuteronomy 22:2) – “This refers to the loss of the person’s body, i.e. his health” (Sanhedrin 73a; see Rambam’s Commentary on Mishneh Nedarim 4:4).
It is better to guard your health than to have to try to get it back if God forbid you loose it.
How do we guard our health?
In much of the wider world, health is valued not only as a condition of productivity but also as one of the main keys to the enhancement and prolongation of life. Not only are enormous effort and resources poured into the promotion of health by governments, the public health and medical establishments, in education and the media. There is also a vast, lucrative health economy that spans everything from breakfast cereals and sports shoes to exotic herbal remedies and computerized fitness equipment. In practice, many people’s pursuit of health goes no further than swallowing a few vitamins pills or being passive sports spectators.
The Jewish goal in the pursuit of health and our path towards it are qualitatively different. For the Jew, health is valued primarily as the essential condition for serving God through following the commandments.
Keeping the commandments is itself a guarantee against illness, as promised to the Jewish People directly after leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea. This was at Marah, their first camp in the wilderness, even before the Giving of the Torah at Sinai: “There He laid down for him a statute and a judgment. And He said, If you will surely listen to the voice of HaShem your God and do what is right in His eyes and attend to His commandments and guard all His statutes, all the diseases that I have put upon the Egyptians, I will not put upon you, for I HaShem am your Healer” (Exodus 15:26).
Serving God draws His blessing into our very food and drink, protecting our health: “And you shall serve Hashem your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove illness from within you” (Exodus 23:25).
We keep the Torah not only because it is the means to protect our health but more essentially because this is what God has commanded us. Yet the true Torah life is the proven golden path to health of soul and body as God promises.
“Guard yourself and guard your soul very much” (Deuteronomy 4:9). “The repetition of the word ‘guard’ alludes to the positive and negative commandments, which protect the limbs and channels which make up the mortal house [the body]. For our rabbis stated (Zohar, Vayishlach 170b) that the 248 positive commandments correspond to the 248 limbs of the body, while the 365 prohibitions correspond to the connecting sinews, arteries and channels” (Kli Yakar on Deuteronomy 4:9).
Our part
Of all the 613 mitzvos that make up the pathway to a healthy life, the mitzvah of guarding bodily health has special importance since this is where we have to put in effort to properly maintain and protect the instrument with which we perform all the other mitzvos. The body is physical and functions according to the natural laws God has fixed. Our part is to provide the body with everything necessary for it to function at its best in accordance with its nature.
As stated by Rambam: “A person must avoid anything that may harm the body, and must cultivate healthy habits” (Hilchos Deos 4:1). In other words, the mitzvah of self-care has two sides: avoiding all risks to the body and acquiring good health habits.
In the words of the Shulchan Aruch, the binding Code of Jewish Law: “It is a positive duty to take all due precautions and avoid anything that may endanger life, as it is written: ‘Take care of yourself, and guard your soul’. The sages prohibited many things that involve a risk to life. Anyone who violates such prohibitions, saying ‘I’m only putting myself at risk – what business is that of anybody else?’ or ‘I’m not particular about such things’ deserves a lashing, while those who are careful about such things will be blessed” (Choshen Mishpat 427, 8-10).
The details of healthy living and care of the body are not in most cases the subject of specific laws. Yet a wealth of wisdom and many different kinds of advice and guidance can be found scattered in passages throughout the Bible, Talmud, Midrash and other rabbinic literature. Outstanding Torah sages knew the importance of healthcare, and saw fit to provide practical guidance in their writings.
Rambam, a giant both in Torah and medicine, devoted an entire chapter at the beginning of the Mishneh Torah, his comprehensive compendium of Jewish law, to detailed guidance on proper diet, cleanliness, exercise, sleep and much more (Hilchos Deos Chapter 4). Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, the Concise Code of Jewish Law, also devotes a whole chapter to the subject (Chapter 32).
The enormous changes in the world in recent generations have caused drastic changes in our whole way of life and even our physical natures and powers of endurance. In contemporary life we cannot always directly apply advice from the classic sources without guidance from present-day experts. Torah law lays down that we must rely on the opinion of expert doctors such as when having to break Shabbos for a dangerously ill person or eating on Yom Kippur. So too we must turn to present-day experts for practical advice about how to maintain health that is faithful to the Torah and applicable in our lives today. In the words of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (32:14): “Every person needs to learn from doctors what are the best foods according to his particular constitution, place and time”.
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Tags: Bodily Health, Body And Soul, Body Health, Commentator, Food And Drink, Fulfillment, Garb, Health And Wellbeing, Inclinations, jewish, judaism, Legitimate Place, Material World, Mitzva, Proper Bounds, Rabbis, Sages, Satisfaction, Self Protection, Service Of God, torah, True Purpose, Yakar
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