Staying healthy is always important, but even more so over the festive period. We generally eat and drink too much at Christmas time, and we need to look for some ways of staying healthier. The good news is that we’ve become a much more health-conscious society these days, and this is really important for the future. People are taking more steps than ever to look after themselves.
The trouble is this isn’t an easy concept, especially with the barrage of conflicting information you are fed on a daily basis. The internet has been amazing for our world, but it has also made it much harder to get a straight answer because of all the conflicting information you have access to at the click of a button. Let’s take away all this confusion for a bit, and, instead, take a look at what health tips ancient physicians used to offer.
Don’t change your diet too quickly
This is one that is still hugely relevant today, and it was Hippocrates who first championed this idea. When it comes to promoting positive health and well-being, your diet is inextricably linked to this, so you need to be very careful about that. Changing your diet too quickly can actually have a negative effect, and, according to Hippocrates, may result in illness or disease. Make sure, if you’re going to change your diet, that you make it a gradual thing over time.
Sneezing stops pregnancy
Yes, this was a legit thing! Greek physician Soranus (We swear, we’re not making this up), worked in Rome in the 2nd Century, and he actually advised women to sneeze as a form of battling against pregnancy. We’re not sure how well this would go down these days as a form of birth control, but back then it seemed to be all the rage! We think this was probably a case of a lack of scientific progression by this point.
Your dreams matter
There have often been conversations about the importance of dreams, and how they can link to our well-being, and this was the same back in the day as well. Greek physician Galen was known to place special importance on dreams, and their interpretations. In fact, he determined that dreams could be used to mirror your overall wellness. This does seem to be a train of thought that still makes sense today.
As you can see, many of the beliefs that ancient physicians held about our health and well-being are things that still hold true today. Of course, some are rather more ridiculous, but then there was a lot of trial and error going on at that stage. Making sure you do what you can to make yourself healthier is really important, and we can learn a lot from some of the tips ancient physicians have given us.
