The Secret of Secrets and Other Philosophical Treatises

Stomach

...of the stomach. But after the midday meal, it is time for sleep, because then the chewed food descends to the lower parts of the stomach. From this process, "inundations" original: "inuditiones," likely referring to the flooding of the body with vapors or humors during digestion and many other evils are generated.

Concerning the hour of eating

Know, as was stated before, that in the morning before the meal, [fasting] makes the body lean original: "mā llesitū," likely a corruption of "macilentum," meaning thin or wasted and consumes its moisture original: "humiditatem," the vital fluid medieval doctors believed was essential for health. After refreshment, however, sleep restores, strengthens, and nourishes the body. This is because while a person sleeps, the body rests, and then the internal natural heat—which had been dispersed throughout the whole body—is drawn inward. It moves specifically toward the constitution and the foundations [of the body], and then the stomach turns over the decoction original: "decoctionē," the "cooking" process of digestion of the food. For then the rational power seeks its own rest.

Because of this, certain philosophers have said that the evening meal is more beneficial than the midday one. This is because the midday meal receives the heat of the day, when the senses are active and the mind is troubled. Furthermore, it is a time when one hears, speaks, and reasons; because of these thoughts and many movements, the body’s energy is drawn away through heat and motion. Also, at the hour of midday, natural heat is diffused through the exterior parts of the body. Therefore, the body is then greatly weakened, and the stomach becomes unable even to "cook" the food. On the other hand, regarding the evening supper, the total opposite occurs: then a hidden tranquility

of the body happens, and then there is rest for the senses and the soul. At that time, the coolness [of the evening] is also present with us, which leads the natural heat back to the interior of the stomach.

Again, one should not be ignorant of habit original: "consuetudine". For one who is accustomed to eating twice a day, if he wishes to restrict himself to one meal, harm will follow. Just as it happens to those who are accustomed to eating once a day and begin to eat twice: the stomach original: "cor stomacus," perhaps referring to the "heart" or opening of the stomach is unable to digest the food because it is greater than what they are used to, and therefore the nourishment remains undigested.

But if someone who is accustomed to eating at a certain hour transfers his habit to another hour, it does not benefit his nature but greatly hinders it, for "habit is a second nature." If, therefore, some necessity—which recognizes no law a reference to the medieval legal maxim "necessitas non habet legem"—compels a change in habit, it ought to be done discreetly and wisely. That is to say, the change of habit should happen gradually, not suddenly, but little by little—first one time, then another—and thus, with God's help, it may be easy.

Regarding the months, the seasons of the year, and their qualities

28.

It is our intention to determine the four seasons of the year, and the quality and property of each season, and the variety among them. This follows the previous writing in the manner of a literal text.

Spring begins when the sun enters the sign [of Aries]...