kamilari mendal health
TRANSCRIPT
Food and mental health. Beliefs for therapeutic approaches
in ancient and medieval Greek cultures
Ioakeimidi S. and Matalas A-L.Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
Harokopio University, Athens, GR
• Food ~ Therapy
• Various theories
Introduction
Food is connected with mental performance.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food .” Hippocrates
Ancient Greeks believed that food was responsible for certain things that happened in their everyday life.
• The Golden Verses of Pythagoras
• Philosophy
• Mental health
• Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.
• The positive dimension of mental health is stressed in WHO's definition of health as contained in its constitution: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
Connection between food and mental health.
Nutrition ~ physical activities ~ baths ~ rest ~ sleep
The term diet refers to a general way of life.
• Follow a diet that does not cause weight gain
• Take exercise (running)
• Avoid abuse of food and drinks
• Eat bread (barley)
• Weight loss
• Helleborus (cyclophyllus)
• More fish instead of meat.
Hippocrates, Therapeutic , chapters 33, 34,35
Symposia
• Exercising the mind
• Limited food
• Conversation that follows very strict rules.
• Speaker’s ingenuity
• Analyze arguments with accuracy
• Listen to others without interrupting them.
• Disciplined consumption of wine and food.
• Inebriation unacceptable , an unpleasant sight.
• Dionysus three glasses of wine, Eubulous
• A valid opinion, sober A mild mental stimulation.
HomerCyclopes - monsters in human form, strictly
carnivorous, repulsive and uncivilised. Intellectual level was very low.
Lotus-eaters were refined people, hospitable, calm and kind-hearted.
Odysseus removing his men from the company of the lotus-eaters
Odyssey, Rhapsody 9
Iamblichus Pythagorean philosophy
Food excellent educational tool
Consumption of food promotes physical well- being
“Pythagorean philosophers were very strict in
their diet and the first ones who attempted
symmetry in drink, food and rest.”
Iamblichus vita pythagorica, verses 1921-2010
Pythagoras• Set of rules by Pythagoras• Avoidance of food bloating & upset stomach. • Millet• Staying away from living beings and wine• Not sacrifice animals also not to harm them.• Music=cure=soothing to the soul & mind.
Pythagoras golden verses Ver.32-34
Ουδ’ υγιείης της περί σώμα αμέλειαν έχειν χρή, αλλά ποτού τε μέτρον και σίτου γυμνασίων τε ποιείσθαι· μέτρον δε λέγω τοδ’, ο μη σ’ ανιήσει.
A typical daily routine in the life of the Pythagoreans
• Personal care and exercise.• First meal of the day.• Common affairs and political issues.• Bath• common meal (syssition ) • Cabbage, milk, honey, fruit, raisins.• Abstinence from animal food
Way of life General conduct
Porphyry of Tyre, Life of Pythagoras , Letter to Marcella
Plato
The vegan diet, is the source of health and ethos
“Republic “ (Politeia)
Music, exercise and diet ethos and philosophyPlato, Republic,403d-410,5e
Plato Pythagorean diet.
Porphyry
• To Firmus
“Abstinence from animal food contributes to better health and to the spiritual struggle required for the practice of philosophy.”
Porphyry, on abstinence from animal food, book 1
“Control of food like a charioteer.”
“Abstinence keeps the mind
healthy.”
Frugal eating is beneficial ensures reflection and inner
peace.
Porphyry, on abstinence from animal food,book 1
Everyday issues
Simple and little, frugal and light.
Meat is harmful to health.
Health is preserved by a frugal diet without meat.
Vegan diet- philosophical view of the world - calm soul - focused mind
Various beliefs in the Roman period
“Someone that examines things in depthwould opt for a frugal diet.”
Porphyry
Schools of philosophy in the Roman period.
• Frugal life and spare diet.• Exercise – an indispensable part of spiritual
cultivation.
• Public baths
W.Fowler,Social Life at Rome in the time of CiCero, London, 1965U.Paoli,Rome, Its people , life and customs, London, 1963.
Mental health wider context
Byzantium
Andrew Dalby, Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, Routledge, Reprint edition, 1997Mary Douglas,Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo,Routledge & Kegan Paul,London,1966Mary Douglas,Food is not feed,The anthropologists’ cookbook, Routledge & Kegan Paul,London,1977
Social context - Byzantine diet and fasting enhances self-discipline and self-restraint.
Dinner was a ritual.
Shared meals
Φαίδων Κουκουλές, Βυζαντινών βίος και πολιτισμός, Τόμος Ε΄ :Αι τροφαί και τα ποτά. Τα γεύματα , τα δείπνα και τα συμπόσια. Εν Αθήναις,1952P.Caplan,Food, health and identity,Routledge, London,1997P.Connerton, How societies remember, Cambridge University Press,1989C. Fischler,’Food, self and identity.”,Social Science Information,27(2), 1988,275-92.Mary Douglas,”Deciphering a meal”,on Implicit meanings,Routedge and Kegan paul, London, 1979
Creation and preservation of social cohesion Forming of relationships between the individualand community.
• Various studies indicate the connection between diet individual and collective memory.
• Two-way relationship
• Identity of the past
Food preserves memory and in turn, memory preserves cultural identity.
C.Levi-Strauss, “The culinary triangle”, Partisan review 33,1965,586-95D.Sutton, “Rememberance of repasts: An anthropology of food and memory,” Berg, London, 2001Mary Douglas, Food as a system of communication”on In the active voice,Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1982,82-104
Summary
• Avoidance of animal
products, frugal diet, plenty
of hydration
• Consumption of fiber
• Avoidance of drunkenness
and other forms of addiction
• Personal care by taking baths
• Social aspect of food
• Frugal and disciplined diet
• Limited consumption of
animal products
• Emphasis on the social
aspectof food
• Baths and symposia
Ancient Greece Roman period-Byzantium
ConclusionsContemporary guidelines, 2013• Minimize saturated fats & trans fats. dairy products, meats, and certain oils (coconut and palm oils).
• Minimize intake of salt
• Maximize intake of Vegetables, legumes, fruits, and whole grains products, nuts and seeds.
• Include aerobic exercise in your routine, 40 minutes of brisk walking.
•Moderate use of alcohol
• Ensure sufficient intake of nutrients
• Plenty of fluids and hydration
Omega-3 fatty acid ↓ symptoms Nutritional therapies for mental disorders Shaheen E Lakhan* and Karen F Vieira,Nutrition Journal 2008, 7:2 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-7-2
Acropolis of Rhodes, Temple of Apollo
Thank you