Why was Hufeland’s work on Macrobiotics so successful? It can neither keep its promise to prolong people’s lives nor does it contain any new information (the proposals are indeed most traditional). The article suggests a double answer: Looking back to antiquity was fashionable at the time, and Hufeland managed to combine classical elements with the late 18th century discourse. Second, Hufeland’s point was the holeness of human existence. In his eyes, health is not only a question of the body, but (...) also of character and soul. This concept seems to cope with some deplorable defects of modern medicine. (shrink)

In medieval medical anthropology, emotions are closely tied up with humoral pathology, e.g. joy with blood, anger with yellow bile, and sorrow with black bile. The face and body are external signs of a person's constitutional emotionality. Health is based on mental stability: Rage should be channelled into something constructive; love-sickness can even cause death. The use of drugs must respect emotional side effects: While some herbs and gems can brighten the mind, others cause sadness und discomfort. Inadequate emotions not (...) only cause mental illnesses, but can also be mental illnesses in themselves, e.g. raving madness or deep depression. Thus, calming and cheering psychotherapy complements dietary, physical, medicinal, and surgical treatment. (shrink)