Leonardo Da Vinci's Prescription for Life

Sunday, July 06, 2008 by: Barbara L. Minton
Tags: Leonardo Da Vinci, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) Oh that Leonardo, what a guy! Painter of the Mona Lisa, Vitruvian Man and The Last Supper, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. The quintessential Renaissance man. Born the illegitimate son of a notary and a peasant girl, vilified for his homosexuality, he conceptualized the helicopter, solar power, the calculator, the double hull, and a theory of plate tectonics. Clearly, Leonardo knew a thing or two about how it all works.

He was interested in everything. "All postures and actions of the human body, all expressions of the face in the young and old, all the organs and movements of animals and plants from the waving of wheat in the field to the flight of birds in the air, all the cyclical erosion and elevation of mountains, all the currents and eddies of water and wind, the moods of the weather, the shades of the atmosphere, and the inexhaustible kaleidoscope of the sky –- all these seemed endlessly wonderful to him," wrote historian Will Durant.

In 1515, four years before his death and when he was ill in Rome, Leonardo wrote his Prescription for Life. If we had kept on listening to Leonardo, we would probably be in pretty good shape by now. Too bad we lost our way for a while and found ourselves trapped in the snare of the disease establishment, but it may not be too late. Many current signs are pointing to the possibility of another renaissance slowly dawning.

Here is Leonardo's prescription:

If you want to be healthy observe this regime.

* Do not eat when you have no appetite, and dine lightly.

* Chew well, and whatever you take into you...

* Should be well-cooked and of simple ingredients.

* He who takes medicine is ill advised.

* Beware anger and avoid stuffy air.

* Stay standing a while when you get up from a meal.

* Make sure you do not sleep at midday.

* Let your wine be mixed with water, take little at a time...

* Not between meals, nor on an empty stomach.

* Neither delay nor prolong your visit to the toilet.

* If you take exercise, let it not be too strenuous.

* Do not lie with your stomach upward and your head downward. Be well covered at night.

* And rest your head and keep your mind cheerful.

* Avoid wantonness and keep to this diet.

(Reprinted from P.E.A.S. Journal)

Reference:

Will Durant, The Renaissance, 1953.

About the author

Barbara is a school psychologist, a published author in the area of personal finance, a breast cancer survivor using "alternative" treatments, a born existentialist, and a student of nature and all things natural.