Early Modern Diets against Cancer: The Case of Poultry

Galenic anti–cancerous dietetics prescribes ‘all types of birds, except those living in marshes’. A general dietary pattern is proposed by Pieter van Foreest and Amatus Lusitanus. Special attention is paid to goose, starling and quail, which are compared to recommendations in favor of chicken, partridge, etc. The Paduan treatment extends the traditional pattern to include a prescription with greater reference to Paracelsus’s chemotherapy. The latter is also present in Spain, where Hispanic dietetics shows deeper roots in medieval and Arab medicine. If Great–Britain follows the general pattern, the Pole Timaeus von Guldenklee reveals a difference between different types or stages of ‘cancer’. For the treatment of ‘cancers’ of the lips, no special diet is prescribed. Why is required the ordinary diet of poultry in the case of scirrhus of the breast ? A chapter is devoted to the interpretation of consultations which do not include this diet.