Reviving Humoral Medicine
with Dr. Hani El Batal
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🌐 English version available — Click “English” | الموقع متوفر باللغة الإنجليزية
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The Four Humors
Humors (Chyme)
A humor, or chyme (kymos), is a wet, fluid substance into which food is first transformed in the liver.
When a person eats food and it reaches the stomach, it is called chyle (chylos). It then travels to the liver, where it is transformed into chyme (kymos).
The four humors of the body are:
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Blood
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Phlegm
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Yellow Bile
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Black Bile
How Are the Four Humors Formed, and What Are Their Characteristics?
Blood is hot and wet, phlegm is cold and wet, yellow bile is hot and dry, and black bile is cold and dry.
As for their relative quantities, blood is the most abundant, followed by phlegm, then yellow bile, and finally black bile.
Everything that circulates in our bodies is called the humors.
Blood is generated from hot and wet foods, or from anything that is hot and wet that a person introduces into the body, including medicines.
Phlegm is generated from cold and wet foods, yellow bile from hot and dry foods, and black bile from cold and dry foods.
Your Guide to Understanding the Humors and Their Role in the Formation of the Organs
Beneficial Humor
A beneficial humor is one that is capable of becoming part of the very substance of the nourished body, either on its own or together with other humors. In general, it is suitable to replace what is broken down from the body.
Types of Beneficial Humors
When we say that some humors are beneficial, we mean natural hot and wet blood, natural cold and wet phlegm, natural hot and dry yellow bile, and natural cold and dry black bile, present in their proper proportions within the body. These give rise to a beneficial humor.
How Humors Become Body Tissues
A humor transforms into the same kind as the nourished body part. In other words, it becomes the very bone, flesh, nerve, and everything else in our bodies.
Examples of How the Organs Are Nourished
The nerves have a cold and dry temperament.
Bone has a cold and dry temperament and is nourished by black bile.
The brain has a cold and wet temperament and is nourished by phlegm.
The heart has a hot and dry temperament and is nourished by yellow bile.
The liver has a hot and wet temperament and is nourished by blood.
The Benefit of Blood for All the Organs
All of these humors are accompanied by blood as well, because every organ benefits from blood, which is hot and wet.
The Breakdown and Replacement of Humors
What do physicians say?
Our bodies undergo both physical activity and mental activity, and as a result, the organs of the body undergo continuous breakdown.
The Role of Food in Replacing the Humors
These humors replace what has been broken down. When we eat and nourish ourselves, they are transformed to replace what has been broken down.
Moderation and Health
If a person has a moderate temperament and eats food that is moderate among the four natures, it is transformed into the body, becoming the same kind as the nourished tissue and replacing what has been broken down in moderation. As a result, the person remains in good health.
Harmful Humor
Among the humors, there is also a harmful humor, which is not suitable to replace what has been broken down from the body or to transform into the same kind as the nourished tissue in a moderate manner.
An Example of a Harmful Humor
Some people experience the burning of yellow bile, which produces a burnt humor. This humor is not suitable for nourishing the body. Burning occurs when the humor is exposed to an abnormal, unnatural heat. This is called burning.