The Humours and Body Type in the Face of Illness

The humours are a concept from ancient medicine, based on the idea that health depends on the balance of four humours and illness on their imbalance: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Those who held this view assigned two qualities to each humour: blood was hot and moist, phlegm cold and moist and yellow bile hot and dry, while black bile was cold and dry. So there are four humours, and heat, cold, moisture and dryness are qualities attributed to them in that theory, not separate humours in themselves.

These terms should be understood in their historical context. Describing a person as “hot” or “cold” is not a measurement of their body temperature, and describing them as “moist” or “dry” is not a medical assessment of their fluid balance. Likewise, “phlegm” in this theory does not necessarily match the meaning the word has today.

Take diabetes as an example. If a patient is told that sugar or sweets suit their “nature”, this should not be taken as a reason to eat more of them. What matters are their blood sugar readings, the amount of carbohydrate they eat, the medicines they take and the eating plan suited to their condition. This does not mean banning every food that contains sugar, but managing intake according to need and condition. A patient may even need fast-acting sugar to treat low blood sugar; that need arises from a specific medical situation, not from a humoral classification.

The same applies to coffee. If it is said to suit the “temperament” of someone with high blood pressure, that statement alone is not enough to decide whether it suits them. Caffeine can raise blood pressure temporarily, responses vary from person to person, and the effect may be more noticeable in people who do not usually drink it. So we cannot say that coffee permanently raises everyone's blood pressure, nor that it is forbidden for everyone with high blood pressure. If it turns out that it raises a patient's blood pressure or causes them symptoms, its actual effect is taken into account, and a suitable amount is set, or avoiding it is decided, with their doctor's advice.

When making treatment decisions, we set humoral classifications aside and focus on the illness, the patient's condition and their test results.

This principle applies in health and illness alike. Whether a food or drink is suitable is judged by reliable knowledge and its actual effect, taking each person's individual situation into account. No inherited description justifies harm, and no claimed compatibility comes before a patient's safety. What counts is what protects their health, improves their treatment and safeguards their wellbeing.