Insensible Perspiration And Oily Vegetable Humor Summary

The Beginning of a Long Battle In his article “Insensible Perspiration and Oily Vegetable Humor: An Eighteenth- Century Controversy Over Vegetarianism,” Ken Albala makes an expository statement about the wondrous vegetarian diet advocated by Italian physician Antonio Cocchi and the arguments made against him by two other Italian physicians, all of which ultimately contribute to humanity’s perpetual search for the perfect diet. I found this article amusing, as most of the scientific evidence presented by all parties would be labeled as absurd today. However, it is interesting to see Cocchi’s reasoning behind his advocation for vegetarianism. Albala first presents Cocchi’s idea of the vegetarian diet, or Pythagorean diet, for its supposed superior “insensible perspiration,” meaning that the large amounts of perspiration after consuming vegetables is a sign of superb health. Alba goes on to explain Cocchi’s vehement distaste for the consumption of meat due to its heaviness and its “coher[ing] excessively to the body.” Cocchi refers to the “physiological processes” of “chemical constituents of food” and “the mechanical investigations of the late seventeenth and the eighteenth century” as well. On the other hand, the Italian physician Guiseppe Antonio Pujati was disinclined to believe Cocchi on account of his faulty scientific evidence and his erroneous belief that excessive sweating caused by vegetables is healthier than less sweating due to meat. Another Italian physician named Bianchi refuted
Cocchi observed that the poor Tuscans lived on the Mediterranean diet of vegetables, and appeared to be “among the healthiest people in the world.” He asserts this because they were driven to such a lifestyle. Armesto also affirms the fact that vegetation was less expensive to maintain than meat from