What can we learn from health advice dated 1733? Surprisingly much

Sami people photo by unknown — This image is available from the US Library of Congress Prints and Photographs division under digital ID ppmsc.06257

In the 18th century the average life expectancy in Sweden was around 35 years for men (in 2020 it is 81 years). The first real hospital in Sweden, intended exclusively for curing diseases, was opened in 1752 in Stockholm. So, is there anything we today can learn from health advice given in the early 18th century?

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, and physician. On May 12, 1732, the 25 years old Carl set out on a dangerous voyage to the northern part of Sweden — Lapland where the Sami people lives. The trip to Lapland was a big and expensive adventure that was paid for by the Royal Society of Sciences in Sweden. We can understand that the trip was considered dangerous because Linnaeus “bequeathed” all his scientific writings and manuscripts to his friend Petrus Arctaedius before he left. The trip was successful and Carl returned to Uppsala after five-months.

Linneus wearing the traditional dress of the Sami people of Lapland, holding the twinflower, later known as Linnaea borealis,: By Martin Hoffman — Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Public Domain.

After his adventurous and inspiring trip to Lapland, on April 29, 1733, Carl Linnaeus begins writing a manuscript that he called — “Diæta naturalis” (natural diet) which is a collection of health rules that; according to Linnaeus “with whose benefits people can push their…