Ayurvedamahodadhi (Annapanavidhi section) (Āyurvedamahodadhi (Annapānavidhi section))

// The Great Ocean of Āyurveda

Rules of Food and Drink

[…] of urine, feces, and the like; harītakī was born like a mother to humankind. // 5

In summer combined with equal jaggery; at the arrival of the rains from the clouds, with rock salt; / in autumn with pure sugar; at the coming of the frost with dried ginger; / in dewy season with pippalī; in springtime combined with honey: / eat harītakī, O King, so that your enemies may perish like diseases! // 6

Those who avoid exercise in springtime; who indulge in sexual intercourse in summer; / who are addicted to fresh puddle-water in the rainy season and abhor well-water; / who indulge in pungent, sour, and hot things; who eat curds in autumn; who are lazy with sleep in winter; / and who plunge into cold water in dewy season—may your enemies perish! // 7

Now, the chapter on waters.

Sweet in digestion and taste, cold, and likewise pacifying the three humours, / pure and exceptionally wholesome, the charming water of the Gaṅgā. // 8

The water of the Bhāgīrathī is stated to be sweet, clear, exceedingly appetising, wholesome, easily digested, digestive, and sin-removing; / it destroys thirst and delusion, is exceptionally beneficial for the intellect, and bestows wisdom. // 9

Thus the water of the Gaṅgā.

Somewhat heavier than that, sweet, supremely dispelling pitta, / increasing vāta, generating digestive fire, and dry is the water of the Yamunā. // 10

Thus the water of the Yamunā.

Exceedingly clear, praised, cooling, light, scraping, / pacifying pitta and śleṣman, the water of the Narmadā conquers all diseases. // 11

Thus the water of the Narmadā.

Pacifying itching and skin disease, supremely kindling the digestive fire, / digestive, and destroying vāta and pitta is the water originating from the Godāvarī. // 12

It removes suffering from pitta, suffering from blood, and vāta; it removes skin disease and other corrupting disorders and humoural defects; / it is supremely wholesome, kindles digestion, removes sins, and wards off thirst—the water of the Godāvarī. // 13

Thus the water of the Godāvarī.

Dry and cooling is the water, provoking gout, / somewhat lighter, and sweet, which originates from the Kṛṣṇaveṇyā. // 14

Thus the water of the Kṛṣṇaveṇyā.

The water of the Kāverī is wholesome, destroys undigested matter, confers strength and complexion, / is fiery, very cold, and dispels ringworm, skin disease, and poison. // 15

Thus the water of the Kāverī.

Pacifying the three humours, wholesome, sweet, cardiotonic, and life-giving, / destroying dizziness and destroying thirst, delightful is celestial water. // 16

Thus out-of-season cloud water.

Arising in the intermediate and central regions, they are light and dispel the three humours; / the great rivers flowing to the south destroy pitta and śleṣman.

Arising in the northern region, they are wholesome, light, and dispel the three humours; / rivers originating in the eastern region immediately dispel vāta and kapha; / those flowing to the west provoke pitta and destroy kapha and vāta. // 17

Thus the rivers have been described in brief. Now regarding small [waters]: / sea water is foul-smelling, slightly alkaline, and produces all the humours. // 18

It is unwholesome for the eyes, causing intoxication, [yet] destroying splenic disorders, abdominal lumps, and upward movement of vāta.

Now, the characteristics of the eight kinds of water.

I shall describe with proper consideration the virtues and defects of celestial and other [waters]. // 19

Celestial, atmospheric, river, well, spring, lake, / pond, artesian, and mountain water: water is traditionally held to be of eight kinds. // 20

Released by autumn clouds, resembling great cat's-eye gems, / dispelling all humoural disorders, sweet: this is called celestial water. // 21

Released by rain-season clouds, characterised by imperceptible sweetness, / resembling crystal: such water is traditionally held to be atmospheric. // 22

From a river born of mountains, shining like a hessonite gem, / residing on wholesome soil: such water is said to be river water. // 23

Arising from what is dug out of the earth, or originating from a great mountain, / clear, sweet, and pleasing: well-water is so defined. // 24

Covered by naturally split rocks, shining like blue lotus petals, / covered over by a canopy of creepers: it is designated spring water. // 25

Arising in a marshy region, lake water is heavy, slimy, / sweet, producing śleṣman, and known to provoke vāta and the rest. // 26

Originating from a river or an excellent mountain, collected in a secluded place, / covered over by a canopy of creepers: it is designated pond water. // 27

Situated on wholesome soil, having remained for several years, / astringent, sweet, and agreeable: artesian water is traditionally held to be such. // 28

Arising from mountain ridges, touched by wind, frost, and sunshine, / light, cold, spotless, and sweet: spring water is so termed. // 29

These [waters], undefiled by buffaloes, horses, camels, cattle, deer, goats, elephants, and the like, / one should deposit into earthen vessels. // 30

All water born from the sky is inferred indeed by its sweetness; / earthly water, however, is recognised by connoisseurs of tastes according to the tract of land: // 31

In red, dove-grey, yellow-coloured, pale, white, and black [soils], / by pungent, sour, bitter, alkaline, astringent, sweet, and other tastes. // 32

Now, the properties of river and other waters.

River water increases vāta, is dry, kindles digestion, is light and scraping; / pond water increases vāta, is sweet, astringent, and has a pungent post-digestive effect. // 33

Large reservoir water destroys vāta and śleṣman, is slightly alkaline, pungent, and increases pitta; / spring water stimulates the fire, is dry, sweet, and likewise produces kapha. // 34

Water born of a cascade destroys kapha, kindles digestion, is cardiotonic, and light; / well-water is slightly alkaline, increases pitta, destroys śleṣman, and likewise conquers vāta. // 35

Artesian water is traditionally held to be sweet, pacifying pitta, and non-burning; / field-water is sweet in digestion, and heavy and humour-provoking in post-digestive effect. // 36

Puddle water is stated to be similar, and particularly humour-provoking; / water of an arid land dispels all humours, is cardiotonic, and faultless. // 37

Well-water dispels thirst, dispels fatigue, and increases pleasure; / water from a marshy region is stated to increase śleṣman and augment adipose disorders; / water from an intermediate region is digestion-kindling, sweet, cold, and light. // 38

Thus the waters of arid, marshy, and intermediate lands.

Now, the rules of drinking water according to season.

Well-water and mountain cascade water are appropriate in springtime; in summer, that very [water]; / during the season of sky-rain, well-water or rainwater again; / in winter, water from lakes and ponds; and at the arrival of autumn, / one should partake of all water whose humoural defects have been dispelled by the rays of the sun and moon and by the wind. // 39

That pure, wholesome water which has imperceptible taste and smell, is beneficial, and dispels [excess of] wind and sun, / one should drink boiled elsewhere. // 40

One should avoid […] [water] exposed to summer sun and moon after a full day and night.

Now, the properties of hot water:

And that summer water, unmanifest in taste, cold, very light, dispels fainting; / it removes thirst, disorders of śleṣman, and delusion caused by heat and sun; it dispels fatigue, drowsiness, and excessive sleep; / it is cardiotonic, sweet, granting marvels, enhancing memory, cutting through masses of burning sensation; / thus it sustains the body and longevity, imparting life—a true life-giver. // 41

Now, the characteristics of condemned water:

Mixed with faeces, urine, grass, blue algae, or poison; hot, thick, frothy; / chilling to the teeth, unseasonal, saline, full of moss; / mixed with spiders and insects, very heavy, turbid with masses of leaves and mud; / and completely hidden from the rays of the sun and moon: one should never drink such water, which aggravates the humours. // 45

Now, the characteristics of wholesome water to be used:

Clear, sweet, cardiotonic, wholesome, nourishing, light, / born of a single locality, and always adequately matured: such water should be used. // 43

Now, the properties of drinking water at the end of the night:

Cough, dyspnoea, diarrhoea, fever, ringworm, stiffness of the hips, abdomen, and back; / retention of urine, abdominal enlargement, haemorrhoids, swelling, parasites, vomiting, and diseases of the ears, nose, and eyes; / and whatever other diseases arise in a living being from vāta, pitta, wasting, or kapha— / all these drinking water at the end of the night takes away through regular practice. // 44

A man should drink eight palmfuls of water every day; / attaining the strength of nine elephants, the wise man will live for a hundred years. // 45

Now, the properties of water drunk through the nose:

When dense night has departed, having risen early in the morning every day, / that man who indeed drinks water through the nasal aperture / becomes full of intellect, endowed with eyes equal to Garuḍa's, / free from wrinkles and grey hair, and liberated from all diseases. // 46

Now, the method of using water to protect the eyes:

The man who, filling his mouth with cold water, every day at all three times of day / sprinkles both eyes with water, surely / never suffers distress from eye disease. // 47

River water, kept in a new earthen pot, heated by the rays of the sun, / enjoyed at night by the rays of the moon and shaken by gentle breezes, / cold, having the lustre of a cut gemstone, raising the doubt that it does not exist because of its lightness, / and perfumed with trumpet-flower, blue lotus, and screw-pine: one should drink that water. // 48

Ho! Let the water of the Gaṅgā be brought—turbid with the shifting ashes of Rudra’s forest of matted locks, / having wide spray playfully scattered by the slopes of emerging celestial maidens' breasts, / […] its form washing and brightening the sky with its streams, destroying all sins, / impenetrable with the breaking of lofty waves! // 49

Now, the properties of boiled warm water:

Wholesome, kindling digestion and digestive, extremely light, relieving dyspnoea and cough, / pacifying hiccup, flatulence, acute fever, and āma, expelling śleṣman, conquering vāta, / purifying the emptied abdomen and the bladder, relieving pain in the chest and flanks, / it is prescribed for abdominal lumps, anorexia, and catarrh, beneficial for the throat—such is boiled warm water. // 51

When pitta is predominant, in pitta-disorders, in bleeding disorder and kapha-pitta; / in fainting, vomiting, fever, burning sensation, afflicted with thirst and diarrhoea; // 52

in one whose tissues are depleted, in one afflicted by poison, and especially in sannipāta; / in wasting and in eye disease, boiled water cooled down is always commended. // 54

Now, the properties of water according to the time of drinking:

Water has four properties: an umbrella, nectar, poison, and a thunderbolt, / [respectively,] having eaten, right at dawn, before eating, and along with meals. // 55

Hot water drunk at night quickly digests indigestion. / In the rainy season, river water should not be taken, as it produces many disorders. // 57

Now, the properties of boiled water:

In kapha, water reduced to one-quarter is light and kindling digestion; / but water boiled by day becomes heavy at night.

Boiled water cooled down destroys the three humours, but when left overnight it produces disorders; / that reduced to one-fourth destroys the humours, while that reduced by half conquers vāta. // 57

And water boiled at night also becomes heavy during the day.

Now, the prohibition against drinking cold water in flank pain and other conditions:

In flank pain, catarrh, vāta-disorders, constriction of the throat, // 58

in flatulence, in an inactive abdomen, in one just evacuated, in acute fever, / in hiccup, and in pitta aggravated by unction, one should avoid cold water. // 59

Now, the rule of drinking little water in abdominal lump and other conditions:

In abdominal lump, haemorrhoids, duodenal disease, wasting, and abdominal enlargement; in dull digestive fire and flatulence; / in swelling, anaemia, and throat constriction; in wounds, urinary disorder, and eye disease; / in anorexia and diarrhoea due to vāta accompanied by kapha; in skin disease and catarrh; / whether hot water, very cold, or boiled and cooled, very little water should be drunk. // 60

Before meals, when free of āma, one should drink very cold water; / but in indigestion, one may again drink cold water as desired.

Now, the properties of quenched water:

Water brought into contact with a red-hot iron ball, or quenched with heated earth clods, / removes all humours, is wholesome, and always produces freedom from disease.

Now, praise of water:

In some cases hot, in some cases cold, in some cases boiled and cooled, / in some cases combined with medicine, in some cases water is withheld.

One who is thirsty falls into delusion; from delusion he loses his life breaths; / therefore, at least a small amount must be given: water is never entirely withheld. // 65

Water is the vital breath of living beings; the whole universe is indeed composed of it; / therefore, even in the strictest regimen, water is never entirely withheld. // 66

In fainting, heat of pitta, burning sensation, bleeding disorder, and alcoholism; / in those overcome by vertigo and exhaustion, and in bronchial asthma, cold water [is recommended].

One may drink a thousand water-pots so long as the sun has not set; / but once the lord of day has set, even a single drop acts like a whole pot. // 68

In indigestion, water is medicine; in digestion, water gives strength; / with a meal, water is nectar; at night, water is like poison. // 62

Food is not digested from drinking excessive water, and the very same defect arises from drinking no water; / therefore, to augment the digestive fire, a man should drink a small amount of water again and again. // 70

One whose throat and chest are parched with hunger should not, before eating, / swallow many mouthfuls [of food]; he should drink cold water in proper measure. // 71

By this, clearance of the chest and throat occurs, and food goes down easily; / and when the food is consumed endowed with unctuousness, then nourishment ensues.

At the beginning, one should eat liquid food, and not drink much water then; / in the middle, one consumes solid food, [where] water is recommended as desired.

A person should eat liquid first, but eat solid food in the middle; / and eating liquid again at the end, he does not forfeit health of the bladder.

Likewise, water drunk at the end of a meal provides strength; / substance departs at the end of eating, but one should drink it in proper measure.

At the beginning, water destroys the digestive fire; afterwards, at the end of it, it increases kapha; / but drunk in the middle, it brings balance and ease, and taking it once is approved.

One who thoroughly knows the truth should know this water as nectar or poison: / taken properly, it is nectar; drunk improperly, it is poison.

Being comfortable, one should fill two portions of the belly with food, / one [portion] with water, and the fourth indeed for the movement of wind.

Cool water should always be drunk with every mouthful; / and food accompanied by plenty of water quickly digests the fire.

Therefore, one should drink very little at first, a satisfying amount in the middle, / and in proper measure at the end; [then] a person is not afflicted by diseases.

Scented with fresh flowers such as pāṭalī and campaka,

one should always drink cool water that is wholesome, fragrant, and cardiotonic.

Water that is pleasant, perfumed with shreds of fragrant vetiver, / and with camphor, should always be drunk by men.

In summer and autumn, water may be drunk by men as they please; / at other times, one should drink only a little of it for fear of vāta and śleṣman.

Even without food, a living being may maintain his vital breaths for a long time; / afflicted by thirst in the absence of water, he is deprived of his vital breaths in an instant.

When water is drunk at the beginning, middle, and end of a meal, / emaciation, moderation, and corpulence respectively are the resulting properties.

Drinkable water is to be drunk in autumn and in spring; / river water is not to be drunk in autumn and in spring.

Thus ends the [section on the] properties of waters in the Āyurvedamahodadhi composed by the venerable Suṣeṇa.

Now begins the section on water heated with wood.

Water heated with castor wood is praised; / it destroys misfortune and bleeding disorder, and clarifies the humours.

Auspicious water heated with bhallātaka wood / removes vāta and śleṣman, is wholesome, and increases virility and lustre.

Auspicious water heated with wood derived from palāśa and udumbara / cures wounds and itching, and increases blood, strength, and virility.

Pond water heated with jambū, kapittha, and mango woods / grants intellect and strength, and destroys parasites, [loss of] virility, and humoural disorder.

Water from a step-well heated with udumbara wood / is declared to remove kapha and to destroy the humours.

Water heated with khadira wood destroys bleeding disorder; / it is refreshing, and is said to be best in summer.

River and ocean water heated with kadamba and neem / is wholesome, removes humours, and destroys itching and bleeding disorder.

Water heated and boiled with dhātrī wood for washing impurities / removes vāta and pitta, is excellent, and is a supreme rejuvenator.

Well water heated with madhuka wood / removes vāta and pitta, is excellent, and is a supreme rejuvenator.

River water heated with karkandhu wood is hot and auspicious; / it cures duodenal disease, anaemia, cough, and asthma, and brings about the kindling of the gastric fire, as shown by Suśruta.

Waterfall water heated individually with wood from sallakī, teak, or resin / brings about freedom from disease [or: produces many diseases].

Water continuously heated with banyan and arjuna woods / produces strength and intellect, as shown by Maitreya.

Tarkārī destroys vāta and increases itching and skin disorders; / fresh water thoroughly heated is beneficial for washing away impurities.

// Thus ends the section on water heated with wood.

Now the special properties according to the difference of vessels:

[Water kept] in a golden vessel is very sweet, cold in post-digestive effect, sweet, / pacifies the three humours, provides virility, strength, and intellect, and is auspicious.

Water kept in a tin vessel is slimy, sweet in taste, / creates kapha in potency, and increases the digestive fire, stool, and wind.

Water kept in a bell-metal vessel is pungent in post-digestive effect, heavy, / produces pitta and śleṣman, and in old age imparts strength according to the season.

Drinking water poured in a stream is very cold over the nose; / and sprinkling it upon the eyes is beneficial and pacifies the three humours.

Water in a copper vessel is slightly warm, slightly pungent in taste, / produces pitta and wind, and in old age destroys stool and wind.

Water cooked in a brass vessel is pungent, destroys śleṣman, / produces pitta, is somewhat pungent and hot, and increases urinary disorders.

Water kept in an iron vessel is corrupted for drinking; / it causes bleeding disorder, relieves itching and the three humours supremely, and produces intoxication and digestive fire.

Water heated in an iron vessel produces itching and weak digestive fire; / it is stated to purge waste products, and is beneficial for cleansing the internal viscera.

Excellent water heated in a vessel of madhūka and udumbara / provides radiance to the body, is stated for pitta, and momentarily causes weakness of the digestive fire.

Water heated in an earthen vessel is beneficial for washing impurities, / brings equilibrium to the bodily tissues, and increases virility, strength, and ojas.

// Thus ends the rule of perfuming and vessels in the Āyurvedamahodadhi composed by Suṣeṇa.

Now the properties of milk are described.

Among those, because only cow's milk and buffalo's milk are always used, / the nature of precisely those two is examined first.

Cow's milk is cold, foremost for the intellect, life-giving, and destroys pitta and vāta; / it is a rejuvenating tonic, promotes complexion and good hair, and is a constant cause of health for men. // 1

Milk is directly life itself because of suitability from birth; cow's milk warm from the udder promotes longevity and is warm; / taken in the morning, in the evening, after intercourse, or after meals, it brings about customary wholesomeness. // 2

Now, the specific properties of milk according to the colour of the cows:

The milk of white cows destroys vāta; that of black ones destroys pitta; / that of red-coloured cows destroys kapha; the milk of a tawny cow destroys all three [humours]. // 3

It is cooling, sweet, unctuous, supremely pacifying to vāta and pitta, / aphrodisiac, producing vitality, cardiotonic, destroying śleṣman, and a rejuvenating tonic. // 4

Sweet in taste upon digestion, beneficial to the intellect, bestowing strength to those weakened by phthisis, / soothing dyspnoea and cough, and taking away exhaustion, thirst, and intoxication. // 5

It is recommended in chronic fever, dysuria, and bleeding disorder; / cow's milk is pure, and brings about strength and nourishment. // 6

Foremost, inexhaustible, life-prolonging, bringing lustre and loveliness; / cow's milk removes giddiness, bleeding disorder, fatigue, intoxication, / consumption, misfortune, abdominal lumps, leucorrhoea, ingested poison, and anaemia; / it calms dysuria, fever with phlegm, swelling, and spleen disease, / and swiftly pacifies thirst, obesity, fainting, fever, and even vāta. // 7

Now, the specific properties according to the vessel:

Milk in a copper vessel removes vāta; in a gold vessel it destroys pitta; / in a silver vessel it removes śleṣman; and in a bell-metal vessel it purifies the blood. // 8

Thus cow's milk.

Now buffalo's milk:

Buffalo's milk provides strength, complexion, vitality, sleep, semen, and vigor; / it pacifies excessive digestive fire, is sweet in taste and digestion, and confers nourishment. // 1

For one whose body is fatigued from physical exercise, it destroys weariness and dispels vāta; / even for an old man devoid of desire, it bestows sexual passion for women; // 2

and especially confers desire even for a strong youth.

Thus buffalo's milk.

Now goat's milk:

Because goats have small bodies, consume pungent and bitter foods, / do not drink too much water, and exercise, their milk cures all diseases. // 1

Goat's milk stimulates digestive fire and strength; it is supreme in removing consumption, cough, dyspnoea, and agitation; / it quickly removes bleeding disorder, and is stated to be wholesome indeed in diarrhea caused by blood. // 4

Now camel's milk:

Camel's milk removes numbness and swelling, and is commended for pitta, śleṣman, and haemorrhoids; / it destroys constipation, is praised for abdominal diseases, kills parasites, and is commended at all times. // 5

Now mare's milk:

The milk of solid-hoofed animals is hot, strength-giving, and removes vāta of the extremities; / it produces sweet and sour taste, is dry, has a salty secondary taste, and is light. // 6

[Milk of she-asses and mares.]

Now human breast-milk:

Human breast-milk is sweet, with an astringent secondary taste, and cold; / it is wholesome as nasal medication and eye drops, life-giving, light, and kindling digestion. // 7

Now female elephant's milk:

The milk of a female elephant is sweet, aphrodisiac, has an astringent secondary taste, and is heavy; / unctuous, producing steadfastness, cold, beneficial to the eyes, and increasing strength.

Now the general properties of milk:

Raw milk is generally proclaimed to be channel-blocking and heavy; / that very milk when boiled should be known as heavy, satiating, and nourishing. // 8

With the exception of a woman's breast-milk, raw [milk] indeed is broken down; / warm from the udder, milk is ambrosia, but otherwise it is said to be the opposite. // 9

Now condemned milk:

That which has a bad smell, is sour, discoloured, and tasteless, / and milk that is salty or curds into lumps, is to be avoided; / one should not consume milk by day; if one consumes it, one should not sleep; / if one sleeps, life is diminished; therefore milk by day is ambrosia [only when not followed by sleep]. // 11

Now the properties of milk fresh from the udder and so forth:

Warm from the udder it is ambrosia and wholesome; cooled from the stream it produces the three humours; / boiled and cooled it destroys the three humours; boiled and warm it conquers kapha and vāta. // 12

Ewe's milk is most wholesome boiled and warm, and goat's milk indeed boiled and cooled; / buffalo's milk is thoroughly cooled from the stream, and cow's milk is wholesome precisely warm from the udder. // 13

Moreover: / Buffalo's milk destroys pitta, and ewe's milk destroys vāta; / cow's milk removes vāta and pitta, and goat's milk destroys the three humours. // 14

Now the properties of morning milk and so forth:

Generally morning milk is heavy, constipating, and cooling, / both because of the cooling nature of the night and because of the lack of exercise. // 17

Due to [the cows] being heated by the sun and having exercise and wind, / afternoon [milk] removes vāta and pitta, and is beneficial for the eyes. // 16

Now the specific benefits of drinking milk in the forenoon and at other times:

Milk in the forenoon is aphrodisiac, nourishing, and generates increase of the digestive fire; / at midday it gives strength, produces sexual delight, and breaks up dysuria and calculus; / in a child it produces digestive fire, in consumption it gives strength, for an old man it promotes semen, / and at night milk pacifies manifold humours; it should be taken always by living beings. // 17

If pungent, sharp, and harsh split pulses have been eaten, or tastes that are sour and bitter, / or things that are dry, alkaline, causing burning, drying, or producing excessive heat, / or astringent, pungent, dry, and very difficult to digest have been consumed in excess, / milk taken at night quickly turns all that into strength. // 18

Now the rule regarding the time of alteration of milk:

Beyond five muhūrtas, milk undergoes alteration; / in twice that time, it kills a person like poison. // 19

Now the restatement of the virtues of milk fresh from the udder:

Cow's milk warm from the udder pacifies the aggravation of vāta and provides nourishment; / it swiftly overcomes anaemia, jaundice, impairment of strength, and distress; / it conquers burning sensation in the body, burning of the hands, feet, and eyes, surge of pitta, / vitiated blood, emaciation caused by digestive fire, and diseases such as dysuria. // 20

Now the time regulation for the wholesomeness of boiled and other milk:

Unboiled milk is wholesome for ten ghaṭikās, and boiled for twice that; / at dawn, as long as it is lukewarm and rich in its own flavour, so long may the milk be drunk. // 21

Now the wholesomeness and unwholesomeness of milk in fever:

In chronic fever, when kapha is depleted, milk is like nectar; / taken in an acute [fever], that very [milk] kills a person like poison. // 22

Therefore, one should drink freshly drawn milk, whether boiled or unboiled. / Milk that has been boiled down after adding a quarter part of water, // 23

is therefore foremost in producing strength, wholesome, and dispelling all diseases.

Now, the preparation of milk for those unaccustomed to milk:

For those to whom it is not accustomed, this milk drunk raw causes flatulence. // 24

For them, having added half part water along with dried ginger and long pepper, / one should boil it until only milk remains; having drunk that, it brings ease. // 25

Now, determination of the drinking time according to the varieties of cow's milk and the like:

In the forenoon buffalo milk with sugar, or at will / for those who are always balanced— / (cow's milk in the forenoon, buffalo milk in the afternoon, / milk with sugar is wholesome, and always according to habit) / at the beginning or at midday, or occasionally at the end of a meal. // 26