GoKawiilMedieval physicians ranked foods as hot, cold, wet or dry to guide health
Historical texts show medieval Europeans followed Galen's belief that food was central to medical treatment, classifying foods by their supposed qualities of hot/cold and wet/dry to determine their effect on the body. Physicians taught that eating properly balanced these qualities and prevented illness, tied to a theory of three-stage digestion occurring in the stomach, liver, and throughout the body. Diet quality also reflected social class, with the wealthy eating fine wheat bread while poorer people relied on coarser barley or rye.