SUMMARY (Ridvan Askin, edited Deborah Madsen):

This article presents all the necessary “rules of treatment, diet, and regimen and explanation of processes, to … facilitate the home practice of the Water Cure” (76). In addition to exercise, fresh air, proper clothing that facilitates ventilation, and various applications of water like sitz baths, the following dietary prescriptions are made:

A Water-Cure Diet excludes all fat, greasy, oily substances, except a small quantity of good butter; all smoked, very salt, or preserved meats and fish, pickles and preserves; all pork, lard, sausages, mince pies, geese, ducks, veal, eels, and all oily fish, and all high-seasoned made-dishes, gravies, sauces, rich cake or pastry, spices, or condiments, except a moderate use of salt and sugar, honey, or molasses. Tea, coffee, spirits, tobacco, and all medicinal drugs, are strictly prohibited (76).

Instead, all kinds of grain (preferably unbolted), fruits, and vegetables are recommended. “The best cures are made upon a simple vegetable diet” and a properly “strict diet consists of a few of the best articles of farinacea and fruit, with a little milk” (76).