The Diseases of Women (1851)
AUTHOR: Nichols, Thomas Low
PUBLICATION: “The Diseases of Women.” The Water-Cure Journal Vol. XI no. 5 (May 1851): 122-124.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015014700143&view=1up&seq=129
KEYWORDS: food, diet, health, hydropathy, hydrotherapy, water-cure
Kellogg, John Harvey. Plain Facts for Old and Young
---. Marie Louise Shew, Water-cure for Ladies
SUMMARY (Ridvan Askin, edited Deborah Madsen):
The article addresses a variety of water-cure treatments for women's health issues, ranging from “Menorrhagia” to “Hysteria” to “Barrenness” (122). Nichols finds all existing books on female health inadequate and he promotes the water-cure as “the only mode of treatment [...] that offers to woman any assurance of the permanent cure of her peculiar diseases” (122). He provides detailed descriptions of specific water-cure practices for each case. A proper vegan diet is a crucial aspect in all treatments: “In the treatment of all uterine diseases, the diet is of great importance. I am well persuaded that a carefully selected vegetable diet is almost indispensable. In many cases, animal food, even in small quantities, appears to have a direct action upon the uterus, aggravating its diseases” (124).