Walt Whitman, who died in 1892 at 72, supported cold baths and beards.
ON THE BEST EXERCISE: There’s one thing that beats baseball, swimming, rowing, boxing or even dancing. “Walking, or some form of it, is nature’s great exercise — so far ahead of all others as to make them of no account in comparison.”
ON FASHION VS. HEALTH: No contest. “No man can serve the two masters, of frivolous fashion and the attainment of robust health and physique, at the same time.”
ON COLD BATHS: Regular bathing is desirable; the colder the better. “The tonic and sanitary effects of cold water are too precious to be foregone. You cannot have a manly soundness, unless the pores of the skin are kept open, and the encouragement given to perspiration, which in a live man is thrown off in great quantities, and the free egress of which is of the utmost importance.”
ON BEARDS: “The beard is a great sanitary protection to the throat — for the purposes of health it should always be worn, just as much as the hair of the head should be.”
ON FEET: “The feet, too, must be kept well clothed with thin socks in summer, and woolen in winter — and washed daily.”
ON FOOD: “Let the main part of the diet be meat, to the exclusion of all else.” Also: “Chew the food well, and do not eat fast.”
ON ALCOHOL: “We would rather, a little while after his dinner, a man should drink a glass of good ale or wine than one of those
mixtures called ‘soda,’ or even a strong cup of hot coffee.” ON GOOD CHARACTER AND GOOD HEALTH: “The first requisite to a young man is that he should be well and hardy; and that from such a foundation alone, he will be more apt to become good, upright, friendly, and self-respected.”
ON WEALTH AND HEALTH: “From a money-making point of view ... health is an investment.”
ON CURING “THE BLUES”: No pills necessary, just a brisk body rubdown followed by “a long and brisk walk in the open air, expanding the chest and inhaling plentiful supplies of the healthgiving element — ten to one but he would be thoroughly cured of his depression, by this alone.”