A Victorian Guide to Healthy Living

The Victorian Dr. Thomas Allinson founded the famous Allinson bread firm in 1892 and wrote five volumes of medical essays outlining his beliefs that food was an important factor in health. His sage advice was an anathema to his Victorian peers and he was struck off in an age where medicines were made of mercury and arsenic. His ‘outrageous’ beliefs included exercise being good for health, the need for a work-life balance for better efficiency and health, avoiding tea and coffee in the evening to promote better sleep and obesity being caused by eating too much. These ‘misguided’ beliefs are so relevant to today’s market and written in a wonderfully anachronistic but accessible manner. Best-selling author and food and health expert Anna Selby has edited his five books into one volume, incorporating chapters such as ‘vegetarianism’, ‘exercise’ and ‘the work-life balance’, as well as a chapter containing some of his quirkier beliefs.