Temperament (Mizaj) of a person is a distinguishing factor identifying the most appropriate lifestyle suiting for each person’s optimum health.

In the Iranian-Islamic traditional medicine the excess or lack of warmness and humidity define four essential temperaments of “Warm and Wet (sanguine or Damawiy)”, “Warm and Dry (choleric or Safrawiy)”, “Cold and Dry (melancholic or Saudawiy)” and “Cold and Wet (phlegmatic or Balghamiy)” respectively. The terms in the parentheses refer to four groups of material in the body (called “humors” or 'Akhlat') including blood which is hot and moist, phlegm which is cold and moist, bilious or yellow bile which is hot and dry and atrabilious or black bile which is cold and dry. Words written in italic show original Persian terms in the ancient literature.

Temperament of the body is specific for each individual fluctuating between certain minimum and maximum limits. Any change in the temperament of a person brings about a change in persons’ state of health. Thus, preservation of balanced temperament under the differing conditions of life is vital for the maintenance of health and avoidance of disease in an individual.

As thoroughly explained in the previous article people with "choleric" Mizaj are characterized by warmness and dryness in their bodies which exhibit themselves through some distinctive characteristics such as: having thin body, small frame and organs; feeling hot internally; thinking, moving and speaking fast; having dry and warm skin color with yellow undertone; stressfulness, anxiety, sensitivity, idealism, punctuality, being extrovert and sleep deprivation.  

Here are some lifestyle tips for this group: 

Lifestyle

People with warm and dry Mizaj are better not to consume deep fried food stuff specifically during hot seasons. 

Choleric people should not consume large amounts of food stuff such as pepper, garlic, cinnamon, and ginger as well as spicy and salty foods. They are better not to eat much sweets either. 

People with "choleric" Mizaj are characterized by warmness and dryness in their bodies which exhibit themselves through some distinctive characteristics such as: having thin body, small frame and organs; feeling hot internally; thinking, moving and speaking fast; having dry and warm skin color with yellow undertone; stressfulness, anxiety, sensitivity, idealism, punctuality, being extrovert and sleep deprivation.  

They should also consume small amounts of red meat and abstain from eating other hot Mizaj meat with warming characteristics such as camel, quail and partridge meat as much as possible. 

Although honey is of great benefits, those with warm and dry Mizaj are not recommended to take too much of it particularly during hot seasons; however, eating honey in cold seasons is fine for them. 

Tomato paste and sauces, specifically hot and chilly sauces, are pretty harmful for such people. They should use egg (especially yolk) the least possible during summer. 

Considering their Mizaj eating Abdoogh Khiar (a cold cucumber and yogurt soup) is highly recommended for these people during summer. Of course eating too much of it might cause flatulence.

Additionally, eating vegetables such as lettuce and other summer fruits with cooling characteristics (cold Mizaj) is recommended as well. However, they have to be cautious about eating vegetable with warming characteristics (warm Mizaj) such as tarragon, leek, cress which also have strong tastes.

In general people with warm and dry Mizaj can experience a healthier life by consuming food stuff with cooling characteristics such as sour or sweet-and-sour food items and drinks like barberry juice, raspberry juice, or pomegranate juice, liquid chicory extract (Kasni) and fumitory extract (Shahtareh), as well as flixweed.

Such people should avoid direct sun exposure; warm colors such as yellow and red either of their clothes or their surrounding environment would stimulate and increase their internal heat. 

Watching thrillers and rock music are not recommended to these people.  

Placing drops of violet, zucchini or coriander oil in each nostril or rubbing the oils on the face is of benefits for this groups.

Taking daily showers proved to be advantageous for people with choleric temperament as the wetness of the shower would help to balance the warm and dry Mizaj of these people. 

Accordingly, floating in water for example in a cold tub, swimming pool, or bath tub as well as using cool moisture humidifiers could be of benefits for these people. However, it is ill-advised to use a dry sauna.

Staying up for long hours, engaging in intense activities, and being stressed out and anxious which will all increase the heat in the body should be avoided as much as possible particularly in hot seasons and warm climate. 

Seyed Mahdi Mirghazanfari, MD, holds a PhD degree in medical physiology and is an Iranian-Islamic traditional medicine researcher. He is also an assistant professor in AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.

MQ/MG