12 Facts About Philippe Hecquet

Philippe Hecquet was a French physician and vegetarianism activist.

Philippe Hecquet noted how the rich often consumed much expensive meat, spicy sauces and strong wine which was bad for health.

Philippe Hecquet argued that such a diet was difficult for the body to digest and impaired the elasticity of the fluid-bearing organs.

Philippe Hecquet stated that if flesh was to be eaten it should only be fish.

Philippe Hecquet believed that fruits, grains, nuts and seeds should replace meat.

Philippe Hecquet was a Jansenist Catholic and promoted a "theological medicine".

Philippe Hecquet argued that the Garden of Eden depicted a vegetarian regime.

Philippe Hecquet argued that all physiological processes could be reduced to simple mechanisms.

Philippe Hecquet developed a digestive theory of "trituration" which emphasized the grinding action of mastication and peristalsis of muscle walls of the stomach.

Philippe Hecquet believed fish and vegetables are superior to meat because their composition is easily broken down by trituration.

Philippe Hecquet has been described as "one of the first systematic proponents of vegetarianism".

Historian Ken Albala credits Philippe Hecquet for making the first scientific defense of a vegetarian diet.