Make hunger thy sauce, as a medicine for health.

Thomas Tusser (c. 1524–1580) was an English poet and practical writer best known for his didactic verse on farming and household management. The line belongs to his long, proverb-like sequence of domestic and agrarian counsel aimed at ordinary households—advice on thrift, diet, and health as much as on husbandry. In an early modern setting where food scarcity was common and medical thinking emphasized regimen (diet, moderation, and habits) as a foundation of health, Tusser’s counsel frames appetite and restraint as practical “physic.” The saying reflects a moralized, commonsense approach to wellbeing: eat simply, avoid excess, and let genuine hunger make plain food satisfying.

Tusser’s aphorism treats hunger as both seasoning and remedy. If you wait to eat until you are truly hungry, even simple fare will taste good (“hunger” becomes the “sauce”), and the body benefits from moderation (“as a medicine for health”). The line implies that pleasure and health are aligned when appetite is governed rather than indulged: restraint prevents gluttony, waste, and illness, while cultivating gratitude for ordinary food. It also echoes early modern regimen literature, where health was maintained less by cures than by disciplined daily habits. The moral undertone is clear: self-control is a form of practical wisdom.