A cold stomach was caused by a sluggish digestion (as opposed to a hot stomach, which had a lively appetite and digestion - think of teenagers who can eat tons of food and still be hungry). Food, especially hard to digest food like meat, was not digested quickly and was said to sit in the stomach, causing lack of appetite, indigestion, gas, and a feeling of heaviness. Pungent, bitter, and warming herbs and spices like fennel, dill, ginger, anise, etc., were needed to 'stimulate' the digestion to action, and also to help with the side effects of indigestion and gas.
Earliest I can find is Galen in the 2nd century AD, but he might have found it in Hippocrates five or six centuries earlier.
A cold stomach was caused by a sluggish digestion (as opposed to a hot stomach, which had a lively appetite and digestion - think of teenagers who can eat tons of food and still be hungry). Food, especially hard to digest food like meat, was not digested quickly and was said to sit in the stomach, causing lack of appetite, indigestion, gas, and a feeling of heaviness. Pungent, bitter, and warming herbs and spices like fennel, dill, ginger, anise, etc., were needed to 'stimulate' the digestion to action, and also to help with the side effects of indigestion and gas.
Earliest I can find is Galen in the 2nd century AD, but he might have found it in Hippocrates five or six centuries earlier.