WATER AND HEALTH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3547, 7 October 1926, Page 1

WATER AND HEALTH.

About two-thirds of the total weight of the body is made up of water. As a rule it is not considered a food, but it is certainly entitled, to rank as a. food, because it enters into the structural composition of all foods, as well as all the tissues of the body. It is an essential element of diet, even though it cannot of itself build tissue repair waste, or produce heat and energy.

THE USES OF WATER, The use of water in the body may be stated briefly as follows: —It enters'into the chemical composition of the tissues; it forms the chief ingredient of all the fluids of the body, and maintains their proper degree of dilution, and thus favours the general body functions; it furnishes in the blood and lymph a fluid medium by which food may be taken to remote parts of the body and the waste material removed; it serves as a distributor o,f body heat,)and also regulates the body temperature by the processes of absorption and evaporation. One of the commonest faults in diet is neglect to take enough'water into our bodies. It is an absolute necessity, not only as an article of diet’ but also for the proper cleanliness of body, clothing, and things. QUANTITY OF WATER NECESSARY FOR INTERNAL USE. Robert Hutchison, a world authority on dietetics, says: “About 4i pints of water are given off from the body every day in the various excreta and exhalations, and of this about one-sixth is actually formed in the tissues out of hydrogen and oxygen, the remainder being derived from the food and fluids consumed. If one reckons that half of the whole weight of solid food taken consists of water, then the amount required to be added to the diet in an:actually fluid form would be approximately two and a third pints (about two breakfast cupfuls and three tumblerfuls). Obviously, however, the exact amounti must vary with external conditions, and especially with the amount of sweat produced. The nature of the diet has also an important influence on the amount of water consumed.” It is often stated that the drinking of water at meals is apt to delay digestion by diluting the gastric juice. Generally speaking, this is not( so, if water only is used in moderate quantities, and not consumed as tea, etc. Water itself slightly stimulates the stomach secretions, and it has proved that even as much as one pint does not in any way affect the rapidity of digestion. The digestion of some foods may be even hastened by softening them, and favouring their reduction to a state of pulp. Hot water stimulates the movements of the stomach, and is frequently a powerful aid to a feeble digestion. There is much to be said for the) practice of drinking at least a glass of water at meals, unless specially advised ' otherwise, large amounts should not be drunk during me ah times. '