Читать книгу Dietetics for Nurses - Fairfax T. Proudfit - Страница 13

Table of Contents

Man can exist for days, even weeks, without food, but without water life soon becomes extinct. This substance is composed of hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion of two to one; that is, to each atom of oxygen there will be found two atoms of hydrogen. This is always the case no matter where it is found. When foods are put through a drying process the water is taken out and the rest of the chemical composition of the food remains unchanged.

This foodstuff, unlike those belonging to the organic group, is not changed during the process of digestion, nor does the application of heat or cold affect it, save from a physical standpoint. Water boils at a temperature of 100° C. (212° F.), and freezes at a temperature of 0° C. (32° F.).

Function of Water.—The uses of water in the body are many, and the advantage arising from a sufficient amount of this foodstuff in the dietary cannot be overestimated. It is no longer considered an error in diet to drink a moderate amount of water with the meals, so long as it is not used as a substitute for mastication, and as a means of washing the food into the stomach. In the diet, both as a beverage and as a part of most of the food materials ingested, water serves to moisten the tissues; to furnish the fluid medium for all of the secretions and excretions of the body; to carry food materials in solution to all parts of the organism; to stimulate secretory cells producing the digestive juices, thereby aiding in the processes of digestion, absorption and excretion; to promote circulation; to furnish material for free diuresis, thus preventing to a great extent the retention of injurious substances by the body, which might otherwise take place.

Factors Determining the Amount of Water Needed.—In normal conditions it is probable that the kind and amount of exercise taken has more to do with the amount of water needed by the body than any other factor, since the vigorously worked body excretes more water by way of the skin than the quiescent one. With a normal amount of exercise, it is advisable to drink from six to eight glasses of water each day, increasing the amount to a certain extent when exercise causes a great loss through perspiration. It is always advisable, however, to keep in mind that an excessive amount of fluid taken into the body throws a corresponding amount of work on the organs (the stomach, kidneys and heart). In certain abnormal conditions, the body’s water supply is depleted. This is particularly true in the case of hemorrhage, vomiting, and diarrhea. Under other conditions (certain types of nephritis), the body becomes overburdened through the excess of water retained, owing to the difficulty which the kidneys show in eliminating it. This retention of water by the tissues gives rise to the condition known as edema.