Читать книгу Dietetics for Nurses - Fairfax T. Proudfit - Страница 23

Table of Contents

The human body, as far as can be judged, does not use one nutrient to the exclusion of another, but science has proved that the best results are obtained from diets balanced to suit the needs of the body, providing the fuel and repair materials in the amounts which are calculated to give the maximum value with the minimum expenditure on the part of the organism.

For while no two individuals are exactly alike, there are factors which govern or influence the food requirements of all, and thus make it possible to estimate the needs of the body with a fair degree of accuracy.

It has been found, by means of calorimeter experiments (direct and indirect), that a certain amount of heat is produced within the body, regardless of external movement or food; that is, when a body is lying absolutely quiet with no movement save that of breathing, the internal work of the organism, which is continuous, releases so much heat, and this is produced whether there is food to replace it or whether the body structure is burned. This is known as the basal rate of metabolism, and constitutes the normal basal requirements. Any external movement will increase this rate; the greater the activity the higher the increase. Consequently external work calls for food in addition to that which is used to run the engine, in order to save the body from destruction.

DuBois[20] finds “Basal Metabolism above normal in exophthalmic goiter, in fevers, in lymphatic leukemia, and in pernicious anemia, in severe cardiac disease, and in some cases of severe diabetes and cancer; it is lower than normal in cretinism, and in myxedema, in old age, in some wasting diseases and perhaps in some cases of obesity.” This fluctuation in the Basal Rate of metabolism furnishes a factor in the diagnosis of disease, not only recognized but coming more and more in use.