What to eat and when

by Susanna Cocroft

By reference to Tables I to V it will be noted that water forms a large percentage of all food, particularly of green vegetables and fruits.

In order that the body may do efficient work in digestion and in the distribution of the nutrient elements of the foods, and that the evaporation from the body may be maintained, the water in the foods, together with the beverages drunk, should consist of about seventy-five per cent. liquid to twenty-five per cent. nutrient elements, or about three times as much in weight as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates combined.

Much of the water taken passes through the system without chemical change and is constantly being thrown off by the skin, lungs, kidneys, and intestines.

Some of the water is split up into hydrogen and oxygen to unite with other substances in the chemical changes carried on during the process of digestion, and some water is obtained from the food by the union of hydrogen and oxygen liberated by the action of the digestive juices.

Few people give much thought to its resupply; yet, ignorant of the cause, they suffer from its loss, in imperfect digestion and assimilation, and in kidney and intestinal difficulties. If it is withheld from the diet for a while, marked changes occur in the structure and processes of the body. The effect is seen in the lessening of the secretions, the increasing dryness of all the tissues, including the nerves, and if the lack is long continued, in progressive emaciation, weakness, and death.

Water is the heat regulator of the body, and the more energy used, either in work or in play which results in more heat and evaporation, the more water is required. An animal, if warm, immediately seeks water.

It is constantly being used in the body to form solutions in which the waste products are held so that the eliminative organs may dispose of them.

It is the chief agent in increasing the peristaltic action of both the stomach and intestines, thus aiding in mixing the food with the digestive juices and assisting the movement along the alimentary canal.

It increases the flow of saliva and of the digestive juices and aids these juices in reaching every particle of food.

It dissolves the foods, and helps in the distribution of food materials throughout the body, carrying them in the blood and the lymph from the digestive organs to the tissues, where they are assimilated.