Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1906-07-05
DRINK WHEN YOU EAT
TAKE AS MUCH WATER AS YOU
WANT WITH YOUR MEALS.

Is Claimed, ms Neither Gastric Juice
Nor Pepsin Work Properly Unless
Largely Diluted With Water.
How much water should we drink
and when should we drink it are ques-
lions so simple that at first sight their
discussion seems superfuous. One
would naturally answer. Drink all the
water you wish when you are thirsty"
but authorities say, Drink more than
you wish when you are not thirsty"
for they recommend that gallon or so
be drunk between meals, which Is
more water than we need and the very
time the system least demands it. U.s.
ually we experience thirst during or
directly after eating.
Inasmuch as 81 per cent Of the whole
body is water, which IS, Of course, be-
ing used up every moment. there Is no
question that we should drink of this
element copiously, but 1t Is a serious
question whether we should refrain
from water at meals-the time we par
ticularly desire 1t.
There is a class Of persons, ever
growing more numerous, that believes
that whatever Is is wrong. For the
natural and simple they would subst-
tute the artificial and complicated. To
drink water while or directly after eat
ing Is a natural instinct. Give dog
his dinner, putting a bowl Of water
near it, and observe that he will first
eat all he can and then Immediately
drink Wild animals look for stream
after feeding Cage birds will stop
pecking at seed to peck at water. Chill
dren have perpetual thirst, and
have seen babies that, unlike young
Oliver, have refused to eat more when
denied water after every few mouth
fuls.
1t is especially important that babies
be given what water they wish and at
the time they wish it, which is usually
at table.
The thinner food Is the more easily
and thoroughly is it digested; in fact
ii cannot be digested until 1t has been
made liquid by the gastric and intesti-
nal juices. Indigestion is caused often
by food that has not been sufficiently
moistened by the digestive secretions.
There are sound physiological rea-
sons for our craving water with meals.
Water is the solvent that constitutes
% per cent of the gastric juice. Now,
when one eats hearty meal and does
not drink, the amount Of water in the
stomach is not sufficient thoroughly to
moiSten the great quantity Of food,
and this makes digestion difficult. On
the other hand. when enough water Is
ingested with the food the latter Is
well moistened and broken up, the d.
gestible particles being then readily
acted on by the gastric juice and after
ward absorbed Again, when the par
TALLY digested food (chyme) passes into
the intestines 1t is most important that
it be very moist, particularly as water
is constantly absorbed from the chyie
in the large intestine. Bad cases Of
constipation are caused by dry chyle
remaining in the lntestines, where 1t
sets up an inflammation that some
times proves fatal, dry faces, Of
course resisting peristaltic action. The
excrement Of persons suffering from
constipation Is always dry and hard
and is a potent cause Of appendicitis.
The idea that water drinking at
meals unduly dilutes the gastric juice
is nonsensical, water being not so pal
atable that one Is apt to drink more
than his digestive functions require.
AS q matter of fact water generally
facilitates the digestion Of albuminous
substances. In this connection DR.. A.
jacob in his work on Infant Diet"
page 81, says:
"In experiments upon digestion or
albumen with gastric juice obtained
from the stomach of animals 1t was no
ticed that after certain time the proc
ess began to slacken, but was renewed
merely by the addition Of water. The
gastric juice became saturated with
the substance it had dissolved and
ceased to act upon what remained I'M
til it had been diluted. In the living
stomach this dilution is Of even greater
Importance, for 1t permits Of the I'M
mediate absorption Of the substances
soluble in water and which do not re-
quire the specific action Of the gastric
Juice" Neither the gastric juice nor
pepsin has any true digestive action
unless they be largely diluted with wa
ter.
1t goes without saying that it Is not
the food that is ingested. but that
which is digested, that does good, and
this principle holds good with water,
which Is practically food. Now,
when one resists the perfectly natural
desire to drink while eating he may be
not thirsty several hours afterward,
but he Is advised nevertheless to force
himself to drink ut that time. But IL
he drinks then, the water, having no
food to mix with it, will go through
him, as 1t were-that is, 1t will do no
good.
The Importance of water to the hui
man economy may be inferred from
the various purposes 1t subserves.
First, It softens and dissolves solid
foods, thus facilitating their mastica-
ton and Digestion; second, it main
tains due bulk Of blood and the
structures of the body; third, it keeps
substances in solution or suspension
while moving in the body; fourth, 1t
supplies elements in the body's chem
zeal changes; fifth, it makes easy the
elimination of waste material; sixth, it
discharges superfluous heat by tran
spiration through the skin and by ennis
sion through other outlets, and, sew
enth, 1t supplies In convenient form
heat to or abstracts heat from the
body. Some of these functions are
performed by water in Its liquid state
and others In state of vapor.
Have you indigestion? Try water
instead of drugs with your focd.-G.
Elliot Flint In Nauv Vork World