ne is
concerned, to the other organic foodstuffs.

WATER

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 deg. C. (212 deg. F.), and freezes at a temperature of
0 deg. C. (32 deg. 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
sto