DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 



93 



than on the first three days, nevertheless the body actually lost in weight 950, 

 839, and 952 grams on the first, second, and third days, respectively, thus 

 showing that with the carbohydrate diet the body of the subject had a ten- 

 dency to retain a much larger amount of water than with the fat diet. The 

 results of this experiment are presented in table 112. 



The chemical analyses of food, feces, and excreta, including especially the 

 determination of carbon dioxide produced, oxygen consumed, and water vapor- 

 ized, give the data for the exact computation of the kind and amount of 

 material lost from the body. The results from this G-day experiment show 

 that the quantities of the food had been so adjusted to the needs of the body 

 that there was practically no draft upon body-material or storage of either pro- 

 tein, fat, or carbohydrates, but that there were great changes in the amount of 

 water. It was found on the average that the body actually stored 165 grams 

 of water per day during the carbohydrate period and actually lost on the aver- 



Table 112. Changes in body-iccight due to diet. 

 CARBOHYDRATE DIET. 



grams. 



Average gain per day, carbohydrate diet +61 



Average loss per day, fat diet 914 



Water stored per day, carbohydrate period +165 



Water lost per day, fat period 906 



age 906 grams of water per day during the fat period. This loss during the fat 

 period corresponds almost exactly with the loss in body-weight, and shows 

 that the loss is due to water. Similar experiments have shown that the reverse 

 is true, i. e., when the previous diet contained a preponderance of fat and the 

 change was suddenly made to a carbohydrate diet, there was a marked increase 

 in weight. Obviously, there would be a limit to such retention of water, since 

 the body would not continue indefinitely to accumulate water at the rate of 

 500 or 600 grams a day, as it would soon become "waterlogged" under these 

 conditions. There is, however, something in the character of a rich carbo- 

 hydrate diet which seems to demand a larger proportion of water, and this 

 demand is provided for by a storage of water in the body-tissue; when the 

 carbohydrate diet is changed to a fat diet, this water is freely excreted. The 

 restriction of carbohydrate and the increase of fat which are prescribed when 

 diabetic patients are first started upon dietetic treatment duplicate the above 



