140 FOOD INGESTION AND ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS. 



INGESTION OF WATER. 



Large amounts of water are regularly consumed by all individuals 

 throughout life. Since one or more liters pass through the body in 

 24 hours, it is hardly conceivable that such passage is unaccompanied 

 by energy transformations; the processes of absorption and secretion 

 should also be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the taking of 

 water at various temperatures frequently produces distinct subjective 

 effects and (at times) effects of a physiological nature, such as an inclina- 

 tion to defecation. A study of the question as to whether or not the 

 drinking of water produces a measurable effect on the basal metabolism 

 is therefore of prime importance. 



The literature is very deficient in definite information regarding the 

 influence of water-drinking upon the metabolism. The most detailed 

 experiments are those carried out in Rubner's laboratory by Lasch- 

 tschenko, 1 who concludes that the drinking of water at room tempera- 

 ture (approximately 18 C.) has no influence upon the carbon-dioxide 

 production. Water at 32 to 33 C. produced a very slight increase, 

 but at 37 C. there was practically no increase in the carbon-dioxide 

 production. 



Although the effect of water-drinking on the metabolism was studied 

 by Berg, 2 the technique was too unreliable to permit deductions 

 from the experiments. Speck, 3 who worked with a much more satis- 

 factory technique in the experiments upon himself, concludes that 

 drinking large amounts of water before an experiment has no influ- 

 ence upon the oxygen consumption or carbon-dioxide production. He 

 found, however, that when 1,250 c.c. of water were taken inside of one 

 hour and observations were begun 30 minutes after the water had been 

 taken, there was a noticeable rise in the metabolism; in this experiment 

 the author noted shivering. He considered that the rise was due to 

 a stimulus of the digestive canal, of which he became aware shortly 

 after taking the water because of the movement of gas in the intestines. 



Loewy 4 reports that immediately after the ingestion of 100 grams of 

 cold water there was pressure and discomfort in the intestines, which 

 was followed a half hour afterward by a movement of the bowels. The 

 water caused an increase of but 2 per cent in the oxygen consump- 

 tion with a great increase in the carbon-dioxide production. In his 

 second experiment, in which the same amount of water was given, 

 there was an increase of 1.5 per cent in the oxygen consumption 11 

 minutes after the water was taken and an increase of approximately 6 

 per cent 33 minutes after the drinking of the water. Thus Loewy found 

 no definite increment in the metabolism as a result of the ingestion 

 of pure water. Since, however, his technique as a whole has been 



^aschtschenko, Arch. f. Hygiene, 1898, 33, p. 145. 

 'Berg. Deutsch. Arch. f. klin. Mcd., 1869, 6, p. 291. 

 *Speck, Phyaiologie des menschlichen Athmens, 1892, p. 42. 

 'Loewy, Arch. f. d. ges. Physiol., 1888, 43, p. 525. 



