WATER AS A DIETARY CONSTITUENT 293 



Various clinical views have been expressed as to the influence of dis- 

 tilled water ingestion. Some clinicians claim to have found it harmful 

 in certain instances, others claim it is harmless, while still others express 

 the opinion that the question as to its harmfulness or harmlessness must 

 be considered an open one. The catarrhal conditions which it is claimed 

 follow the drinking of water from glaciers, or the excessive ingestion of 

 ice, may possibly have had their origin in the low temperature rather than 

 in the absence of electrolytes, although no untoward symptoms have re- 

 sulted from the ingestion of ice water in the writer's experience (see 

 below) . 



In our own experiments upon the influence of distilled water ingestion 

 with meals (Bergeim, Rehfuss, and Hawk, Blatherwick and Hawk, Mattill 

 and Hawk, Sherwin and Hawk), we were able to demonstrate a stimula- 

 tion of the gastric and pancreatic functions, better digestion and absorp- 

 tion of ingested food, a decrease in the growth of intestinal bacteria, and 

 a lessening of putrefactive processes in the intestine. 



Ice Water. When we come to ice water, we are dealing with a slightly 

 different proposition since the question of temperature must be considered. 

 In fact, the power of ice water to chill the stomach and to delay digestion 

 is one of the main arguments advanced against the drinking of the cold 

 fluid. In order to study this "terrible, chilling effect" of ice water, we 

 had skilled mechanics construct a very delicate apparatus which enabled 

 us to follow the temperature changes in the stomach while the food was 

 actually being digested (Smith, Fishback, Bergeim, Rehfuss, and Hawk). 

 And this is what we found. In twenty minutes after drinking a glass 

 of ice-cold water (10 C.) the temperature of the stomach contents 

 was approximately the same as that of the rest of the body. And in a 

 like period of time, the temperature of hot coffee (50 C.) was also brought 

 down to that of the stomach walls. It is truly wonderful how rapidly 

 the stomach is able to regulate the temperature of the things we put into 

 it, whether they be cold or hot! And the evacuation time is about the 

 same for cold and hot drinks. Thus the "chilling effect" of ice water and 

 the consequent delay in the digestion of our food is seen to be of no real 

 significance under ordinary conditions. However, there is one time when 

 we must use discretion in the drinking of ice water. That is immediately 

 after vigorous physical exercise, and unfortunately that is just the time 

 we feel like emptying the ice cooler. However, we must not do so for 

 serious consequences may follow the drinking of large volumes of ice-cold 

 fluid (water, soft drinks, etc.) at such times. 



Conclusions 



Before closing this discussion on water, the writer would like to 

 emphasize the fact that, in all of the water studies made by his associates 



