INORGANIC FOOD STUFFS. 



121 



tenths of its weight. When death thus occurs from starvation the 

 various tissues lose different amounts proportionately. The fol- 

 lowing table gives the loss in percentage : 



Bone 5.4 ] 



Muscle 42.2 



Liver 4.8 



Kidneys 0.6 



Spleen 0.6 



Pancreas 0.1 



Lungs 0.3 



Heart 0.0 



Testes 0.1 



Intestine 2.0 



Brain and cord 0.1 



Skin and hair 8.8 



Fat 26.2 



Blood 3.7 



Other parts 5.0 



From this table it will be seen that the greatest loss takes place 

 in the muscles and fat. 



FOOD. 



Food may be defined as material taken into the body to build up 

 its tissues and repair their waste, or to produce energy. In the 

 discussion of the effects of alcohol other definitions are given 

 (p. 158). Foods are made up of food-stuffs and other substances 

 associated with them, which latter, being indigestible, are of no 

 value either for purposes of nutrition or for the generation of 

 energy. 



Food-stuffs are divided into four classes, which have already 

 been somewhat discussed in treating of the physiologic ingredients. 

 The classes of food-stuffs are : Inorganic, including water and 

 salts ; Carbohydrates ; Fats or oils ; Proteids. 



Inorganic Food-Stuffs. Water is, as has been pointed out, 

 one of the most important ingredients of the body, and is there- 

 fore one of the most essential of the food-stuffs. It is the solvent 

 of many of the constituents of the food and the salts, and by its 

 softening action aids in the processes by which the hard portions 

 of food are masticated and swallowed. It should be taken in 

 quantities much larger than is customary. The prevalent idea that 

 water is harmful when taken with food because of its action in 

 diminishing the secretion of gastric juice, is entirely erroneous. On 

 the contrary, water, even when cold, stimulates the gastric glands, 

 and more of their secretion is formed. To this we shall recur in 

 discussing the process of gastric digestion. Nor is it true that 

 water is "fattening/ 7 in the sense that those who drink large 

 quantities necessarily become obese. If fat is " taken on " by such 

 persons, it is only because of the indirect influence which water 

 exerts in keeping the nutritive processes up to a higher standard 

 and thus increasing assimilation and leaving a balance to be 

 stored up as fat. The source of the fat is not the water, but the 

 carbohydrates and other food-stuffs Avhich are convertible into fat. 



Water being thus important indeed, essential great care 

 should be taken to have it free from harmful ingredients. These 

 may be inorganic and organic. 



