Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office].

Date:
1941
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    47/310 (page 49)
    CHAPTER V FOOD The food taken into the body serves two purposes: it provides materials for the growth and repair of the tissues, which are continually being destroyed by the activities of life. performed by different components of the food, which therefore The body can exist for a certain length of time by using its stored reserves, but, when these are exhausted, death will digestive system to be healthy and for the food to be supplied in an easily digestible form. Digestion.—When food is eaten, it must be reduced to the form in which it can be used.most easily by the body ; in this process of digestion the food is acted on by various digestive juices and split up into substances which are then absorbed when food is chewed by the teeth and mixed with saliva in by the acid gastric juice which is poured out from the stomach glands. The food is passed on from the stomach into the intestines, where digestion is continued and absorption takes place, and finally the waste matter, consisting of undigested substances such as fibres, vegetable cellulose, etc., are passed out of the large bowel. Digestion is assisted by a good appetite and by the food having an attractive appearance and smell, which stimulate the production of saliva in the mouth ; hence the expression, ‘‘ making the mouth water.’”’ In the same way the flow of gastric juice is stimulated and digestion in the stomach assisted. Soup makes a good beginning to a meal because it stimulates the flow of gastric juices. The practice of drinking much liquid with meals hinders digestion by diluting sumption during meals of small quantities of water as an aid to digestion. The inclusion in the diet of a certain amount of and thus increasing the muscular action of the intestines.