Preksha Dhyana Human Body Part 2

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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skin is about 500 ml. per day. Exhaled air is also laden with moisture. Water-loss through the lungs varies the humidity and temperature of the air. On the average, it comes to about 300 ml. per day. Under extreme conditions, loss through the skin and exhaled air may reach as much as 20 litres per day.
Dietary fibre makes bowel function more rapid and effective. The feces are softer and move more rapidly through the bowel. A lack of fibre and an insufficient fluid intake may result in the feces becoming hard and difficult to pass, setting up a vicious cycle of constipation. Normally 200 ml. of water is lost in the feces each day.
Kidneys are the main spillway for the body's excess water. It provides wide latitude for regualtion of fluid output. The average daily output in the urine is about 1500 ml., but this amount may vary greatly, depending on the fluid-intake and the amount of water lost through other channels of excretion. If intake is less, or if more water is lost in sweating or diarrhea, the kidneys put out small amounts of concentrated urine. If intake is excessive, it is excreted by producing large quantities of dilute urine. Regardless of fluid-intake, a certain minimum amount of urine must be produced, containing sufficient water to keep dissolved the excreted wastes.
Body Water-reserves
One type of stress that the body is sometimes called on to bear is a loss of water. Prolonged vomiting or diarrhea can place strenuous demands on the body's water reserves. Under such conditions, people with the large percentage of body-water stand the best chance for survival. Obesity is one factor that reduces the body's fluid reserves, since adipose tissue is essentially water-free. The progressive tissue-dehydration that occurs in old age produces great depletion of water-reserve.
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