Diet and Physical Performance: Water and Salt,
Abstract
Ammunition can be defined as any material used to attack or defend a position. If that position happens to include a battle against the hot and arid climate, then the primary ammunition will be water (1). Sun Tzu (a 6th century B.C. Chinese general and military theorist) put it quite succinctly when he said: 'An Army that does not suffer from 100 diseases is said to be certain of victory.' Heat illness is no respector of rank nor numbers. It is to the advantage of all concerned with the performance of US Forces on the modern battlefield to recognize the potentially devastating impact that heat injuries can produce. Adequate water intake is a singularly important factor in avoiding heat injury (2). The misconception that dehydration toughens up the troops was prevalent in the early days of WWII. T.F. Whayne (3) reported* 'Line officers believed in 'water discipline' and it was thought that the drinking of water during work in the heat was harmful. Many shared the conviction that men could be trained to work in the heat on intakes of water that became lower each day, until the ideal 'desert fighter' was developed who could fight on a pint of water a day. We now know that this concept is a myth'. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 29, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA114200
Entities
People
- Roger W. Hubbard
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine