The speaker is talking about the water. During winter, the water enters the cracks and freezes and expands. It breaks the stone and makes cracks and when the water melts the holes are bigger. What he is describing is mechanical weathering which is common in nature.
The human body, as you may know, requires vitamins and
minerals to be healthy. Also, laxatives
can be more hurtful than helpful sometimes.
So, it is important for everyone, especially older people, to be careful
with laxatives and be very aware of their uses, side effects, and interactions. Mineral oils will cause everything to be passed/excreted. This includes fat soluble vitamins. Thus, it would be quite advisable to let your
grandmother know that even though mineral oils might help with constipation,
there will be side effects—side effects that may do more harm than good.