Topics

True food requirements.

Reduction of pro-teid.

The question of meat-eating.

Vegetable proteid.

Amount of fuel-foods necessary.

Specimen dietaries.

Tables indicating proteid and fuel value of common foods.

The question of stimulants and condiments.

Physiological value of sugar.

Inutility of foods as specifies.

General principles.

Conclusion.

EVEN when the regulation of the dietary has been handed over to an appetite made normal by the practice of slow eating and analytical tasting as recommended by Mr. Fletcher, there is a certain advantage in knowing what amounts and proportions of the various classes of foods are necessary - according to the new principles enunciated by Professor Chittenden - to make up a well-balanced ration.

It will be remembered that Professor Chittenden fixes the proteid requirement per day for a man of average - say 154 pounds - weight at 60 grams, about two ounces a day. A man with more muscular tissue to nourish will require more proteid, and a man with less muscular tissue will not need so much.1 Taking into consideration the fact that 60 grams or 2 ounces of proteid are contained in half a pound of lean beef, seven-eighths of a pound of bacon, half a pound of fresh American cheese, two quarts of milk, nine eggs, one pound of baked beans, or two-thirds of a pound of almonds; it will readily be seen that the average man with his two or three meat meals a day - often reinforced with proteid in the form of cheese, milk, eggs, nuts, beans or peas - is getting a great deal more of this particular food element than he needs or than he can use with advantage.

Since meat is the form in which proteid is consumed in the largest quantities, it is obvious that the quickest and surest way of reducing the excess of proteid is by cutting down the consumption of flesh food.2 This should not, however, be taken as a recommendation for a sudden and absolute elimination of meat from the diet. If there is one point which the discoverers of the new principles in dietetics insist upon more than another, it is that all changes in the dietary should be made gradually. In regard to the matter of meat reduction Professor Fisher says:

"The sudden and complete exclusion of meat is not always desirable, unless more skill and knowledge in food matters are emform of proteid which can he utilised, but only of waste nitrogen which must be excreted. Apparently the sole virtue of such soups is that they supply the "peptogenic " stimulus.

1 Chittenden: "Nutrition of Man," pp. 271-272.

2 Under flesh foods are included all meats and "stock " soups. It has been shown that although these extracts of meat contain a large amount of nitrogen, it is not in the,

Irving Fisher, Ph. D.: "The Effect of Diet on Endurance." Publications of Yale University, pp. 44-45. New Haven, Conn.

It is well known that Liebig came to repudiate the idea that the extractives of meat were nutritious, and that investigation has shown them to be poisonous. Recently, Dr. F. B. Turck has found that dogs, mice, and rats fed on meat extractives exhibit symptoms of poisoning, and often die. The poisonous effect is aggravated by intestinal bacteria, which find in these extractives as excellent culture medium.

Irving Fisher, Ph. D.: "Diet and Endurance at Brussels," Science, N. S., vol. xxvi, No. 669, pp. 561-563. October 25. 1907.

Ployed than most persons possess. On the contrary, disaster has repeatedly overtaken many who have made this attempt. Pavlov has shown that meat is one of the most and perhaps the most 'peptogenic* of foods. Whether the stimulus it gives to the stomach is natural, or in the form of an improper goad or whip, certain it is that stomachs which are accustomed to this daily whip have failed, for a time at least, to act when it was withdrawn.

"Nor is it necessary that meat should be permanently abjured, even when it ceases to become a daily necessity. The safer course, at least, is to indulge the craving whenever one is 'meat hungry,' even if, as in many cases, this be not oftener than once in several months. The rule of selection employed in the experiment was merely to give the benefit of the doubt to the non-flesh food; but even a slight preference for flesh foods was to be followed."3

3 Irving Fisher, Ph. D. "The Effect of Diet on Endurance," Publications of Yale University, pp. 44-45. New Haven, Conn.

"It goes without saying that any change in diet, unless it be a change in amount only, should be gradual. Thus, if a person has been accustomed to excessive proteid, his stomach has probably become adjusted to this condition and secretes a large amount of gastric juice. When the reduction of proteid is sudden, the gastric juice will not at first decrease in proportion, and a large part of this secretion will therefore remain unused. This uncombined acid interferes with the digestion of starch and the person feels a 'sour stomach.' A gradual reduction of proteid,.on the other hand, will avoid this difficulty.' The reduction may be more rapid (for the hyperacid) if the proportion of fat be increased, as fat tends to restrain the gastric secretion."4

All the leaders of the movement are still divided in their opinion as to whether a complete exclusion of meat, even when effected gradually, is to be recommended. Professor Chittenden's opinion is that "man is an omnivorous animal and Nature never intended him to subsist solely on any specific form of food to the exclusion of all others." "Vegetarianism may have its virtues," he says, "as too great indulgence in flesh foods may have its serious side, but there would seem to be no sound physiological reason for the complete exclusion of any one class of food stuffs, under ordinary conditions of life."5 He is emphatic in declaring, however, that "a diet which conforms to the true nutritive requirements of the body must necessarily lead toward vegetable foods. In no other satisfactory way can excess of proteid be avoided and at the same time proper calorific value be obtained. This, however, does not mean vegetarianism, but simply a greater reliance upon foods from the plant kingdom, with a corresponding diminution in the typical animal foods."6 To this discussion Professor Fisher has contributed a summary of a monograph by Mile. Dr. J. Ioteyko, head of the laboratory at the University of Brussels, and Mile. Varia Kipiani, student in science, setting forth the results of their recent investigation of the relative merits of a vegetarian and a meat diet.

4 Irving Fisher, Ph. D.s "A Graphic Method in Practical Dietetics." New Haven, Conn.

5 Chittenden: "Physiological Economy in Nutrition," p. 470. 6 Chittenden: "Nutrition of Man," pp. 291-292.