PHYSIOLOGICAL ECONOMY
IN
NUTRITION
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE MINIMAL
PROTEID REQUIREMENT OF THE
HEALTHY MAN
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
BY
RUSSELL H. CHITTENDEN,
Ph.D., LL.D., Sc.D.
DIRECTOR OF THE SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF YALE UNIVERSITY
AND PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY; MEMBER OF THE
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY; MEMBER OF
THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
1907
Copyright, 1904,
By Frederick A. Stokes Company
Published in November, 1904
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Facing page | |
| Group of soldiers at work in the Gymnasium | [136] |
| Side view of Fritz | [198] |
| Back view of Fritz | [204] |
| Front view of Coffman and Steltz | [212] |
| Back view of Coffman and Steltz | [220] |
| Side view of Zooman and Cohn | [234] |
| Back view of Zooman and Cohn | [240] |
| Side view of Loewenthal and Morris | [258] |
| Group of soldiers exercising in the Gymnasium | [262] |
| Front view of Sliney | [272] |
| Soldiers exercising in the Gymnasium | [284] |
| Soldiers exercising in the Gymnasium | [296] |
| Side view of Stapleton | [328] |
| Back view of Stapleton | [366] |
| Front view of W. L. Anderson and Bellis | [440] |
| Back view of W. L. Anderson and Bellis | [442] |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OF FINANCIAL AID IN MEETING THE EXPENSE OF THE EXPERIMENTS HEREIN DESCRIBED
The writer has been most generously aided by substantial grants from the Bache Fund of the National Academy of Sciences, and from the Carnegie Institution of Washington; also by large donations from Mr. Horace Fletcher of Venice, and from Mr. John H. Patterson of Dayton, Ohio. In addition, the War Department of the United States met in large measure the expense of maintaining at New Haven the Detachment of Volunteers from the Hospital Corps of the United States Army, detailed here through the courtesy of Surgeon-General Robert Maitland O’Reilly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OF AID IN THE CONDUCT OF THE EXPERIMENTS
The successful carrying out of the experiments in all their details, especially the chemical work, has been rendered possible by the active and continuous co-operation of the writer’s colleague, Lafayette B. Mendel, Ph.D., Professor of Physiological Chemistry in the Sheffield Scientific School.
Efficient aid in the routine chemical and other work of the laboratory in connection with the experiments has been rendered by Frank P. Underhill, Ph.D., Arthur L. Dean, Ph.D., Harold C. Bradley, B.A., Robert B. Gibson, Ph.B., Oliver E. Closson, Ph.B., and Charles S. Leavenworth, Ph.B.
Dr. William G. Anderson, Director of the Yale Gymnasium, with the co-operation of his assistants, has rendered valuable aid in looking after the physical development of the men under experiment, in arranging for frequent strength tests, as well as in prescribing the character and extent of their work in the Gymnasium. The greater portion of the training of the soldiers was under the personal supervision of William H. Callahan, M.D., Medical Assistant at the Gymnasium, while Messrs. William Chase, Anton Muller, John Stapleton, and H. R. Gladwin, Assistant Instructors in the Gymnasium, led the drills and looked after the actual muscular training of the men.
In the study of “Reaction Time” and other matters of psychological interest the work was under the direction of Charles H. Judd, Ph.D., in charge of the Yale Psychological Laboratory, aided by Warren M. Steele, B.A., and Cloyd N. McAllister, Ph.D.
In the morphological study of the blood, etc., Dr. Wallace DeWitt, Lieutenant in command of the Army detail, rendered valuable aid. Dr. DeWitt likewise co-operated in all possible ways during his stay in New Haven to maintain the integrity of the conditions necessarily imposed on the soldier detail in an experiment of this character.
Further, acknowledgments are due the several non-commissioned officers of the Hospital Corps for their intelligent co-operation and interest. Finally, to the men of the Hospital Corps who volunteered for the experiment, our thanks are due for their cheerful compliance with the many restrictions placed upon them during their six months’ sojourn in New Haven, and for the manly way in which they conducted themselves under conditions not always agreeable.
To the students of the University who volunteered as subjects of experiment our acknowledgments are due for their intelligent co-operation, keen interest, and hearty compliance with the conditions imposed.
PREFACE
There is no subject of greater physiological importance, or of greater moment for the welfare of the human race, than the subject of nutrition. How best to maintain the body in a condition of health and strength, how to establish the highest degree of efficiency, both physical and mental, with the least expenditure of energy, are questions in nutrition that every enlightened person should know something of, and yet even the expert physiologist to-day is in an uncertain frame of mind as to what constitutes a proper dietary for different conditions of life and different degrees of activity. We hear on all sides widely divergent views regarding the needs of the body, as to the extent and character of the food requirements, contradictory statements as to the relative merits of animal and vegetable foods; indeed, there is great lack of agreement regarding many of the fundamental questions that constantly arise in any consideration of the nutrition of the human body. Especially is this true regarding the so-called dietary standards, or the food requirements of the healthy adult. Certain general standards have been more or less widely adopted, but a careful scrutiny of the conditions under which the data were collected leads to the conclusion that the standards in question have a very uncertain value, especially as we see many instances of people living, apparently in good physical condition, under a régime not at all in harmony with the existing standards.
Especially do we need more definite knowledge of the true physiological necessities of the body for proteid or albuminous foods, i. e., those forms of foods that we are accustomed to speak of as the essential foods, since they are absolutely requisite for life. If our ideas regarding the daily quantities of these foods necessary for the maintenance of health and strength are exaggerated, then a possible physiological economy is open to us, with the added possibility that health and vigor may be directly or indirectly increased. Further, if through years and generations of habit we have become addicted to the use of undue quantities of proteid foods, quantities way beyond the physiological requirements of the body, then we have to consider the possibility that this excess of daily food may be more or less responsible for many diseased conditions, which might be obviated by more careful observance of the true physiological needs of the body.
First, however, we must have more definite information as to what the real necessities of the body for proteid food are, and this information can be obtained only by careful scientific experimentation under varying conditions. This has been the object of the present study, and the results obtained are now placed before the public with the hope that they will prove not only of scientific interest and value, but that they will also serve to arouse an interest in the minds of thoughtful people in a subject which is surely of primary importance for the welfare of mankind. That the physical condition of the body exercises an all-powerful influence upon the mental state, and that a man’s moral nature even is influenced by his bodily condition are equally certain; hence, the subject of nutrition, when once it is fully understood and its precepts obeyed, bids fair to exert a beneficial influence not only upon bodily conditions, but likewise upon the welfare of mankind in many other directions.
In presenting the results of the experiments, herein described, the writer has refrained from entering into lengthy discussions, preferring to allow the results mainly to speak for themselves. They are certainly sufficiently convincing and need no superabundance of words to give them value; indeed, such merit as the book possesses is to be found in the large number of consecutive results, which admit of no contradiction and need no argument to enhance their value. The results presented are scientific facts, and the conclusions they justify are self-evident.
CONTENTS
| Page | |
| Acknowledgments | [v] |
| Preface | [vii] |
| Introductory | [1] |
| [I.] Experiments with Professional Men. | |
| Chittenden: Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc. | [24] |
| First Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, amount and character of the daily food | [34] |
| Second Nitrogen Balance, with composition of daily food, etc. | [43] |
| Mendel: Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc. | [53] |
| First Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, amount and character of the daily food | [60] |
| Second Nitrogen Balance, with composition of daily food, etc. | [67] |
| Underhill: Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc. | [79] |
| First Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, composition of the daily food, etc. | [87] |
| Second Nitrogen Balance, with composition of daily food, etc. | [93] |
| Dean: Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc. | [98] |
| Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, amount and character of the daily food | [103] |
| Beers: Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc. | [111] |
| First Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, amount and character of the daily food | [114] |
| Second Nitrogen Balance, with composition of daily food, etc. | [121] |
| Summary of Results; True Proteid Requirements | [127] |
| [II.] Experiments with Volunteers from the Hospital Corps of the United States Army. | |
| Description of the Men | [134] |
| Daily Routine of Work | [135] |
| Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc., for each of the thirteen men under experiment | [139] |
| Average Daily Output of Nitrogen | [199] |
| Nitrogen Metabolized per kilo of Body-Weight | [201] |
| Changes in Body-Weight during the Experiment | [202] |
| First Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, amount and character of the daily food | [203] |
| Second Nitrogen Balance, with composition of daily food, etc. | [223] |
| Third Nitrogen Balance, with composition of daily food, etc. | [242] |
| Summary regarding Nitrogen Requirement | [254] |
| Physical Training of the Men—Report by Dr. Anderson of the Yale Gymnasium | [255] |
| Body Measurements | [261] |
| Strength or Dynamometer Tests | [262] |
| Comparison of the Total Strength of the Men at the beginning and end of the Experiment | [274] |
| Reaction Time Experiments—Report by Dr. Judd of the Yale Psychological Laboratory | [276] |
| Character and Composition of the Blood | [283] |
| General Conclusions | [285] |
| Daily Dietary of the Soldier Detail | [288] |
| [III.] Experiments with University Students, trained in Athletics. | |
| Consumption of Proteid Food by Athletes | [327] |
| Description of the Men | [329] |
| Daily Record of Nitrogen Excretion, etc., for each of the eight men under Experiment | [332] |
| Average Daily Excretion of Metabolized Nitrogen | [364] |
| Metabolized Nitrogen per kilo of Body-Weight | [365] |
| Daily Diet Prescribed | [366] |
| Nitrogen Balance, with comparison of income and output, and amount and character of the daily food, etc. | [375] |
| The Physical Condition of the Men | [434] |
| Strength or Dynamometer Tests | [436] |
| Report by Dr. Anderson of the Yale Gymnasium | [439] |
| Reaction Time—Report by Dr. Judd of the Yale Psychological Laboratory | [442] |
| General Summary; True Physiological Requirements for Proteid Food | [454] |
| [IV.] The Systemic Value of Physiological Economy in Nutrition. | |
| Diseases due to Perversion of Nutrition | [455] |
| Waste Products of Proteid Metabolism may be Dangerous to Health | [456] |
| Origin and Significance of Uric Acid | [458] |
| Modification of Uric Acid Excretion by diminishing the amount of Proteid Food | [463] |
| Tables showing Excretion of Uric Acid by the three groups of men under observation; Uric Acid per kilo of Body-Weight, etc. | [467] |
| [V.] | |
| Economic and Sociological Importance of the Results | [471] |
| [VI.] | |
| General Conclusions | [474] |
| [VII.] | |
| Description of Illustrations | [477] |