General Summary.
It is quite evident from a study of the results obtained in the foregoing experiments that young, vigorous men of the type under observation, trained in athletics, accustomed to the doing of vigorous muscular work, can satisfy all the true physiological needs of their bodies and maintain their physical strength and vigor, as well as their capacity for mental work, with an amount of proteid food equal to one-half, or one-third, that ordinarily consumed by men of this stamp. As the results show, all these men reduced their rate of proteid metabolism in such degree that the amount of nitrogen excreted daily during the period of the experiment averaged 8.8 grams, implying a metabolism of about 55 grams of proteid matter per day.
In other words, these athletes were able to reduce their nitrogenous metabolism to as low a level as many of the men of the professional group and of the soldier group, and this with not only maintenance of health and strength, but with a decided increase in their muscular power.
Metabolized nitrogen per kilo of body-weight for all these men, with one exception, during the experiment amounted to 0.108 to 0.134 gram per day, fully as low as was obtained with the members of the soldier detail on their prescribed diet. It is clear, therefore, that physiological economy in nutrition is as safe for men in athletics as for men not accustomed to vigorous exercise. There is obviously no physiological ground for the use of such quantity of proteid food, or of total nutrients, as the prevalent dietary standards call for.
The athlete, as well as the less active man (physically), or the professional man, can meet all his ordinary requirements with an intake of proteid food far below the quantities generally consumed, and this without increasing in any measure the amount of non-nitrogenous food.