The nutrition of man

by R. H. Chittenden

Name of Food and “Portion” roughly estimated.	Weight contain- ing 100 Calories.		Proteid.	Fat.	Carbo- hydrate.	Total.
	ounces	grams	calories	calories	calories	calories
Almonds, a dozen	0.53	15	13.0	77.0	10	100
Bananas, one large	3.50	98	5.0	5.0	90	100
Bread, a large slice	1.30	37	13.0	6.0	81	100
Butter, an ordinary pat	0.44	13	0.5	99.5	. .	100
Eggs, one large	2.10	60	32.0	68.0	. .	100
Oysters, a dozen	6.80	190	49.0	22.0	29	100
Potatoes, one	3.60	100	10.0	1.0	89	100
Whole milk, two-thirds glass	4.90	140	19.0	52.0	29	100
Beef sirloin, a small piece	1.40	40	31.0	69.0	. .	100
Sugar, five teaspoons	0.86	24	. . . .	. . . .	100	100

Obviously, to make use of the “calories per cent” method a table such as the above, covering all common foodstuffs and showing the weight of each food constituting a standard portion, together with the calories of proteid, fat, and carbohydrate in this portion, is necessary. The chief advantage of the method, however, is that it lends itself readily to geometrical representation and affords an easy means of determining the constituents of combinations of different foods by use of a simple mechanism, for a description of which reference must be made to the original paper.

Any attempt to follow a daily routine which accords with the true needs of the body leads necessarily toward foods derived from the plant kingdom, with the adoption of simple dietary habits, and with greater freedom from the exciting influence of the richer animal foods. There is, however, virtue in a simple dietary that appeals and satisfies, and in so doing testifies to the completeness with which it meets the physiological requirements of the body. A physician,[78] writing in the “British Medical Journal,” says: “I determined to give the minimum-of-proteid diet a fair trial in my own case. The result was that I was relieved of a life-long tendency to acid dyspepsia and occasional sick headache; my fitness for work, my appetite and relish for food, were increased, without any diminution, but rather a slight increase, in my weight. My practice extends over a wide area of rough mountainous country involving long journeys on cycle, on foot, driving, and in open boats, in fair and foul weather. The muscular exertion and endurance necessary for the work would seem to require a large proportion of proteid and a generous diet altogether, but since I began to experiment I have suffered less than formerly from fatigue, and seem to eat in all a smaller quantity of food. My diet consists of:

Breakfast, 8.30 A.M.—Oatmeal cakes, bread and butter, about 1 cubic inch of cheese or bloater paste, marmalade, and one breakfast cup of tea.

Lunch, 1.30 P.M.—Same as breakfast, with occasionally a boiled egg, and sometimes coffee instead of tea.

Dinner, 7 P.M.—Thick soup containing vegetables, with bread, followed by suet pudding or fruit tart; or vegetable stew, containing 2 or 3 ounces of meat, with boiled potatoes, followed by milk pudding and jam, and occasionally a cup of black coffee.”

This statement of personal experience is in close accord with statements that have come to the writer in hundreds of letters during the past two or three years, from persons who have for some reason chosen to follow a more abstemious mode of life. Such testimony has a certain measure of value in that it offers corroborative evidence of the beneficial effects of a moderate diet, more closely in accord with the actual demands of the body for food. It does not, however, carry quite that degree of assurance that scientific evidence, gathered by careful observers and controlled by weights and measures that hold the imagination in check, affords; and so we may turn to a different type of testimony, presented in an elaborate research by Dr. Neumann,[79] of the Hygienic Institute at Kiel, an experiment on himself extending through a total of 746 days.

The experiment was divided into three periods. In the first period of ten months the subject, with a body-weight of 66.5 kilograms, consumed daily on an average the amounts of food indicated in the following table. In this same table are also included the daily values, based on the preceding data, for a body-weight of 70 kilograms. Thirdly, the table likewise shows the amounts of utilizable food contained in the foodstuffs actually eaten, on the basis of 70 kilos body-weight.

AVERAGE DAILY FOOD FOR TEN MONTHS

	Actually consumed by the Subject, 66.5 Kilos	Calculated for a Body-weight of 70 Kilos	Utilizable Food for a Body-weight of 70 Kilos
Proteid	66.1 grams	69.1 grams	57.3 grams
Fat	83.5 grams	90.2 grams	81.2 grams
Carbohydrate	230.0 grams	242.0 grams	225.0 grams
Alcohol	43.7 grams	45.6 grams	41.0 grams
Fuel value	2309 calories	2427 calories	2199 calories