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936 METABOLISM.
The chief results from these investigations are that on partaking of
amounts of protein much smaller than Voit’s figures, without changing
the original supply of calories and indeed diminishing the same, the
persons experimented upon remained not only in nitrogenous equilibrium,
but in perfect health, and were not only able to perform ordinary work,
but were indeed regularly able to perform much greater work.
From these investigations, which extended over a long period and
were carried on with special care in exactitude, it cannot be denied that
man can for a long time exist with much smaller quantities of protein
than Voit’s figures call for, which is also derived from the experience of
vegetarians, and from people living almost entirely upon vegetable food.
On the other hand it must not be forgotten that Voit’s figures represent
average results not theoretically necessary, but which have been shown
to be the actual diet developed from habit, custom, conditions of life and
climate, with sufficient nourishment and free selection for centuries in
Middle and North Europe. A rational change in this food requirement
based upon scientific facts is just as difficult to determine as it is to carry
out practically. Certain standard figures for the general needs of nutri-
tion cannot be established because the conditions in various countries
are different and must necessarily be so. The numerous compilations
(of Atwater and others l
) on the diet of different families in America
have given the figures 97-113 grams protein for a man, and the very
careful investigations of Hultgren and Landergren have also shown
that the laborer in Sweden with moderate work and an average body
weight of 70.3 kilos, with optional diet, partakes 134 grams protein, 79
grams fat, and 522 grams carbohydrates. The quantity of protein
is here greater than is necessary, according to Voit. On the other hand
Lapicque 2
found 67 grams protein for Abyssinians and 81 grams for
Malaysians (per body weight of 70 kilos), materially lower figures.
If we compare the figures on page 933 with the average figures pro-
posed by Voit for the daily diet of a laborer, it would seem at the first
glance as if the food consumed in certain cases was considerably in excess
of the need, while in other cases, as, for instance, that of a seamstress
in London, it was entirely insufficient. A positive conclusion cannot,
therefore, be drawn if we do not know the weight of the body, as well
as the labor performed by the person, and also the conditions of living.
1
Atwater, Report of the Storrs Agric. Expt. Station, Conn., 1891-1895 and 1896;
also Nutrition investigations at the University of Tennessee, 1896 and 1897; U.S
Dept. of Agriculture, Bull. 53, 1898. See also Atwater and Bryant, ibid., Bull. 75.
Jaffa, ibid., 84; Grindley, Sammis, and others, ibid., 91.
2
Hultgren and Landergren, 1. c; Lapicque, Arch, de Physiol. (5), 6.
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