Do We Eat Too Much ?

Otago Witness, Issue 2727, 20 June 1906, Page 68

Do We Eat Too Much ?

Do we eat to> much? is the question in the air. There is one answer of no uncertain sound. "Yes," answers Professor Chittenden, of Yale, "U.S.A., twice as much astis good for us." The foremost authorities have agreed that the normal man of about 11 stone in weight needs a minimum of about of proteid to £lb of carbohydrate and 3oz of fat to keep him in bodily repair and efficiency. Tfcanke, Voit, Hutchison, and other eminent physiologists may vary fractionally, but in essentials they are agreed. A sandwich, generously buttered, just about blends these constituents in just proportion. Proteid food conveys its share of heat and energy, if very expensively, but ite main usefulness, it is held, is as a tissue builder. It repairs the wear and tear of the cells. It is richest in animal food (meal, milk, eggs). Thu3 the daily allowance of 4oz would represent about 20 eggs, or four and a-half platefuls of meat. The professor's attack is chiefly against proteid. His attention to the subject was directed by his acquaintance with a layman, a Mr Horace Fletcher, who at the age of 60 was able, according to a qualified observer, "to do the work of trained athleteq .narked evidences of overexertion . . . with greater ease and fewer noticeably bad results than any man of his age I have ever worked with." His interest aroused, the professor, in the true spirit of science, began to experiment on himself. Gradually he reduced his acoustomed intake of nitrogenous (proteid) food to about lioz. At first he lost weight, and, humanly speaking, it is satisfactory to note that his natural appetite demurred. But at the end of a year he could claim that his weight remained constant, that he was in a condition of meet satisfactory mer.tal and physical fitness, and) that he had rid himself of an old standing rheumatic trouble and a tendency to biliousness. Further, he was less liable to fatigue than ever before, and his appetite had learnt to acquiesce in tho arrangement. These benefits ho attributed solely to the reduction of his nitrogenous diet, without any countervailing increase — a decrease, rather — of its non-nitrogenous elements. Later ho carried on the experiment on tlie self-sacrificing bodies of five of his colleagues at Yale, as representing the professional classes and brain workers, for a period of from seven to nine months. With allowance made for the personal factor, all lived on a similarly restricted diet. In every case proteid food was reduced to either a third or less than half of the accepted minimum. In the end their weight was constant, their health excellent, and their aptitude for work and moderate exorcise increased with less subsequent fatigue.

A squad) of soldiers, as representing workers who«o employment ontails active musuclar exertion, furnished the raw material for tho second experiment After wocding out tho unsuitable (usually alcoholics), nino men, ranging in ago from 21 to 43, and representing various racial types, underwent tho regime for a period of about fivo months. Bulkier food than in the previous inManceq was allo'wcd, but in all ca?o» tho usual proteid rations were reduced by 50 per cent. At the same time th« men w<»r© under a stiff course of physical drill . and gymnastic exercises. Finally, their trainer reported tliem all to be in the pink of physical condition.

The third group under observation for four to five months (the professor's observation means that every mouthful of food is weighed and its nutritive value recorded) was one of eight Yale athletes, between the ages of 21 and 26, baseball and football players, rowing men and distance runners, all in strict training. Thedr meat diet, in which they had pinned their faith, was cut down to about half of what a normally active man thinks he requires, and on which a 'Varsity crew would believe itself starved. On tho other hand, their bill of fare shows delicacies, such as "clam chowder, briddle cakce and Byrup and cream pie," calculated to make tie hair of an orthodox coach stand on end. Yet they throve apace, it eeems, judged: by the strength tests applied to them as to the soldiers, though several lost in weight. One, indeed, won tho inter-collegiate championship of tho States on tho professor's regime. They all "camo on" in their respective sports, and their trainer complacently reports them to be "in good shape,"

It is on this series of experiments, recorded by scientific men with elaborate minuteness, that Professor Ohittenden bases his argument for "physiological economy in nutrition." If it can be demonstrated, he argues, that it is possible not only to maintain health but to increase in bodily vigour on a diet reduced to between a half and a third of the accepted proteid minimum, it is beyond dispute that most people eat too much. If more food than is necessary be consumed, an unnecessary amount of work, with its consequent waste of energy, is thrown on the digestive mechanism. It might well be economised for other purposes.