NUTRITION IN MAN 341 



1. The question of the protein minimum. 



2. Comparison of the nutritive value of vegetable and animal 

 protein. 



3. The chemical groups in protein responsible for its high biological 

 value. 



4. Influence of war food on the health of the people. 

 Unfortunately, because of lack of space, we can not enter into a 



detailed discussion of the above questions. Protein has always been 

 given an exceptional place in the system of nutrition and correctly 

 so. Recently, this has been brought out in the work of Gigon (1216) 

 and Grumme (1217). It is quite important to know the physiological 

 protein minimum, and in this respect, there are the views held by 

 two schools that of Voit-Rubner, which requires a high protein 

 minimum, and that of Chittenden-Hindhede, which is satisfied with 

 a considerably smaller figure. The figures of Chittenden were 

 appreciably reduced by Hindhede (l.c 732), who showed (1218) in a 

 great number of extended nutrition experiments, that adults could 

 maintain themselves and work normally on a daily quota of 20 grams 

 of assimilated protein and 3900 calories. The investigations were 

 continued for a longer time than usual for experimental purposes 

 and therefore are very convincing. In one instance, the experiment 

 lasted 305 days and the diet consisted of potatoes (cf. p. 255), mar- 

 garine, and sometimes onions and fruits. Hindhede believed that 

 when the diet contains sufficient calories, one does not need to worry 

 about the protein content, taking care only that the diet should 

 contain sufficient vitamines. The bread experiments of Hindhede 

 (1219) fall in the same category. Of the bread, made from whole 

 wheat, 30 to 35 grams assimilated protein were necessary. The rest 

 of the diet consisted of margarine and fruits, and the longest experi- 

 ment lasted 242 days. One experiment with coarsely smashed wheat 

 (I.e. 791) lasted 282 days. In some of these investigations it is even 

 noteworthy that the persons submitting to the experiment did not 

 develop scurvy, though it is possible that fruits were used. The 

 minimum protein figure was very low in experiments with barley- 

 water gruel (1220), with the addition of margarine and sugar. 

 Hindhede (1221) also studied the fat minimum in nutrition which is 

 likewise of importance in the determination of the value of war diets. 

 In this case, the experimental diet was composed of potatoes, cabbage, 

 rhubarb and apples, but without addition of fat. The experimental 



