AN EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRY REGARDING THE NUTRITIVE 



VALUE OF ALCOHOL. 



BT W. O. ATWATER AND F. (i. BENEDICT. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The present report gives the details of a number of metabolism experiments with men, in 

 which the effects of diet with and without alcohol have been compared." The details of a number 

 of digestion experiments, which form part of the same investigations, have also been included. 



PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 



The main purpose of the experiments has been to get light upon the effects of alcohol in the 

 diet, with especial reference to the question of its nutritive value. 



Food is used in the body to build and repair tissue and to furnish energy. Only the 

 nitrogenous compounds (protein) of the food serve the first purpose; they also serve as a source 

 of energy, but the main supply of energy is obtained from the fats and carbohydrates. The fuel 

 ingredients may be burned at once or may be stored for future use. 



Alcohol contains no nitrogen and therefore can not build or repair tissue; it is rather to be 

 classed with the fats and carbohydrates, and if it has any food value, this must be as a fuel. It does 

 not appear to be stored for any considerable time, but is disposed of soon after it is taken into 

 the body. 



Alcohol, however, differs from the protein, fats, and carbohydrates of food materials in that 

 it may exert, and when taken in large enough doses does exert, an indirect action upon the brain 

 and nerves and through them upon the nutritive and other processes to which the general term 

 metabolism is applied. In this way its actual value may be either increased or diminished 

 according as it aids or hinders digestion, or either accelerates or retards metabolism. We have 

 then to consider not only its direct action as nutriment for the supply of energy, but also its 

 indirect action upon the metabolism and utilization of other food. In the experiments here 



"The inquiry was undertaken at the instance of the Committee of Fifty for the Investigation of the Drink 

 Problem. The experimental work was done in the chemical laboratory of Wesleyan University. A large share of the 

 expense was borne by the committee of fifty although contributions were also received from the Elizabeth Thompson 

 and Bache funds and from private individuals. The experiments were parallel with others of similar character, 

 which are conducted under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture. These latter experiments 

 form a part of a general inquiry regarding the food and nutrition of man, which is authorized by Congress and 

 prosecuted in different parts of the United States. The special inquiry into the nutritive action of alcohol was made 

 possible by the generosity of Wesleyan University, which offered to the committee of fifty the use of laboratory and 

 other facilities that have been made available to the Department of Agriculture and the Storrs Experiment Station 

 for nutrition inquiries. 



The investigation has been pursued with the active cooperation of a number of gentlemen, including especially 

 Mr. A. P. Bryant, under whose direction the computations of the results have been made, and Mr. A. W. Smith, Dr. 

 O. F. Tower, and Dr. J. F. Snell, all of whom have been intimately associated with the elaboration of the apparatus 

 and methods. Mr. Smith and Dr. Snell served as subjects in several of the experiments reported beyond, though 

 the subject of the larger number was Mr. E. Osterberg. 



The details of the experiments without alcohol and of two of those with alcohol, Nos. 7 and 10, have been 

 published in bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture as stated beyond. 



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