230 VITALITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH RESTRICTED DIET. 



The period between February 3 and March 14 represents 5§ weeks 

 (39 days). During this time these subjects gained from a minimum of 

 5.8 kg., in the case of Kon, to a maximum of 12.7 kg., in the case of Pea, 

 the average gain in weight of the 11 men being 9.8 kg. The gain in 

 weight over the lowest weight observed in the experiment ranged from 

 7.0 kg. with Kon, obtained February 7, ^. e., 4 days after the removal of 

 the diet restrictions, to 14.0 kg. with Moy and Pea, with an average 

 gain of 10.8 kg. What is of prime importance, however, is the fact that 

 with every man but Kon, whose last weight was February 7, the initial 

 weight, as found in September, 1917, was exceeded on March 14. This 

 increase ranged from 0.7 kg. with Bro to 7.2 kg. with Pec. Increases of 

 2.5 or more kilograms were observed for 6 of the 11 subjects.^ 



This great increase in weight following a period of reduced diet 

 recalls previously reported observations on a group of 5 college 

 students who were subjected to a 2-day fast at Wesleyan University 

 in the fall of 1905.^ By January, 1906, all of the men had made 

 measurable gains over their initial weight. A rough comparison with 

 the body-weights of a number of college students during the same 

 period of the year shows that while they also had a general tendency 

 to increase in weight during this portion of the year, the increase for 

 the subjects of the short fasting experiments was noticeably more than 

 that for their fellow students. The suggestion was made at that time 

 that a short period of inanition may so stimulate anabolism as to cause 

 a subsequent increase in body-weight in possible preparation for further 

 drafts upon body-tissue. ' ' The tendency to store body-fat exhibited by 

 the subjects of short fasts may indicate a protective action on the part 

 of the body to provide for a subsequent draft upon body-material."^ 



BODY-WEIGHTS COMPARED TO MORTALITY STANDARDS. 



A further analysis may be made of the body-weights of these men to 

 find if they represent optimum weights or not. For this purpose we 

 may compare them with the normal averages given in the Medico- 

 Actuarial Mortality Investigation tables for corresponding ages and 

 heights, and note the expectancy of life as there established.^ Although 

 the desirability of underweight has been especially emphasized by a 

 number of writers,^ more particularly in Dr. E. P. Joslin's admirable 

 treatise on diabetes mellitus,^ and in connection with the general prob- 

 lem of overeating, it is surprising that as a rule little stress is laid upon 

 the fact that it is distinctly disadvantageous for young people to be 

 underweight, although distinctly advantageous for people over 35 to be 



^ A portion of this gain may logically be attributed to the normal tendency of college students 



to gain during the fall and winter. 

 2 Benedict, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 77. 1907, p. 526. 

 ' Benedict, Harvey Society Lectures, 1906-1907, p. 199. Lecture delivered January 12, 1907. 



* Medico-Actuarial Mortality Investigation, II. Influence of Build on Mortality. The Asso- 



ciation of Life Insurance Medical Directors and the Actuarial Society of America, 

 New York, 1913. 



* Welch, Trans. Actuarial Society of America, 1916, 17, p. 17. 

 8 Joslin, Diabetes Mellitus, Philadelphia, 1917, 2d ed., p. 56. 



