1913^ Chemistry of Diet 175 



that diets Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 should contain 1500, 2000, 2500 

 and 3000 calories, respectively. Personally, I would think 

 his protein per cent, for a sick man very high. However, this 

 is a matter of opinion, after all, and depends altogether upon 

 what is indicated. Of all the conspicuous and far reaching 

 dietaries of this kind, the most recent were, probably, those of 

 Professor Chittenden and associates, at Yale, upon United 

 States soldiers. These men were under military discipline all 

 the while, and their diet and activity were capable of accurate 

 measurement during a relatively long period. The results of 

 these experiments, familiar to you all, was to lower the protein 

 standard or requirement to about 40 to 50 grams, per day, or, 

 one-third the usual practice for an average healthy man per- 

 forming a normal daily routine of active life. The protein part 

 of the diet has always been the subject of chief interest on 

 account of its great complexity and its relation to the repair 

 of tissue wastes and the association of its end-products of 

 digestion with pathological conditions. 



It has been very valuable to establish upon an experimental 

 basis these various standards of the past. However, 

 they must be looked upon as maximum and minimum 

 guides between which we may select with discretion 

 and not as rules to follow. There can be no satis- 

 factory diet for all classes of men or any individual for 

 all time. ISTo two of us will get the same results from a fixed 

 diet, neither will any one of us continue indefinitely to derive 

 the same results from a fixed diet for all times of life. You 

 have doubtless been asked many times, "Doctor, what shall I 

 eat ?" If you take it seriously, it is one of the hardest questions 

 you receive in your practice and calls for many in return from 

 you. You must first know the conditions for which you are to 

 prescribe. It all depends upon the age, bodily activity, health, 

 environment of climate, state of mind, etc., and, last of all, 

 what you can find out about the personal idiosyncracies. It 

 may be reasonable for you to inquire in return, '' Are your 

 habits, proportions and physiological processes normal, in your 

 best knowledge ?" " Do you suffer from anemia, or surplus 



