THE PROTEIN METABOLISM OF MANKIND 81 



The second and more important reason is to clear up a mis- 

 conception into which Chittenden appears to have fallen with 

 regard to the dietary of the mass of the people of Bengal. In his 

 very interesting and instructive paper on the merits of a low 

 protein dietary, read before the Therapeutic Section at the 

 last meeting of the British Medical Association, Chittenden,* 

 whilst admitting the poor physique of the Bengali, his lack of 

 good health, want of vigour, and poor capacity for manual 

 labour, and low resistance to disease and infection, attributes 

 these characteristics not to his poor supply of protein, but to 

 the character of the food. 



In proof of this he quotes extracts from the memoirs dealing 

 with the work done on the metabolism of the Bengali and on the 

 gaol dietaries of Bengal. In the greater part of these extracts it 

 was the gaol dietaries that were being criticized and not the 

 dietary of the people in general. 



The full gaol diet for Bengali prisoners is 



Rice .. 26 oza.} (Protein .. 93 grms.l 



Dal .. 6 }=J Carbohydrates 693 [ 



Vegetables 6 J [Fat .. . . 30 J 



of which only about 50 to 55 per cent, of the protein is absorbed. 

 It is with regard to the ill-balanced proportions of this type of 

 diet that the following criticism applies : " Simply as a means of 

 providing fuel for the system there is a very heavy wastage, while 

 the constant fermentation and putrefaction made possible by 

 the copious nitrogenous residue in the alimentary canal must 

 form a source of chronic irritation to the mucous membrane of 

 the bowel, predisposing to intestinal catarrh, diarrhoea, etc. 

 At the same time, the products of the putrefactive micro- 

 organisms on absorption lower the general vitality, causing 

 anaemia, toxaemia, and many other symptoms of ill-health." 

 Chittenden justly asks what bearing have these results on the 

 merits of a proper low protein intake where the diet is well 

 balanced, and shows a reasonable degree of digestibility and 

 availability ? 



The answer is simple enough. Accepting Chittenden' s criterion 

 the loss of nitrogen in the faeces of an ill-balanced, non- 

 physiological dietary, the facts obtained from a study of the 

 people of Bengal do not support his explanation of the poor 

 physique of the rice-eating Bengali. Thus the results obtained 



* Chittenden, British Medico!, Journal, September 23, 1911, p. 661. 



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