118 THE PROTEIN ELEMENT IN NUTRITION 



and became free from certain disorders that had previously given 

 trouble. From tests carried out this group showed an improve- 

 ment of 100 per cent, in their dynamometric records. Even the 

 athletes who had previously been in training showed an increase 

 of 50 per cent, in muscular power. 



As a general summary of his experimental results, Chittenden 

 draws the conclusion that the need for protein food by adults may 

 be fully met by a daily metabolism equal to an exchange of 

 0-12 gramme of nitrogen per kilo of body weight, provided the 

 amount of non-nitrogenous food is sufficient to supply the energy 

 requirements of the body. Hence for an average man weighing 

 70 kilos, or 154 pounds, 60 grammes of protein food daily would 

 be amply sufficient to meet the needs of the body. " These, I 

 believe, are perfectly trustworthy figures, with a reasonable 

 margin of safety, and carrying perfect assurance of being really 

 more than adequate to meet the true wants of the body, sufficient 

 to supply all physiological demands for reserve protein, and able 

 to cope with the erratic requirements of personal idiosyncrasies. 

 It will be observed that such an intake of protein food daily is 

 equal to one-half the Voit standard for a man of this weight." 



In corroboration of Chittenden' s findings there is the evidence 

 afforded by a vegetarian married couple whose metabolism was 

 investigated by Caspari and Glassner. The protein in the food 

 varied from 33 to 49 grammes per day. Hamill and Schryver, 

 from observations on the nitrogen excretion of scientific men in 

 London, found that the protein of the diet was, on the average, 

 about 70 grammes daily, a somewhat higher figure than Chitten- 

 den advocates, but considerably lower than the Voit standard. 



Further, as has been shown on a large scale with regard to the 

 teeming millions of Bengal, the great mass of the rice-eating 

 inhabitants live on a protein intake that is even lower than that 

 advocated by Chittenden, but which provides an identical nitro- 

 genous metabolism per kilo of body weight viz., about 0-12 

 gramme. 



The most recent work* on the subject by Chittenden makes 

 an attempt to prove that healthy men doing a moderate amount 

 of work do not consume on an average the amount of protein 

 food called for by the ordinary standards. With a view of ob- 

 taining evidence on this question, he made a large number of 

 observations on healthy men, mostly young and vigorous students 



* Chittenden, British Medical Journal, vol. ii., 1911. 



