124 THE PROTEIN ELEMENT IN NUTRITION 



protein, lias a marked influence on the physical development and 

 welfare of a race. With regard to the protein element, v. Noorden 

 asks the question : " That the organism may be injured by an 

 overloading with the products of nitrogenous decomposition 

 may be true in cases of disease, but is it true for the healthy indi- 

 vidual ? Are the carnivora less healthy than the herbivora 

 because they consume a larger quantity of flesh ? The danger 

 resulting from the formation of toxins in the intestinal canal 

 when large quantities of protein are taken seems scarcely to be 

 founded on sufficiently strong evidence." 



Chittenden's subjects all showed marked improvement in their 

 general health and in bodily strength ; he claims these results as 

 evidence of the merits of a low protein dietary. Against his con- 

 clusions it may be at once put forward that any healthy set of 

 men placed under similar conditions on a diet rich in protein, 

 instead of protein-poor, would, in all probability, have shown 

 even better results. The great objection to the experiments is 

 that they were carried out without controls. 



The subjects were placed under almost ideal conditions for 

 insuring the success of the investigations : they were made to 

 lead regular lives ; their food was carefully chosen and properly 

 cooked ; there was a total abstinence from alcohol, condiments, 

 and indiscretions from consumption of rich foods, sweetmeats, 

 etc. With a carefully regulated life such as these men were com- 

 pelled to pursue, great improvement in health was only to be 

 expected. Even in diseased conditions the regular routine of a 

 sanatorium often transforms the bodily conditions in a compara- 

 tively short space of time. The 100 per cent, increase in strength 

 shown by the members of the Army Hospital Corps is not of any 

 importance further than to show that the men were in good 

 health. Any man on a diet above the starvation limit who prac- 

 tised gymnastics for one and a half hours daily for six months 

 would exhibit great improvement in strength, and in ease of 

 execution of the required tests. 



Benedict, in a critical examination of the data furnished by 

 Chittenden regarding the absorption of protein exhibited by 

 these eleven men of the Hospital Corps, brings to light one very 

 important abnormality : During the three periods of the nitrogen 

 balance six, seven, and five days all the men lived on prac- 

 tically the same ration. With normal healthy men eating the 

 same kind and quantities of foodstuffs, practically identical quan- 



