REQUISITES OF DIET I&I 



the body temperature and energy to carry on the necessary or- 

 ganic functions, the organism is physiologically bankrupt and 

 assignment follows death is at hand. 



DIETETICS. 



The appetite, under normal conditions, may be depended upon 

 to regulate both quantity and quality of diet in a fairly satisfactory 

 manner. Different peoples require different proportions and 

 amounts of the various food-stuffs and the same is true of any 

 given individual for varying conditions of temperature, exercise, 

 etc. But in any case the object of eating is to prevent the loss, 

 in aggregate, of proteid tissue, fat, etc. to replace the wastes, 

 and that in the most convenient and economical way. 



When the ingesta exceed the excreta the animal is gaining in 

 weight; when opposite conditions obtain he is losing; when 

 there is a balance between the two the body equilibrium is being 

 maintained. 



Determination of the Requisites of a Diet. The usual 

 method of determining, in a scientific manner, the requisites of a 

 normal diet for persons in general is to estimate the amount of 

 the various excretions from the bodies of a limited number of per- 

 sons in health, and from this knowledge to calculate the amount 

 and kind of food which will supply the demands in the most 

 satisfactory way, it being assumed that these excretions represent 

 the normal and necessary metabolism going on in the body. The 

 results of such examination are found to correspond with the 

 actual demands of the system. 



It has been seen that the organism demands some fifteen or 

 more chemical elements for use to keep itself in good running 

 order; it has been seen also that its demands, so far as quantity 

 is concerned, are chiefly confined to carbon, hydrogen, oxygen 

 and nitrogen. The other elements deserve no attention here 

 since they (excepting sodium chloride) are unconsciously intro- 

 duced with the ordinary foods in amounts sufficient to satisfy the 



