CONCERNING LOW PROTEIN DIETARIES 133 



at Chittenden's results, and the more remote effects of dietaries 

 low in protein. Hutchison* summarizes some of these, and 

 Crichton-Brownef discusses many others in detail : 



1. While a low standard of protein intake may be adopted 

 with apparent impunity for considerable periods, it does not 

 follow that it can safely be pursued indefinitely. Excess of 

 protein is regarded as a margin of safety in increasing the general 

 tone of the system and the resistance to disease. Just as chronic 

 excesses in diet are slow in exacting their penalties, so a sub- 

 liminal diet may also be tardy in manifesting its untoward effects. 



It is generally recognized that abrupt changes in the daily 

 food are very liable to produce gastro-intestinal trouble and 

 failure in health. It is quite possible that radical changes, even 

 when gradually introduced, may have ill-effects of an insidious 

 nature long before there is any obvious breakdown in health. 



2. Existence at the lower limits of protein metabolism un- 

 doubtedly results in a wasting of the nitrogenous tissues and 

 fluids of the body during every special call or demand for increased 

 effort. This disintegrated tissue may take weeks to replace, and 

 thus convalescence from illness may be prolonged and recovery 

 rendered incomplete. 



3. The effects of a diminished protein intake on the race is of 

 far greater importance than on the individual. The experiences 

 gained in India are specially interesting from this point of view, 

 and will be fully discussed presently. Suffice it at present to 

 say, that those people whose dietary affords a low level of protein 

 metabolism are, so far as our knowledge goes, of poor physique, 

 wanting in stamina, and lacking in the manly quantities that are 

 essential in commanding and maintaining the respect of the more 

 virile races. 



4. Chittenden's claim, that the elimination of crystalline 

 nitrogenous bodies through the kidneys places upon these organs 

 an unnecessary burden, which is liable to endanger their integrity, 

 and possibly result in serious injury, in so far as it applies to the 

 ordinary accepted standard, cannot be substantiated, and is 

 opposed to universal experience. 



Many other points might be raised, some of which we shall 

 discuss in detail later. One very important subject is the bearing 

 of a low protein dietary on the susceptibility to disease. We have 



* Hutchison, " Food and the Principles of Dietetics," p. 24. 

 t Sir J. Crichton-Browne, " Parsimony in Nutrition," 1909 



