METABOLISM EXPERIMENTS WITH FILIPINO 

 STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES 1 

 By Francisco 0. Santos 2 

 Of i 



Published studies on the nutrition of the Filipinos are very few. 

 Aron and Hocson's work (3) is the only metabolic balance ex- 

 periment on Filipinos reported in the literature. The need for 

 further investigation along this line is therefore evident. The 

 present paper is intended as a forerunner of other work of a 

 similar nature which is being undertaken by the biological 

 chemistry section of the College of Agriculture, University of the 

 Philippines. 



REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 



The following review of the literature shows that very little 

 study has been done on the nutrition of Filipinos. 



A food, to be adequate, must furnish the body not only with 

 the necessary calories in the form of proteins, fats, and carbohy- 

 drates, but also with enough of the inorganic elements of which 

 the body is composed. In addition to these, the so-called vitam- 

 ines are indispensable. 



In general it can be said that, given a free choice, the Filipinos, 

 just as any other people, will take adequate diet. Instinct plays 

 an important role in this. Unfortunately, one cannot always 

 get the food he wants, and is thus forced to take whatever is 

 available. Poverty and lack of supply are what generally limit 

 the food choice of an individual. 



Carbohydrates. — Rice is very rich in carbohydrates and, since 

 it is the principal food of Filipinos, it is very easy to see that they 

 are surely getting enough of this foodstuff for the needs of the 

 body. Aron(i) found that the Filipino prisoners in Manila were 

 getting an average of 510 grams of carbohydrates daily, and 

 that a Filipino workman consumed 525 grams. Roxas and 



'The data in the present paper are taken from the dissertation pre- 

 sented by me for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1922. 

 2 Traveling Fellow of the University of the Philippines. 



