DIET AND NUTRITION OF FILIPINOS. 201 



by the lower caste Bengalese in Indiaj according to a recent research by 

 MeCay from the Medical College in Calcutta/ is only 30 to 40 grams. 

 I believe that this fact depends on the wholly vegetable diet partaken 

 of and not upon the tropical climate. One often finds in the literature 

 the statement that the amount of protein needed in the tropics is lower 

 than that required in a temperate climate; furthermore, because the 

 natives eat much less protein, it is assumed that it would be unheal thful 

 for a European to take the same amount of protein as at home. I have 

 attempted to show that this doctrine is incorrect. 



The next question to be answered is whether or not the rations issued 

 at Bilibid Prison are a fair sample of an average Filipino diet. As 

 already mentioned, it is very hard to answer such a question accurately, 

 even when dealing with educated people. Therefore we will have to be 

 content with roughly approximate values. Our most reliable method is 

 to study the protein metabolism. The nitrogen in the urine is a measure 

 of the protein bodies burned by the subject and if we choose for the 

 experiment an adult man, who does his usual work, and eats his accus- 

 tomed food, we can with great probability assume that the nitrogen 

 of the protein of his food, so far as the protein is digestible, appears in 

 the urine.* My student-assistant, Mr. Santos, and myself have examined 

 the total nitrogen excreted in twenty-four hours in at least three different 

 samples of urine from our Filipino laboratory servants. In the examina- 

 tions made up to this time, we have never obtained less than 10 grams of 

 nitrogen in twenty-four hours, and usually we have found about 12 grams, 

 which corresponds to about 70 to 75 grams of absorbed protein. Some 

 nitrogen determinations which were prepared on the urines of Filipino 

 students showed a nitrogen content of about 13 to 15 grams, correspond- 

 ing to from 70 to 100 grams protein. The results of these examinations 

 warrant the statement that the quantity of protein found on an average 

 in the prisoners' food corresponds to the protein intake of the average 

 Filipino workman. 



Concerning the estimation of the caloric value of the food of the people, 

 we are forced to apply a rougher method. The Filipino is accustomed to 

 . take his food, together with others, from the same d ishes and is hence 

 unable to state with accuracy the quantity of food that he individually 

 consumes. We know that the Filipino lives principally on rice and 

 fish, some vegetables and fruits, and very seldom eats meat for the 

 reason that it is not always, for him, obtainable. According to ob- 

 servations on my house servants and from information obtained by 

 questioning my students, I have found that the amount taken is froni 

 650 to 700 grams of rice per day and about 300 to 350 grams of fish. 



^8ci. Mem. Off. Med. San. Dept. India, Calcutta, (1908) 34, 1. 

 * A part of the nitrogen is excreted in the sweat. 



