PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



What a Man Eats He Is." 



Edited by C. F. La 

 Author of "On Citraconic, Itaconicand 



THE DIET OF THE VALE AND HARVARD 

 BOAT CREWS. 



The belief in the value of a special diet 

 for those in training for athletic feats is 

 perhaps as old as the sports .themselves. 

 The classical authors record much interest- 

 ing data on this subject. Recently Pro- 

 fessor W. O. Atwater and A. P. Bryant 

 made extended studies of the food habits 

 and diet of the Yale 'Varsity and the Har- 

 vard 'Varsity and Freshman Crews at their 

 home quarters and at Gale's Ferry just be- 

 fore the annual university boat race. A 

 special study was also made of the dietary 

 of the captain of the Harvard Freshman 

 Crew. As shown by th* investigations, the 

 diet of both the Yale and Harvard Crews 

 was simple in kind, but of good quality and 

 very abundant. Highly seasoned foods 

 were generally avoided. There was also a 

 reasonable variety as will be seen by the 

 menu of the Yale 'Varsity Crew for one 

 day. Breakfast consisted of sirloin steak, 

 lamb chops, bacon, toast, oatmeal, mush, 

 potatoes, strawberries, dates, butter, milk, 

 sugar and cream. The noon-day meal con- 

 sisted of roast beef, broiled chicken, scram- 

 bled eggs, toast, hominy, potatoes, straw- 

 berry short cake, dates, figs, milk and 

 cream ; the evening meal of chicken soup, 

 roast beef, macaroni, mashed potatoes, 

 green peas, dates, figs, ice cream and milk. 

 At all meals oatmeal water was used as a 

 beverage. No marked peculiarities in the 

 diet were observed. This is a matter of 

 interest, since the opinion is more or less 

 prevalent at present that large amounts of 

 sugar may be profitably added to the ration 

 of athletes, soldiers or others engaged in 

 active muscular exertion. Of special inter- 

 est in this connection is the report concern- 

 ing the addition of sugar to t.ie diet of boat 

 clubs in Holland during the training for a 

 race. It is stated on the authority of the 

 trainer of the Cornell University boat crew 

 that the men in training seemed to crave 

 susrar and were allowed all they wished on 

 cereals, in their tea, coffee, etc., but its use 

 in such foods as pie and cake was not con- 

 sidered desirable. 



Whether the diet followed by the Yale 

 and Harvard crews is more or less satis- 

 factory than a diet containing large 

 amounts of sugar or some other special 

 food material can not be decided without 

 comparative tests in which the kinds and 

 amount of food consumed are carefully re- 

 corded and other necessary observations 



NGWORTHY, PH. D. 



Mesaconic Acids," "Fish as Food," etc. 



made. Data are not at present available for 

 such comparisons. 



As shown by the average results ob- 

 tained, the daily diet of the Yale and Har- 

 vard crews furnished 155 grams of protein, 

 177 grams of fat, 440 grams of carbohy- 

 drates, and had a fuel value of 4,085 

 calories. It is of special interest to note the 

 large amount of energy in the dietary of the 

 athletes, and the still more striking differ- 

 ence in the amount of protein consumed by 

 these athletes as compared with ordinary 

 working people or ordinary college men. 

 Thus the energy of the food consumed per 

 man per day in the dietary studies of uni- 

 versity boat crews exceeded by 400 

 calories, or about 10 per cent the amount 

 found as the average of 15 dietary studies 

 among college clubs in different parts of 

 the country, while the nrotein in the studies 

 of the university boat crews was 48 grams, 

 or 45 per cent, larger in amount. In other 

 words, the difference in protein was four 

 and one-half times as great as the differ- 

 ence in fuel value, and the excess in pro- 

 tein would account tor a considerable part 

 of the excess in enerey of the diet of the 

 athletes as compared with men in ordinary 

 occupations. 



In this connection it is interesting to ob- 

 serve that many physiologists are coming 

 to entertain the view that the amount of 

 metabolism in the body is regulated not 

 simply by the muscular work, but also by 

 the nervous effort required in the perform- 

 ance of this work. The especially large pro- 

 portion of protein observed in the dietary 

 studies of the university boat crews, of 

 football teams, etc., as compared with the 

 dietary studies of college men with ordi- 

 nary exercise, and with ordinary families 

 of workingmen and professional men ac- 

 cords well with this view. 



The power of the body to perform the 

 maximum of muscular work within a com- 

 paratively short time and with a minimum 

 amount of fatigue is secured by means of 

 training. Of course, skill in the application 

 of muscular strength is as essential as is 

 the amount of power exerted. The skill 

 is sought by exercise and practice. The ob- 

 ject of regulating the diet in training is 

 not only to furnish the material to supply 

 the power, but also to put the machine in 

 the best condition for developing as well 

 as applying the power. In other words, the 

 man is to be subjected for a short time to 

 intense muscular strain and considerable 

 nervous effort. This he is to bear with a 



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