The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-22
Overeating as a Habit.

No, ,Sone needs to. ,Ybe told that tenn
perance in eating, as well as in drink
ing, will contribute to health and long
life. It is a new and rather startling
dictum, however, pronounced by Prof.
Russell H. Chittenden, director Of the
Sheffield Scientific school, in his ar
tieles In the, current Century. 4 He I'M
dertakes. to demonstrate that the aver
age man eats twice as much, or takes
in double the sanaouq4 t5uf nutrition, that
the body has any use for. The ex-
cess overloads the organs with work
and hastens their final breakdown.
Habit determines our meal times,
and also, according to Prof. Chit en-
den dictates the amount of food we
eat. We become hungry at stated
times because we are used to eating
at1sthose times, and we overload our
stomachs because, we have been tempt,
ed by dainties in the past, and have
formed the habit Of eating too much
To prove these statements the pro-
fessor has made experiments. He
tried the theory on mental workers,
on men doing moderate physical work,
and on athletes. ~ $3.50 %..3 =.
Statistics made Under the govern
ment authority, and with $4,000 per-
sons contributing, show, that the daily
consumption Of protein, or tissue
forming material. ranges from 100
grams in the case of a man at seden-
tarv work, to 1858 grams by a man
doing hard manual labor. The cal
cries or heat units, required to sup
ply heat and bodily energy by oxida-
tion range from 200 to $500 a day.
These statistics have been taken to show
that men need such amounts Of food
because the appetite Graves them and
the average subject is . found to eat
them in such quantities. Prof. Chit
tenden s experiments have been made
toss show that these. quantities of nu-
Itriment are determined by habit,
which may be easily broken, and are
not required to sustain bodily weight,
health and energy. ar.
Six Yale professors and instructors
| were the subjects under his first class,
the mental workers. Regulation and
study Of their diet for periods from six
months to two years showed that an
average intake of so grams of proteid
was sufficient, with fats and carbohy-
tdrates enough to yield fuel value of
1000 calories. They maintained this
rate Of eating without losing in weight,
after the first few days, and all reported
Ia gain in their general health, mental
vigor and energy, indicating that re-
moval Of the overload was a benefit.
Within few days they ceased to crave
Larger quantities of food, showing that
| they were not needed, but called for by
| habit
| A detail Of thirteen men from the
army hospital corps were subjects for
the second experiment., to show the
| amount of nutriment needed by men do
| ing moderate muscular work. These
men performed their daily duties, large
! " manual labor, took systematic gym
nasium work, and were eontented with
food intake Of SIS grams Of proteid
and a fuel value Of $500 calories. They
saved half their former consumption Of
heterogeneous food, and good share OF
| the fat and carbohydrate.
| A squad Of Yale athletes were sub.
jects Of the third experiment. They had
labored under the idea that men must
be- stuffed with muscle building food
land had taken $50 grams Of preteid
daily, with total fuel value Of 1850
Icabories. They reduced their food sup.
ply to So grams Of proteid in one case
and q in another, with fuel value OF
2.5oo to 5000 calories. During Eve