New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-12
WHAT TO EAT.
Some People Need Meat, bit Most
Eat Too Much Of It.

Recently Professor Irving Fisher. Of Yale Uni
versty, made a series of endurance tests on
forty-nine persons, representing two contrasted
types of dietetic habits 1t generally re-
ported in the press that as result OF these eX-
periments il had been shown that vegetarians
had much greater endurance than flesh eaters.
This was seized upon a victory for vegeta-
rianism. Professor Fisher has more recently
given an account of the experiments and the
results III which he suggests that the distinction
should be made between high and low proteid
dietares rather than between those Of vege-
tables and flesh. A vegetable diet is not neces-
sarily low proteid diet, as there are vegetables
which are rich in protocols The report Of the
investigation also gave evidence that a
strictly vegetarian diet was necessary in order
to reach the maximum endurance The expert
ments suggested that diet of low proteid char
acter resulted in a greater degree of endurance.
Foodstuffs are divided into heat producers and
tissue builders. the proteids constituting the
latter.
The experiment a part of series OF
studies Professor Fisher is making the sub
1ect of endurance from the point of view of an
economist, seeking to discover what conditions
favor the labor power of nations. In his studies
he has pointed out that strength and endurance
are not the same. the strength of a muscle being
measured by the utmost force it can exert once,
while its endurance is measured by the number
OF times it repeat a given eXertion within
its strength,
The subjects OF the experiment We're Of three
classes-athletes accustomed TO a high proteid
and full flesh dietary. athletes accustomed to
low proteid and non-fesh dietary and sedentary
persons. who lived upon food Of a low proteid
and non-fesh character They consisted of Yale
instructors and students, Connecticut phys-
of he nh and
employees Of a well known vegetarian sana-
forum. The personnel of the sanatortum was
selected as representing abstainers from flesh
foods All OF these subjects except had
abstained from meat for periods of from four
twenty years, and five Of them had never eaten
such food. The exception had abstained for two
years only.
Two comparisons were planned, between
flesh eating athletes and flesh abstaining ath-
ietes and the other between flesh eating athletes
and flesh abstainng sedentary workers The
pitting of the sedentary workers against the
athletes handicap placed upon the "ab
stainers" Intentionally. in order TO give them a
more severe and decisive test in the first
comparison between the picked athletes of both
classes should turn out in their favor.
Three simple endurance tests were employed.
First, the arms were held horizontally as long as
possible. The second was deep knee bending
his back. The tests were made before wit
nesses.
In the arm holding contest the flesh abstain
ers showed great superiority. Even the maxi
mum record of the lovers of the feshpots was
barely more than half the average for the alb
staners. Only two of the fifteen flesh eaters
succeeded in holding their arms out over a
quarter of an hour. while twenty-five of the
1hirty-two OF the other class surpassed that
limit None of the flesh eaters reached half an
hour but fifteen of the thirty-two abstainers
exceeded that limit Nine of them exceeded an
hour; four. two hours, and one. three hours
in respect to deep knee bending only one of
the nine flesh lovers reached 1000 as against
six OF The twenty-One abstainers. None of the
former surpassed 1000, against two of the
latter.
The records for leg raising showed little differ
ence. None of the contestants reached their
absolute limits The highest record for the abb
stainers 1900 times.
The average records for each Of the three
classes were as follows:
Arm holding. athletic flesh eaters. 1G minutes:
flesh abstainers, II minutes; sedentary abstain
ers, 62 minutes.
Deep knee bending-Athetic flesh eaters. $40
times; flesh abstainers 9:;3 times and sedentary
abstainers 40 times
Professor Fisher shows why these differences
could not be due to exercise. sleep leisure
the part of the abstainers physique or fresh
air. He concludes. therefore. that the difference
in endurance must be due to the diet. From
examination he found that he contrast in the
groups in respect to flesh was closely associated
with the contrast I'm respect to the amount IF
proteid in the subjects. This examination
showed that the diet of the latter was low in
proteid as compared with the ordinary American
diet
Regarding the experiment Professor Fisher
says:
''Of the three groups compared, the large flesh
eaters showed far less endurance than the alb
stainers when the latter We're leading
sedentary life. With stronger reason must the
large flesh eaters of the sedentary type be in
ferior in endurance to abstainers. In view Of
The great superiority shown, the heavy handicap
Imposed upon the ahstainers and the absence of
It is improbable that this superiority can be ex-
planned away by adventurous circumstances. II
IS possible that the superiority Of the abstainers
IS due TO the absence of flesh foods or to the
use Of smaller amount of proteid or to both as
well as TO the abstention from tea, coffee and
condiments
mo attempt has been made 10 explain why
the OF high proteid or flesh food should di-