Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-02-10

of all forms of life and particularly of birds and animals.
 ?. The history of dietetics of man. kind from the earliest discernable times to the present day.
 8. The study of the diets of primi- tive races and tribes in the recent past.
 4. The experience of individuals. 5. Scientific laboratory experi- ments on animals.
 6. Laboratory or group experi- ments on man.
 From all these sources we gain our present knowledge of nutrition. No one of them can be neglected. The man who focuses his attention on lab oratory animal experiments, neglect ing to take into consideration the broader and more general sources of knowledge on the subject, will cer- tinly be led astray.
 Unwarranted Emphasis Is Placed
 Upon Vitamines
 The discovery of the function of the vitamines has so excited some of their discoverers as to lead them to place special and unwarranted en- phasis on the importance of these food accessories even to the denial of protein and calories as the fundament- al basis of nutrition. Another mis- representation which has been made and is even now made by the vita minists Is that milk is the only source or the only suitable source of vita mines. This is far from the truth. They are so generally distributed in natural food stuffs that it is difficult to prepare a food substance in the laboratory which can be said to be absolutely devoid of one or another of them.
 In connection with the undue en- phasis which has been placed on vita mines in the excitement consequent on their discovery, we have heard much of the term safety factor" bor- rowed from the engineering profes- sion and applied to vitamines in the diet. It has been stated that we re- quire not only a sufficient quantity of vitamines to insure growth and health but that we must supply the body with more than enough of these vital substances; in other words, pro- vide sufficient safety factor so that there will be an excess or surplus to draw on, just as the engineer pro- vides safety factor of strength in excess of the actual requirements of any engine or structure. This is sound doctrine. But in contrast to it some dietitians have been working to show that the average person in the United States consumes too much protein, and have been making the en- deavor by experiment and teaching to cut down the usual amount consumed to something like one-third the quan- tity.
 Human Body Requires Plenty of
 Protein
 If a safety factor is required in the case of vitamines, it is certainly re- quired in the case of prpteins. The body should be furnished not only with the minimum quantity of high grade protein by which it is possible to keep up bodily repair, but with a considerable excess in order that in no way may any deficiency occur. It is bad logic and poor dietetics to insist on safety factor for vitamines an dneglect the protein safety factor. This is all the more desirable because an excess of meat does not appear to result in harm. In fact meat and it's accompanying fat and organs ap- pear to be the only substances which, while furnishing a complete diet in themselves, produce no ill effects in the human organization. This cannot be said of any other natural food substance, even milk, when used ex- clusively as an adult food. Meat however, has these peculiar proper ties: It is capable of satisfying the human appetite more than other foods when used in moderate quantity and when used even in excessive quanti ties or exclusively, as by the Eskimo, no harm results.