Evening star., 1948-09-27
Stars, Men and Atoms
Diet Deficiency Found
Aid to General Health

Aid to General Health
Underfed Europe Shows Some Gain,
Upsettins Popular Theories
By Thomas r. Henry
Americans eat too much. A lot of the most
fondly cherished diet fads supported by semi
scientific conclusions In the past-such Is that
one should have 30 many calories day based
on body weight, that certain vitamins prevent
certain diseases, that third Of the American
population is malnourished- have been exposed
by the experience Of supposedly underfed Eu-
rope during the last war.
This Is the challenge to the American Medi-
cal Association by DR.. Ancel Keys, professor Of
physiology 1T the University Of Minnesota and
himself one OF the worlds foremost experts on
nutrition.
The plain fact u. DR.. Keys intimAted, that
nobody knows very much about the subject
and that most Of what has been claimed In the
past rests on quite questionable evidence.
Science, he said, only now Is coming to solid.
conservative attitude which promises real prog.
ress in the next decade.
First he attacked the thesis that person
requires certain number Of calories-enersy.
giving foods largely composed Of starches and
sugars-to maintain an ideal weight calculated
from population averages. This has probably
been overestimated from 200 to 600 calories b
day for men In the United States and Canada
and considerably more for women, he said.
Relation to Csries Noted.
1t has long been held. he said, that made
quate diet was . major factor in dental carries.
Yet the abandoned children Of Paris during
the war were 81 per cent free Of bad teeth.
They had been near starvation Only when
the Allies started feeding them did dental de-
cay show big spurt upwards.
Nobody could have been worse malnouished
than the war children Of italy. The incidence
Of bad teeth among them was only about .
quarter that among American children. Chill
dren Of the supposedly malnourished districts
of the South have exceptionally good teeth.
Up to critical point. he stressed, the incidence
Of tooth decay declines with amount Of food.
Both world wars have shown. he said, that
supposed malnorishment Is good for diabetes.
Especially during the last war In Europe, old
cases improved ana new cases were fewer. The
Improvement starts quickly and goes on as
long IS food shortages exist.
There is some evidence. DR.. Keys said, that
that amount Of cardiovascular dsease-ths
heart-blood vessel involvement which Is the
leading cause of death in the United States
goes down with supposedly inadequate diet.
Statistics from both Greece and Holland indi-
cate - although they are not sufficient to prove
that cancer declines in low diet areas.
Animals Used In Tests
A saner day, he said is at hand in respect
to vitainins and amino acids. All sorts OF
claims have been made for these and fortunes
realized on their sale. Many doctors have not
hAsft otod In iIoa iy,
quantities because they are not poisonous and
way out, deterring the doctor from seeking the
real underlying causes Of . naalady.
Actually, Dr.. Keys said, most Of the claims
made for vitamins have been based on animal
experiments-the animal chosen in each case
being the one on which the particular vtarain
being studied had the greatest effect. There
is little reason to believe that man will
react in the same way as q chicken or .
mouse.
Perhaps the worst feature Of all he said. is
that the publte-including newspapers, scien-
tihc journals and doctors-is interested only
In positive results and there Is little puhlica.
ton Of more conservative negative findings.
Actually, Dr. Keys said, most recent experi-
ments have tended to discredit claims for
vitamins. There is no good evidence that
thiamin. vitanin Bl, increases the weight
and learning ability Of children. The role Of
folio acid in pernicious anennia has become
quite questionable The role Of NICOTINE acid
in pellagra, Of iodine in goitre, Of vitamin A
In night blindness, have become quite question:
able with recent advances.
Health Tended to Improve.
The whole war experience, he said tended
to show that the general health in countries
like England-where the diet was far below
American standards-tended to improve. Food
was not appetisng, but people were not sick
50 often.
Some of the Minnesota professors conclu-
sions were questioned, however, by another
OF the countrys foremost nutrition experts,
DR.. Tom D. Spies Of Birmingham, Ala.
Agreeing that q great deal Of bunk has been
fed the public. including the medical profess
sion, on nutrition, DR.. Spies insisted that
some real advances cannot be thrown over
board and that it does little good to cut
down dental carries by feeding children less
II this means they will develop deficiency
diseases Of the gums which cause their teeth
to fall out.
In his laborakory, he said. there has just
been developed 4 test Of susceptibility TO
carries with . single drop Of saliva 1t II
possible to tell whether person Is likely to
develop tooth decay 30 long as bodily condi.
tions remain the same.
In the discussion 1t was stressed that the
improved health OF Europe under n1alnutrition
did not extend to one Of the most fearsosns
OF al diseases, tuberculosis.
Questions and Answers
A reader can get the answer TO any question q
nMrssnM n aid Eye street NE Washinston 2, y. c,
Pieste inclese three {3) cents for return postass.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE
@. How many parking meters are used 10
control the parking problems In various cities
in the entire United States? How many cities