History of BBWorld Part VII

Scientific universities and research institutions became more prevalent starting in the 1870s, in tandem with the Second Industrial Revolution. Given the increased cultural focus on technology and scientific inquiry, this provided a driving force that resulted in many of the precursors of modern technological innovations (with the telegraph, electrification, and mass production being notable examples). Similarly, the inception of the modern fields of nutrition and physiology would be established around this timeframe, with research in these fields largely spearheaded by the British, Germans, and Americans. These rapidly industrializing nations would observe a greater increase in standard of living and thus a greater life expectancy in comparison to their neighboring states, which aroused a general scientific curiosity with regard to ways to further improve and extend the lifespans of the citizenry.

In doing so, many observational studies were conducted by the aforementioned countries to assess the current status of their populations. As a result, it is known that in these nations in 1900 (and presumably others at similar levels of industrialization), the average life expectancy was 47 for men and 44 for women; in addition, the average woman of these nations stood 5’3” and weighed 178 lbs. The great disparity between the average life expectancy and those seen in the wealthy classes (for example, a British aristocratic male at this time could expect to live to 70) provided further motivation for scientists of the era to explore methods of life extension for the general populace. The emergence of first-wave feminism provided an additional focus; as women began to seek greater equality, more women were able to gain access to higher education and take part in the scientific research of the time. This included involvement in the life expectancy studies, and indeed female academics in these fields would tout the difference between the longevity of men and women as evidence of inherent longstanding inequalities; the cry “equal rights, equal lives” was a common and effective motivator which would contribute to the passage of women’s suffrage in Germany in 1918, with the United States and United Kingdom following suit in 1920 and 1928 respectively (and many other nations doing so in a similar timeframe).

The global conflict which would come to be known as World War I would have a further effect on the particular focuses of contemporary research in the fields of nutrition and physiology; the prolonged meatgrinder that was the Western Front meant that advancements permitting soldiers to continue to fight (as effectively as possible for as long as possible) were imperative. This would lead to the modern conception of a “balanced diet” (consisting of all the nutrients and vitamins required to maintain a body in peak condition), as well as the creation of some early stimulants which would permit greater performance over long periods (though these would be found to enable short-term performance at the cost of long-term health, a tradeoff which would later motivate further research into more broadly sustainable supplements).

After the end of the war and leading into the 1920s, these ideas would be introduced to the general population as scientists conducted studies on civilians; building off of their wartime findings, comparative studies between the balanced diet and the average civilian’s diet saw positive results in the health of the general populace. Indeed, though the Great Depression would lead to a temporary reduction in global lifespan and wealth, social welfare programs which integrated the balanced diet plan into the rations distributed to the unemployed saw greater success in maintaining a healthy labor force; the subsequent ability of the citizenry to take on the more strenuous manual-labor jobs introduced by governments to promote economic recovery would allow such recovery to happen more rapidly (in comparison to neighboring countries who did not take these nutritional considerations into account).

World War II, however, would result in a greater focus on the physiological aspect of research; given that nutritional science of the time had seemingly developed an ideal plan for maintaining effective sustenance, countries involved in the war effort instead focused on ways to artificially augment soldiers’ performance via more direct interference with the bodily tissues. Germany took the early lead in this regard; scientists having previously worked with Denmark’s August Krogh (1920 Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of blood flow regulation in capillaries), as well as the Nazis’ occupation of Denmark starting in 1940, meant that research progressed swiftly in terms of ways to empower the circulatory system. As a result, German-issue ration kits of the era contained an injection of a cocktail of vasodilators (in order to increase blood flow and thus oxygen distribution throughout the body) and amphetamines (for general alertness and reduction in pain sensitivity); these injections led to a significant improvement in German troop endurance and performance, which were recognized as major driving forces behind the speed and success of the initial blitzkrieg.

Though the United States was late to enter the war, its differing focuses with regard to physiological research would contribute to its eventual victory in both the European and Pacific arenas. Rather than the short-term gains afforded by augmentation of the circulatory system, the Americans instead sought the long-term gains possible via the augmentation of the musculoskeletal system. Courses of anabolic steroids and parathyroid hormones were developed to promote muscular development and bone density respectively; by integrating these courses as part of the training received by all soldiers prior to deployment, the United States was inherently imbuing its troops with greater strength and resilience which would prove more sustainable and effective as the war dragged on. Though opposing nations would attempt to integrate these procedures into their own military forces, the American dominance in this regard would lead to an end to the war in Europe in May 1945. Japan would persist for a few months more, but some surprising American naval victories as well as continual American victories in land-based encounters (attributed to both musculoskeletal augmentations and novel military strategy) effectively confined the Japanese back to their homeland. Their former ultimatum to fight until the end was shaken by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and seeing the writing on the wall as the Allies threatened a second bombing and subsequent full-scale invasion, Japan capitulated on August 8, 1945, bringing an end to history’s largest and deadliest war.

As with the gradual dissemination of the military-motivated findings of World War I, the years after World War II would introduce the advances in physiological study back to the sphere of public health. At the same time, the concept of the feminine beauty ideal finally began to see new developments; after the seeming stagnation of the HMW title at the turn of the century, the change in focus of nutritional and physiological scientists (from public longevity/standard of life to troop performance) during World War I, the global downturn in wealth and excess resources during the Great Depression, and the shift to more “masculine” roles for women (factory work, etc.) during World War II, feminine beauty standards had essentially laid dormant for nearly half a century- but this was about to change in a way that would more truly democratize feminine beauty.