FATTY ACIDS AS FOODS

When the world war threatened the integrity of the food supplies of a large part of the nations more intimately concerned in the great conflict, both physiologists and economists began to ask what limits of restriction could safely be endured. It is doubtful whether the nutritive needs of man have ever before been considered so critically as they have been since 1914. Proteins and fats and other nutritive ingredients began to be estimated in calories and grams with profound regard for economy of consumption and prevention of unnecessary waste. National committees and international commissions devoted their best energies to the determination of what the safe minima of food allowance for various classes of the populations under consideration might be. It was a time when waste might mean defeat.

With respect to the human requirement for protein there is a considerable body of evidence of both a statistical and experimental character,