Diet and food : considered in relation to strength and power of endurance, training and athletics / by Alexander Haig.

  • Haig, Alexander, 1853-1924.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Diet and food : considered in relation to strength and power of endurance, training and athletics / by Alexander Haig. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    would be found to correspond to the albumens swallowed and the tissues absorbed. I may remark also that those who starve them- selves may feel very bright and well at first, after the usual gastric symptoms of discomfort give way ; as they are being nourished on a stimulating flesh diet from their own tissues, and are saving some of the force usually expended on digestion. But later on, when their reserve of albumens has long been used up, and their tissue albumens begin to get low, they may discover that they have been living on capital which should never have been touched, and which it is difficult to replace ; for with all their forces, including that of digestion, at a low ebb, it will take them a comparatively long time to assimilate sufflcient albumens to keep the machine working as well as to replace the lost capital. And these considerations sufficiently account for the fact of which I have seen many instances, that those who put themselves on an unaccustomed diet often dangerously diminish their allowance of albumens for some time before they discover that there is anything wrong, and then find great difficulty in getting back to physiological levels. Thus while 10 grs. of albumen per lb. of body weight is required for an active life,- 9 grs. per lb. is about the minimum that an adult can take and continue to take with safety. Of course in the treatment of disease and for a