This book reviews the long-standing debate over the relative merits of a high-protein versus a low-protein diet. When protein (or 'animal substance') was first discovered in vegetable foods it was hailed as the only true nutritional principle. Leibig, the leading German chemist of the mid-nineteenth century, believed that it provided the sole source of energy for muscular contraction. In contrast, health reformers argued that high intakes were over-stimulating, leading to dissipation and decline. The subject came to widespread public attention again in the 1950s as the United Nations debated the need for providing protein supplements to Third World infants. At a time when the concern has resurfaced that over-consumption of protein in affluent societies may damage health, this book provides a fascinating historical perspective.
Industry Reviews
"...Carpenter breaks new and exciting ground, raising many issues that merit further investigation." Sally Horrocks, Nature "...reviews the long-standing debate over the relative merits of a high-protein versus a low-protein diet, and puts the protein controversy into an historical perspective that sheds light not only on the topic itself, but also on the scientific process." Nutrition Today "Kenneth J. Carpenter's fine monograph Protein and Energy confines its brief to two basic questions of human nutrition: how much protein do we need, and why? So central are these questions that his volume touches very much more, from the use of animal models in biomedical research to the role of authority in the modern world...Carpenter's volume puts these and many other facets of nutritional history into place. He makes excellent use of his contemporary scientific knowledge in elucidating the past, and he is even-handed in dealing with a subject riddled with hasty pronouncements and gullible consumers." W. F. Bynum, Times Literary Supplement "The history of nutrition, as covered in this book, is both well documented and interestingly written...useful and thought provoking. Valuable to readers interested in nutrition." Choice "...Carpenter's excellent discussion of the international efforts to fill the'protein gap' raises many complex social and political questions." Joseph S. Fruton, Bulletin of the History of Medicine "...a thought-provoking account of the pleasures and pitfalls of acquiring and applying nutrition knowledge, using the history of research on protein-energy nutrition as his focus...Thorough and balanced, this book should be of strong interest to nutrition researchers and policymakers. It also would be useful as supplemental reading in classes on the history of nutrition, protein-energy nutrition, research methods, international nutrition, and public policy." Joanne F. Guthrie, Journal of Nutrition Education "...a scholarly, well written and abundantly referenced volume...a recommended chronicle of the history and paradigm shifts of protein nutrition." James W. Larrick, Journal of Applied Nutrition "Benchmark discoveries in protein nutriture are described with regard to the social, economic, and even political issues of the day. Students of nutrition will be interested by the weaving of facts from science and history to add a human element to important scientific discoveries that is so often lacking in conventional nutrition texts...It would provide those enrolled in a capstone course with opportunities to integrate information from basic, applied, social, and behavioral sciences." Laura K. Guyer, American Journal of Human Biology
