Reviews and Notes: Nutrition: Protein and Energy: A Study of Changing Ideas in Nutrition

Protein and Energy: A Study of Changing Ideas in Nutrition

Kenneth J. Carpenter. 280 pages. New York: Cambridge Univ Pr; 1994. $39.95.

The author is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at University of California at Berkeley, an editor of the Journal of Nutrition and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and has received the U.S. Department of Agriculture Atwater medal for "distinction in research in nutrition." This book examines the history of advocacy of high-protein and low-protein diets from the early 17th century to the present and the relative merits of the two diets; it was intended to consider the protein controversy in a way that illuminates both the controversy itself and the scientific process. The last several chapters deal with protein deficiency as a Third World problem, the recommendations that have been made to correct it, and reappraisals of these recommendations. The bottom line: " ‘Moderation’ and ‘variety’ are still sensible keywords." Bibliography, tables, figures.