Diet and the duration of life

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Diet and the duration of life
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 9 (Issue No. 9) September 1929
Year: 1929
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Fulltext: 16 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1929 Diet and The Duration of Life By James A. Tobey* The span of human life has been set by the psalmist at three score years and ten. A more generous biblical writer seems not to have been satisfied with so ephemeral a human existence and so in the Book of Isaiah (lxv:20) he offers us an additional thirty years, saying, “the child shall die an hundred years old.” Both of these declarations have become literally true in nume rous individual instances, but neither is now or ever has been correct with respect to any race as a whole. Nowhere as yet has the average span >f life of any people attained even to seventy The West Coast Life Insurance Company offers a full line of modern life insurance contracts designed to meet every need I of business or personal protection. Í I For particulars and quotations consult the Philippine Branch Office West Coast Life Insurance Co. ¡ Kneedler Building Manila, P. I. .[ Telephone 2-36-74 II years, but there are definite indications that the proverbial length will eventually be reached and probably exceeded. The nutrition of the race has been demon strated to exercise a definite effect on longevity, called “newer knowledge of nutrition” is .10 .xx-jst recent of the sciences, for it has been evolved almost entirely within the Twentieth Dentury, but it is one of the most potent in its Effect on the general welfare. What we eat or what we do not eat through out life has a definite effect on how long we live. This ¡s no idle statement but is supported both by human experience and by scientific investiga tion. If you delve into history you will find that certain races have been more vigorous and longTved than others, a fact which can not be ex plained on a purely biological basis. It has been food selection rather than natural selection 'ach has caused this phenomenon. As has een pointed out by Professor E. V. McCollum, of the Johns Hopkins University, the pastoral [peoples of the world who have had possession of \many dairy animals and whose diet has consisted 'mainly of the products of these animals have, with out exception, always displayed the finest physical levelopment and'the greatest tendency toward lonwity. In a remote part of the Himalayas is an isolated 'ace with magnificent physique, the members of which seem to have found the fountain of youth, for they retain until late in life the characteristics if youth. Since gland transplantations have not yet made their way into this secluded part of the world, the explanation for this unusual virility and ¡fertility is to be found mainly in diet. As reported by Dr. Robert McCarrison, of the British Medical Service, these people subsist on a frugal diet, con sisting mostly of goa ’' milk and vegetables. An other British scientist in India, Dr. D. McCay, has found that the pastoral Indians of the few good The American Mercury: July, 1929 dairy regions of that country are always vastly supe rior to the more numerous natives who live only on cereal grains. A climate which is continually hot does not seem to have a deleterious effect on physical welfare when nutrition is good. Arabia is an inferno, consider ably worse with respect to temperature than the Bahamas, but the Arabs now have, and, so far as observed, always have enjoyed a most excel lent physique. Even Napoleon’s surgeon-general, on the great commander’s Egyptian campaign, described these lean, sinewy hawks of the desert as more perfect in physical structure than most Europeans. There is an Arabian proverb to the effect that he who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything. The Arabs are fortunate in that they have something besides hope which contributes to their health, and that something is milk. According to various writers, the fare The Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd. MANILA, P. I. Low rates iberal conditions ocal investments oans on real estates repayable monthly instalments, at ow interest If a mindful man with a fixed salary dies, he will only leave a small saving to his family FOR ABOUT P31.00 ANNUALLY our company guarantees the payment of Pl,000 to your wife or sons in case of death, or to the insured himself if he survives the policy. Call or write for particulars to: HOME OFFICE C. S. SALMON 4th Floor, Filipinas Bldg. 3rd Floor, Gachés Bldg. Plaza Moraga, Manila, P. I. Escolta cor. T. Pinpin 11 P. O. Box 128 P. O. Box 734, Manila V. SINGSON ENCARNACION, President J. McMICKING, Manager of the pastoral Arab is mostly milk, supplement ed with only a moderate amount of meat, cereals, and dates. The milk is that of goats, camels, and sheep, and because of the intense heat it is soured at once and eaten in the form of curds. Throughout wide areas in Asia milk is also the staple article of diet of many races who lead a precarious existence. The Mongols must live on milk or starve. They do not starve, but are wiry and vigorous, though a thin race. The Tartars at times live almost exclusively on mare’s milk and thrive on it. Marco Polo on his pere grinations was much impressed by a milk wine which has been manufactured by the Tartars since the Thirteenth Century. The dominant and aggressive peoples of the world have always been those whose nutrition has been of the best. It is related of David that he was carrying ten cheeses for the nourishment of his cohorts when he met and conquered the redoubtable Goliath. The conquerors have always been users of dairy products in abundance, and not of grasses and grains, nor of meats. The beef eaters, socalled, of England have also been drinkers of milk as well as of more potent beverages. The Scandinavian countries, where the span of life is so much greater than ours, have always been noted as dairy countries, and the same is true of Holland, another country where the average life is longer. That the right food can actually extend life has been demonstrated by a series of interesting investigations conducted by Professor Henry C. Sherman of Columbia University. For about ten years in his laboratories feeding experiments have been under way on that well known labo ratory animal, the white rat. The life of the white rat is relatively short and his nutritional foibles resemble those of man, so that studies on these docile rodents offer material of real scien tific value, applicable to human conditions. “We have recently completed a somewhat extended experiment in which the influence of a single change in the food supply upon the longe vity of rats of identical heredity, maintained under conditions uniform in all respects, appears to have been fully demonstrated,” Professor Sherman reported to the National Academy of Sciences last November. In this study about 400 rats were kept in about equal numbers on two different dietaries. One diet, containing a mixture of one-sixth dried whole milk and fivesixths ground whole wheat, with a little salt, was considered adequate, for already twenty-one generations of rats had lived and thrived on it. The other diet was not only adequate but better, for it contained one-third whole milk powder and only two-thirds ground whole wheat. The {Please turn to page 26, col. 2) IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 26 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1929 present tendency will make men reluctant to en ter a profession where women outnumber them; it is said that women will soon be employed as pharmacists everywhere, in pharmacies, labora tories, hospitals, maternity houses, etc., and may, more advantageously than men, and upon smaller net profit, manage drug stores of their own. Arguing along this line, those who fear wo man’s competition in our profession say that graduate women pharmacists accept pharma cists’ positions in drug stores and doctors’ offices at salaries out of the question for men who don’t renounce the desire to marry and support fami lies. On the contrary, young women who are pharmacists can accept these positions and hold them one or two years, living quite decently on their small salaries until they marry—as they always do—and the burden of their mainte nance falls upon their husbands. If, too, as is frequently the case, the husband of one of these young pharmacists is a doctor, when both keep on with their respective professions the advantage is still greater. If in other professions, as that of law, marriage is an impediment to woman, in pharmacy it is not. In the Philippines, where Spanish customs and social conventions are still influential, the woman, married and perhaps a mother, who appears as an attorney in one court and another, defending or prosecuting delinquents, resolving political disputes and engaging in similar ac tivities pertaining to the life of a lawyer, is not looked upon with unmitigated favor. On the contrary, the mother who is a pharmacist may, it seems, have her children with her in her office, attend her other domestic duties too, and the public of the Philippines will think it all quite correct—even view it with genuine approval. In rebuttal of all this, others say that if women who are pharmacists accept positions at low salaries, men do too, that the whole question is one of supply and demand, or that it is a result of the disruption and reorganization of social classes: both sexes are culpable if salaries are too low, and not the fair sex alone. “We,” say the women, “are no obstacle to a strong compact union for mutual protection concerning salaries sufficient to a decent livelihood. Our teachers in the classroom inculcate this principle; we use the same materials and instruments as men in the common laboratories, and we are examined as to fitness to practice pharmacy along with men, by an examining board which, it goes with out saying, is entirely made up of men; and so we feel we have the same rights as men to use our abilities in the struggle for existence.” TOBACCO REVIEW Alhambra Cigar and Cigarette Manufacturing Co. Raw Leaf:—According to the latest informa tion there still remain about 50,000 quintals ex the 1929 Ysabela crop in the hands of the farm ers. Prices in Manila have not gone up in pro portion to what was paid in the Ysabela pro vince. The exportation of cheaper Cagayan grades maintains a satisfactory volume. Com parative figures for August are as follows: Rawleaf, Stripped Tobacco and Scraps Kilos Australia............................................ 1,352 China................................................. 2,849 Czechoslovakia.................................. 840,318 Hongkong........................................... 42,913 Japan.................................................. 120 Java.................................................... 2,200 North Africa..................................... 26,234 North Atlantic (Europe)................... 109,661 Spain................................................... 1,152,576 Straits Settlements............................ 615 United States.................................... 114,273 Uruguay............................................. 41,540 2,334,651 July, 1929.................................. 3,010,653 August, 1928.............................. 2,043,652 Cigars:—Shipments to the United States, while somewhat larger than in July, still lag considerably behind the corresponding 1928 period. A great part of these exports leave some of the manufacturers but a very close margin of profit. Statistics of cigars shipped to the United States compare as follows: August 1929..............................about 15.060,000 July 1929........................................... 14,848,479 August 1928....................................... 18,929,943 Diet and The Duration of Life {Continued from page 16) result of doubling the amount of milk was a gain of exactly 10% in the span of life for both males and females. The acid test of statistical ana lysis indicated that there was not more than one chance in a hundred for error due to accident. Translated into human experience, this study indicates that at least six years could be added to the span of life by means of proper nutrition. The fluid in the fountain of youth is purer milk, and nutrition, in proper combination with other sanitary and hygienic factors, can actually promote longevity. INFORMATION FOR INVESTORS Expert, confidential reporta made on Philippine project a ENGINEERING, MINING, AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, LUMBER, ETC. Hydroelectric projecta OTHER COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES BRYAN, LANDON CO. Cebu, P. I. Cable addreaa: “YPIL,” Cebu. OXYGEN Compressed Oxygen 99.5% pure HYDROGEN Compressed Hydrogen 99.8% pure ACETYLENE Dissolved Acetylene for all purposes WELDING Fully Equip ped Oxy-Ace tylene Weld ing Shops BATTERIES Prest-O-Lite Electric Stor age Batteries Philippine Acetylene Go. 281 CALLE CRISTOBAL, PACO MANILA, P. I. REVIEW OF THE HEMP MARKET By L. L. Spellman Macleod and Company This report covers the Manila hemp market for the month of August with statistics up to and including September 2nd, 1929. U. S. Grades:—The market in New York opened dull with a weak tendency and shippers anxious to sell with buyers holding off. Sell ing prices were nomin ally on the basis of: D, 13% cents; E, 12% cents; F, 11% cents; G, 8% cents; H, 7% cents; I, 11% cents; JI, 10% cents; SI 11% cents; S2 10% cents; S3, 9% cents. The market continued dull and weak with shippers endeavor ing to sell even at lower prices, the result being that by th,e middle of the month prices had declined to: D, 13% cents; E, 12% cents; F, 11% cents; G, 8% cents; H, 7% cents; I, 11% cents; JI, 10% cents; SI, 11% cents; S2, 10% cents; S3, 9% cents. Sales during the last half of the month were very few and prices con tinued to decline; the market ending weak with sellers of E at 12% cents; F, 11% cents; I, 11 cents; SI, 10% cents; S2, 10% cents; S3, 8% cents; G, 8% cents. There were also sellers of Davao F at 11% cents; Davao I, 11% cents; Davao JI 10% cents and Davao G at 10 cents. In Manila the market was quiet on the first of the month with shippers paying the following prices: D, P30.50; E, P28.50; F, P26; G, P18.25; H, P15; I, P25; JI, P22; SI, P25.50; S2, P24; S3, P18.75. Receipts were very much larger than could possibly be expected during the past month with the natural result that prices con tinued to give way and the Manila market closed depressed with a few buyers at the follow ing nominal prices: D, P28; E, P26; F, P24.75; G, P17.25; H, P14; I, P24; JI, P21.25; SI, P24; S2, P22.50; S3, P17.75. These prices showed a considerable decline from the begin ning of the month and most of the houses are showing very little interest in hemp. U. K. Grades:—The U. K. market opened quiet with buyers holding off and nominal prices ruling as follows: J2, £38.10; K, £33.5; LI, £33.5; L2, £30.10; Ml, £30.10; M2, £27; DL, £27; DM, £22. Toward the middle of the month the market became dull with buyers rather than sellers at the following quotations: J2, £38; K. £33; LI, £33; L2, £30.5; Ml, £30.5; M2, £26.15; DL, £27; DM, £22. The exces sively large receipts of hemp had the usual depressing effect on the London market with buyers only being interested for their immediate requirements. The market continued dull and inactive with a d wnward tendency until at the end of the month the market was stagnant and very depressed owing to heavy receipts. The following were nominal quotations for dis tant shipment: J2, £36.10; K, £31; LI, £31; L2, £28; Ml£28, M2, £25.10; DL, £25.10; DM, £21. In Manila the market for U. K. grades on the first of the month was quiet with nominal prices as follows: J2, F17.75; K, P14.75; LI, P14.75; L2, P13.25; Ml, F13.25; M2, P10.75; DL, P10.75; DM, P8.75. Between the first and the middle of the month there was a slight im provement in local prices but they again eased off with the following quotations: J2, P18; K, P15; LI, P15; L2, P13.50; Ml, P13.50; M2, P11.25; DL, P11.25; DM, 9. The market continued quiet for a few days but towards the end of the month became depressed and ended up very depressed with few buyers at the follow ing prices: J2, P16.75; K, P14; LI, P14; L2, P12.50; Ml, P12.50; M2, P10.25; DL, P10.25; DM, F8. Japan:—This market bought a fair quantity of hemp during the earlier part of the month but their prices were not attractive and the tendency of the market has been very weak during the IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL