Hopkins was awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins.” Christiaan Eijkman shared the Prize “for his discovery of the antineuritic vitamin.” from Hopkins’ acceptance speech: “…Who was the “discoverer” of vitamins? This question has no clear answer. So often in the development of science, a fundamental …
Nobel Prize speech in 1929 by Frederick Gowland Hopkins Read More »
…we must sympathize with the problems of the successive Nobel Committees in Physiology or Medicine and Chemistry through the 20th century, who had to try to make their selections among many deserving people in so many different fields, among which nutritional science was only one, and “vitamins” just a portion of that.
by Angela M. Leung et al. Iodine is a micronutrient required for thyroid hormone production. This review highlights the history of the discovery of iodine and its uses, discusses the sources of iodine nutrition, and summarizes the current recommendations for iodine intake with a focus on women of childbearing age.
For the past seven years I have been engaged in an investigation of scurvy both in the laboratory and in the clinic, and have treated various aspects of the subject in a large number of articles published in various medical journals. In the course of these studies there has been ample opportunity for a comprehensive …
Scurvy: Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess (1920) Read More »
“Our mammalian ancestors 100 million years ago never got scurvy, for example, because they could make their own vitamin C. Many vertebrates can make vitamin C, and use an identical set of genes to do so. “We should be able to make it, too, since we have all the genes,” said Rebecca Stevens of the …
In this 1895 USDA publication, Wilbur Atwater lists the water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, total minerals, and fuel (calories) analyzed in foods found in US markets.
For more than two centuries, scientists have observed and reported the increase in energy expenditure that occurs during meal digestion. From the minute copepod to the horse, this reported ‘‘cost of digestion’’ has been described, quantified, and experimentally investigated over a wide array of invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. Originally coined specific dynamic action (SDA) from …
Specific dynamic action: history by Stephen M. Secor Read More »
During World War II, 36 conscientious objectors participated in a study of human starvation conducted by Ancel Keys and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota. The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, as it was later known, was a grueling study meant to gain insight into the physical and psychologic effects of semistarvation and the problem of …
On June 4, 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act, which permanently authorized the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The legislation was passed in response to concerns that “many American men had been rejected for World War II military service because of diet-related health problems.” Its purpose was to provide a …
If one were looking for a test of the effectiveness of the new significant scientific agreement standard specified in the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, no one would have to look much farther than the history of folic acid fortification to find evidence that less can be more in the rapidly changing landscape of …
Following the U.S. Civil War, westward expansion and development of refrigerated railroad cars spurred the growth of not only the livestock industry, but also meat packing and international trade. In response to the growing pressure from veterinarians, ranchers, and meat packers for a unified effort to eradicate livestock diseases in the United States, President Chester …
This nutrition history is the first of four invited articles planned to provide a short introduction to the history of our science and a possible text for courses in the subject. Given the space limitations, I have concentrated on work most directly related to discover- ing nutritional needs and the qualities of foods in supplying …
Nutrition History: Part 1 (1785–1885) by Kenneth J. Carpenter Read More »
In nutrition history before 1885, nearly all of the studies had been carried out in Western Europe and most were concerned with the need for either protein or energy. These lines of work continued in the 1880s but in the next 25 y, and in many more parts of the world, important new lines of …
Nutrition History: Part 2 (1885–1912) by Kenneth J. Carpenter Read More »
In the early years of the 20th century, the number of researchers engaged in nutritional work expanded enormously. Space does not permit more than an introduction to the proliferation of literature on any specific topic and it has unfortunately not been possible to fully distribute the credit to several groups of researchers working on the …
Nutrition History: Part 3 (1912–1944) by Kenneth J. Carpenter Read More »
Because of the huge number of papers published from 1945 to 1985 (~250,000 were abstracted in Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews), I have restricted coverage in the first section of this paper to those dealing most directly with the discovery of new nutrients, the effects of deficiency and the interaction of other factors affecting their availability.
ABSTRACT: The early years of the 20th century were notable for improvements in general sanitation, dairying practices and milk handling. Most infants were breast-fed, often with some formula feeding as well. Availability of the home icebox permitted safe storage of milk and infant formula, and by the 1920s, feeding of orange juice and cod liver …
Infant Feeding in the 20th Century: Formula and Beikost by Samuel J. Fomon Read More »
Significant developments in nutrition in the United States began early in the last quarter of the 19th century. This review covers the subsequent period of approximately 50 years.
The Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University: A History and Personal Reflections by Malden C. Nesheim. “I write this to leave a record of some of the events and people important in Cornell’s nutrition history. Some individuals with fellowships and buildings named for them are quite unknown to the beneficiaries of their legacy and …
Cornell University Division of Nutritional Sciences History Read More »
