Abstract
The carbohydrate content of foods has been usually accepted as a gauge of their adaptability to the dietary of diabetics. It has, however, been demonstrated that proteins yield in the glycosuric organism large amounts of glucose (50 to 80 per cent. of their weight, Janney). An exact knowledge of how much sugar arises in diabetic metabolism from protein food is therefore of some importance.
By observing certain precautions it was found possible to determine rather accurately the amounts of glucose yielded by various meats fed to dogs made completely diabetic by phlorizin. The sugar formed from beef, chicken, chicken eggs, rabbit and fish could thus be ascertained to represent from 9 to 12 per cent. of the uncooked moist food. The solid substances of these materials produced from 36 to 48 per cent. glucose. Broiling and frying lead to considerable loss of water with corresponding increase of the percentage formation of glucose. Broiled beefsteak would yield 17.5 per cent. glucose.
Flour fed in preliminary experiments of the same nature gave rise to 92.5 per cent. of sugar on an anhydrous basis of calculation. From this data it was computed that in regard to sugar production or liberation in the organism 100 gm. bread is equivalent to about 350 gm. broiled beefsteak. In formulating diets for diabetics, glucose formation from the protein as well as the carbohydrate content of the food should therefore be considered. The experiments here alluded to will be later reported in detail.
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