Is unpalatable food properly digested?

Abstract

It is well known that different psychic stimuli promote or retard the secretion of digestive juices. The following experiment was conducted to determine whether the ultimate return to the body from unpalatable food was different from the return from the same food palatably served.

The experimental procedure was simple. A 7-day period during which the subjects were on a uniform diet, served palatably and amid pleasant surroundings, was followed by a 2-day period during which the same diet was fed in an unpalatable condition and in dirty and unpleasant surroundings. The food was rendered unpalatable and unappetizing by the following treatment. All the food ordinarily used for each meal (meat, biscuits, jelly, cornstarch pudding, oleomargarine, etc.) was stirred together in a large, flat porcelain dish. The dish itself was smeared with animal charcoal, as was the beaker used as a drinking glass. The table was dirty and strewn with dirty dishes. A little indol was sprinkled about under the table. The subjects were kept in ignorance of the constituents of the unpalatable mixture. The food was so unpalatable that one subject vomited his first meal shortly after he had eaten it.

The following table shows the findings on the other subject.

The differences in utilization of the palatable and unpalatable foods were quite small as were the variations in nitrogen retention. This short test indicates that flavor is not the outstanding dietetic asset that some people would have us believe.