Abstract
The purpose of the investigation was to observe the course of the excretion of uric acid in normal men living on an ordinary mixed diet. Each subject was allowed to select his own diet and then was required to ingest the diet selected during the course of six periods of four days each. Ten university students served as subjects. Quarters were provided where the men could easily be observed as to certain regulations of sleep and diet. The body weights of the subjects ranged from 53.1 kg. to 76.7 kg. and their ages varied from 19 to 29 years. There were no athletes among the subjects so that no individual took excessive or violent exercise, but all lived the life of the average, normal university student. The Folin-Shafter method for the determination of uric acid was employed.
conclusions.
1. The average daily excretion of uric acid for ten men ranging in age from 19 to 29 years, and fed a normal mixed diet, was 0.597 gram, a value somewhat lower than the generally accepted average of 0.7 gram for such a period.
2. The average daily protein ingestion for these same subjects, when permitted to select their diet, was 91.2 grams or 1.33 gram per kilogram of body weight.
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