Feeding experiments with fat-free food mixtures

Abstract

The question as to whether fats are, like proteins and carbohydrates, in some measure indispensable components of the diet has never been adequately determined. Stepp 1 has lately maintained that the so-called “lipoids,” in distinction from true fats, are necessary for adequate nutrition. His experiments were conducted with mice. Following the methods employed by the writers 2 it has been possible to induce rats to grow at a normal rate with food mixtures containing only purified proteins, carbohydrates and inorganic salts. The problems suggested by the possibilities of this method of investigation are obvious.