1. Food intake and energy expenditure were determined on 500 soldiers drawn from infantry, artillery and engineer units of the Indian army, for 3 months during winter..

2. The units were located in two different regions of India at altitudes varying from sea level to 2300 m..

3. The energy requirements were assessed from the actual food intake as well as from energy expenditure and from the changes in body-weight and skinfold thickness..

4. The nutritional adequacy of the diet was assessed from clinical examination and changes in blood haemoglobin concentration..

5. The mean energy expenditure was found to be 15.39 MJ (3679 kcal) and on this basis the energy requirement was 16.61 MJ (3970 kcal); energy intake was found to be 16.47 MJ (3936 kcal)..

6. The energy contributed by protein, fat and carbohydrate was 0.115, 0.240 and 0.645 of the total intake respectively..

7. There was no significant change in body-weight, blood haemoglobin level and skinfold thickness on this mean daily intake.

1. The B-vitamins in milk from baboons (Papio cynocephalus) at various stages of lactation were measured microbiologically.

2. Mature milk contained, on average (μg/ml): thiamin 0.18, riboflavin 0.74, nicotinic acid 3.2, folate 0.03, vitamin B6 0.70, vitamin B12 0.002, pantothenic acid 2.63, biotin 0.0065.

3. Colostrum contained much less vitamin B6 and pantothenic acid than mature milk; otherwise, there were only slight changes in composition as lactation progressed. Neither these changes, nor the absolute values, resembled those for human or cow's milk.

4. The average daily secretion of B-vitamins in milk represented less than 10% of the mother's dietary intake; that of folate was less than 0.5% of the mother's dietary intake.

5. Baboon milk was calculated to provide infants with approximately the following quantities of B-vitamins (/d): thiamin 0.06 mg, riboflavin 0.25 mg, nicotinic acid 1.1 mg, folate 10 μg, vitamin B6 0.25 mg, vitamin B12 0.7 μg, pantothenic acid 0.9 mg, biotin 2.2 μg.

Rats were weaned onto high (HCa, 14.6 g/kg)- or low (LCa, 3.88 g/kg)-Ca diets for 12 d and the efficiency of absorption of Ca measured from 20 mg Ca (as CaCl2, labelled with 47Ca) by means of wholebody counting. The LCa group absorbed 74 % of the test dose and the HCa group 60 % of the test dose (P < 0.001). All animals were then given the LCa diet for 6 weeks and the absorption test repeated. This time there was no difference in efficiency of absorption (HCa 54%, LCa 57%). The femur dry weight was significantly lower in the group initially fed on the LCa diet, but the Ca concentration was similar to that of the HCa group. The results do not lend support to the suggestion that early dietary exposure to Ca manifests itself as a difference in Ca metabolism in later life. They do, however, highlight the importance of adequate Ca intake during critical periods of growth.

We examined whether lipid metabolism in orchiectomised (ORX) rats was affected by fructose ingestion and the amount of ingested fructose. Sucrose was used as a fructose source. Sham-operated and ORX rats were fed one of the following three diets for 28 d: a maize starch-based diet without sucrose (SU0), a diet by which half or all of maize starch was replaced by sucrose (SU50 or SU100). Body-weight gain and food intake were increased by sucrose ingestion, but decreased by ORX. Plasma total cholesterol concentration was increased by ORX and dose-dependently by sucrose ingestion. Plasma TAG concentration was decreased by ORX, but was increased dose-dependently by sucrose ingestion. Plasma insulin concentration was decreased by ORX, but was not affected by sucrose ingestion. Liver TAG was increased by sucrose ingestion and ORX; however, liver cholesterol concentration was not affected by sucrose ingestion and ORX. The hepatic activity of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase 1 was not affected by sucrose ingestion and ORX; however, faecal excretion of bile acids was decreased. The mRNA level of microsomal TAG transfer protein, which is the gene related to hepatic VLDL production, was increased by ORX and sucrose ingestion. The mRNA level of uncoupling protein-1 was decreased by ORX, but not by sucrose ingestion. Plasma insulin concentration tended to correlate with the level of sterol-regulatory element-binding protein-1c mRNA (r 0·747, P = 0·088). These results show that lipid metabolism in ORX rats would be affected by the consumption of fructose-rich sweeteners such as sucrose and high-fructose syrup.

1. Energy expenditure determinations have been made on thirty-two soldiers newly arrived in the warm humid climate of southern Malaya. Ergometer cycling was investigated as well as everyday activities such as lying, sitting, riding in a trunck, abultions, buildings a jungle camp and walking with loads over four different routes.

2. The inter-individual variation in the gross energy expenditure (kcal/min and kJ/min) of each activity has been compared with the variation in energy expenditure standardized for body-weight, surface area and lean body mass. Standardization for body size did not consistently or effectively reduce the coefficients of variation of energy expenditure.

3. The gross energy expenditure of most activities was significantly correlated with bodyweight, surface area or lean body mass but the correlation coefficients were not of a high order, suggesting that less than 41% of the inter-individual variation in energy expenditure was accounted for by variation in body size.

4. The energy expenditure of walking at various speeds over both firm and uneven terrain was related to the square of the walking speed and the total weight of the man and his equipment (correlation coefficients 0.89–0.92, P < 0.001).

1. Individual energy intakes and expenditures of seven Tristan men aged between 16 and 57 years, and ten Tristan women aged between 15 and 61 years, were measured daily for 7 consecutive days between May and October 1966.

2. Details of the subjects' main activities together with the energy cost of these activities are given.

3. The mean daily calorie intakes were 2650 kcal for men and 1830 kcal for women; the mean expenditures were 2860 and 2060 kcal per day respectively. Separate values are given for two individuals, a brother and sister, who gave results bearing no resemblance to those of the rest of the subjects.

4. Protein, fat, carbohydrate and alcohol accounted for 12.7, 29.6, 53.7 and 40 % respectively of the men's total calorie intake and 11.9, 27.2, 61.0% and 0% of the women's total calorie intake. The fat content of the diet was low when compared with that of the Islanders' diet while in England, though total calorie intake was greater (Taylor, Hollingsworth & Chambers, 1966). More than half the total calorie intake was provided by processed foodstuffs, but island produce provided a large proportion of the protein in the diet.

5. It is deduced that mean energy requirements of about 2750 kcal per day for men and 1950 kcal per day for women are adequate for the Tristan population and that there are sufficient food supplies available to meet this requirement.

1. Groups of rabbits were given diets containing different proportions of butterfat and maize oil. After the animals had been given the experimental diets for 40 weeks the plasma phospho- lipids were fractionated and the fatty acid composition of each fraction was determined.

2. Phosphatidyl choline and lysophosphatidyl choline accounted for about 75 and 12% respectively of the total plasma phospholipids: phosphatidyl ethanolamine, sphingomyelin and phosphatidyl serine accounted for only about 5.3, 5.0 and 2.6% respectively. Changes in the linoleic acid content of the diet had little effect on the relative proportions of the individual plasma phospholipids, but there was an over-all decrease in the concentration of total phospholipids in the plasma as the linoleic acid content of the diet was increased from 0.25 to 10.6%.

3. When the diet contained 0.25 % linoleic acid, the linoleic acid:oleic acid ratio in the phosphatidyl choline (1.3) was similar to that in the phosphatidyl ethanolamine (1.2), but as the linoleic acid content of the diet was increased to 10.6% the linoleic acid:oleic acid ratio in the phosphatidyl choline increased to 48, whereas that in the phosphatidyl ethanolamine increased only to 2.2. Increases in the linoleic acid content of the diet resulted also in increases in the linoleic acid:oleic acid ratios in the phosphatidyl serine, lysophosphatidyl choline and sp hingomyelin.

4. When the linoleic acid content of the diet was increased, the stearic acid:palmitic acid ratio in the phosphatidyl choline increased, whereas it decreased in the phosphatidyl ethanol- amine and remained relatively unaltered in the phosphatidyl serine. The stearic acid contents of the lysophosphatidyl choline and sphingomyelin were unaltered by dietary treatments, but the palmitic acid content of these two phospholipids decreased as the linoleic acid content of the diet increased.

5. The results are discussed in terms of the metabolic relationships that exist between the various phospholipids.

An inverse association between alcohol consumption and risk of CHD in diverse populations has been reported in over forty prospective studies(1).

The aim of the present work was to show that cottonseed flour introduced into rehabilitation diets is not nutritionally harmful. The cottonseed flour obtained from glandless seeds contains traces of gossypol. As gossypol is known to have pathological hepatic and testicular actions, the effects on hepatic variables and on the histological appearance of liver and testis of diets containing cottonseed flour were compared with those without cottonseed flour. Seventy growing male Wistar rats were divided into two groups. The control group (C) received a balanced diet (200 g casein+3 g methionine/kg) for 78 d and the experimental group was fed on a low-protein diet (20 g casein+3 g methionine/kg) for 29 d. After the period of protein deprivation, the depleted rats were divided into four groups and each group was refed with a different diet, for 49 d: a balanced diet (200 g casein+3 g methionine/kg; rC), maize–soya-bean flour–milk (60:30:5, by wt; MSM), maize–cottonseed flour–milk (60:30:5, by wt; MCM) or rice–cottonseed flour–milk (60:30:5, by wt; RCM). Each diet was supplemented with a vitamin mixture (10 g/kg) and a salt mixture (40 g/kg). In the liver, protein, total lipid, fatty acid composition and nucleic acid contents were determined after 29 d of protein deprivation and after 2, 14, 29, 49 d of refeeding. The refeeding of rats with either diet MSM or RCM promoted a higher growth than that with diet MCM or diet rC. In all groups, a progressive decrease in relative liver weights with age was observed. The highest values were obtained with diets rC and MSM. After 49 d of refeeding, the lowest values for lipid, DNA and protein: RNA and the highest values for RNA and RNA:DNA were obtained with the cottonseed diets (MCM and RCM). Rats fed on the cottonseed-flour diets for a 49 d period after severe protein malnutrition showed no change in size or shape of their hepatocytes compared with those obtained with the control casein diet, and all stages of spermatogenesis occurred normally and spermatozoa were accurately formed. Therefore, our findings show that a low level of gossypol administrated during 49 d, even to an organism weakened by protein malnutrition, does not affect hepatic variables and the histological appearance of liver and testis.