A short history of nutritional science: part 1 (1785-1885)

Peer-reviewed historical overview of nutritional science from 1785 to 1885. Documents Liebig's protein-centric theory of nutrition: his view that albumin and related nitrogenous compounds were the key nutritive principles and that muscular work was fuelled primarily by their oxidation. Also documents the refutations of this view by Voit, Pettenkofer, Fick, Wislicenus, and Pavy, who established through respiratory chamber studies and self-experiments that carbohydrates and fats supply the major share of energy during muscular work, not protein alone. Contextualises Liebig within the broader development of nineteenth-century nutritional thought.