THE SPECIFIC ROLE OF FOODS IN RELATION TO THE COMPOSITION OF THE URINE

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The influence of individual foods on the composition of the urine has been studied from several points of view. Many of the relations have been satisfactorily determined. It is a matter of common knowledge that the urine of herbivorous animals is alkaline to litmus, while that of the carnivora is acid in reaction. Human urine, likewise, is normally acid. The alkaline urine of herbivora has been supposed to result from the vegetable foods on which they live. Similarly, the acid reaction of the carnivorous urine was referred to the meat diet of these animals. What is present in these foods that may be held responsible for the differences in urinary acidity? The excess of base-forming elements in vegetables and of acid-forming elements in meats at once suggests an answer. It was not until Sherman and Gettler1 made more complete ash analyses of a large number of foods that