The Role of Dietary Protein in Hemoglobin Formation

Abstract

The administration of a diet low in protein (lactalbumin) but adequate in all other known respects produces a mild chronic anemia in rats. The “low-protein anemia” may be prevented or cured by the allowance of an adequate protein intake without an alteration in the amounts of calories, minerals, or vitamins consumed. Increasing the intake of either calories or iron has no consistent beneficial effect on hemoglobin formation in the lowprotein animals. These observations warrant the conclusion that an adequate intake of dietary protein is essential for normal hemoglobin formation in the rat.