Changes in the Blood Composition of Rabbits Fed on Raw Soy Beans

About 50 years ago Haberlandt (11) wrote that the time would come when soy beans would play a very important r81e in the diet of the poor, and that soy beans would be of much greater importance as admixture for potatoes than salt, because of their high fat and protein content. During the Great War the demand for cheaply produzezl and easily obtainable nutrients, particularly for suitable proteins and fat, directed attention anew to the possibilities of the soy bean. Daniels and Nichols (9) found that an economic consideration of the yellow soy bean led to the conclusion that it is one of the most valuable of the leguminous seeds. It contains a high percentage of a physiologically good protein, a considerable amount of energy-yielding material in the form of fat and carbohydrate, and a fairly liberal supply of the fat-soluble food accessory, as well as of the water-soluble growth determinant. Abderhalden (1) found that rats, fed on soy beans, lived from 104 to 315 days. Two of them even increased in weight. Bercxeller (3) also fed rats on raw whole soy bean, soy bean flour, and his patent soy bean flour “0.” The rats were able to make a choice of any of these three foods. The results showed a duration of life of 7 to 55 days. The shortest life period corresponded to a high consumption of common soy bean flour, while a higher consumption of raw whole soy bean and of patent soy bean flour 0 was associated with’an increase in the duration of life. The milling process evidently produces a significant change in the grain. Newburgh (24) found that four out of five rabbits after living on soy beans for 2 months showed no changes in the kidneys. But in a period from 44 to 12 months they regularly acquired chronic renal lesions. These animals had a nitrogen metabolism about twice normal. The blood urea nitrogen showed a rise to 100 mg. per 100 cc. in 7 weeks, while the average value in the normal control period was 31 mg. Nuzum, Osborne, and Sansum (25) placed a group of rabbits on a 38 per cent soy bean protein diet for a year, in order to study its relation to the production of hypertension. In addition to the soy beans, cod liver oil, tomato, and alfalfa were given. The soy bean group showed an elevation of blood pressure and changes in the blood and urine, while the