Wheat Flour as a Source of Protein for Adult Human Subjects

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Abstract
Twelve normal young men were maintained in nitrogen equilibrium and good health when they were fed a diet in which white flour provided most of the protein with the remainder coming from fruits and vegetables. During the 20-day control phase, the diets provided 12.2 g of nitrogen per day from both plant and animal sources. In the 50-day experimental phase, the diets were free of animal protein with 90-95% of the 11.8 g of nitrogen supplied by white flour. Throughout the study, body weight maintenance was achieved by the consumption of extra protein-free foods. The subjects were in nitrogen equilibrium in the control phase. For the first 10 days of the wheat diet, the subjects were in negative nitrogen balance, but for the remainder of the 50-day experimental phase, the subjects retained small amounts of nitrogen. Although fecal nitrogen values were constant throughout the study, the wet weights of the 24-hr feces increased during the first part of the experimental phase to about twice the control value; thereafter, the weights decreased but did not reach the control value.