Show psychologist discusses effect of meat on ener energy ty Is the jungle lion ferocious because it lives on raw meat would it be more gentle it if a vegetarian and are men who live principally on a meat diet likely to be more belligerent than those who prefer vegetables the answers to those questions according to martin F fritz associate professor of psychology at iowa state college is yes and no lack of meat in the diet may cause an animal animal or human being to live on a lower energy plane fritz found thus giving the appearance pe arance of a peaceful mild disposition according to that hypothesis he said a vegetarian diet simply depresses the activity level while a a generous intake of meat may bring out the full energy potentialities ali ties it might be argued that the continued eating of high protein foods such as meat might result in a permanently higher plane ot of basal metabolism which would account tor for the energy and vigor of meat eating nations he continued but fritz apparently found a hitch in ar this argument for it if it were true he ha said the eskimos could be expected to be especially violent tor for they eat a meat diet and their basic metabolism is about 33 per cent higher than that of people living in in temperate zones the eskimos however are the most peaceful and unwarlike race in the world the professor declared inheritance is an important factor in the degree of activity he said but it may be argued that all races have inherited a potentially ally high level of activity a very questionable assumption and that the differences we observe are due to the failure to utilize a diet which will bring out this activity to its fullest extent fritz summarized by saying it is quite possible that diet does influence racial temperament but until further evidence is gathered we may well be just a bit cautious in drawing conclusions |