ABSTRACT

Nitrogen balance studies were carried out in two separate experiments involving a total of fifteen acclimatized young women. The aim was to determine the effects of different levels of protein intake on sweat nitrogen iosBes. The looses were determined through the collection of 24 hour total body sweat samples under control led environmental conditions. In nine of the subjects fed on graded level of protein for a ten-day period at a time, sweat nitrogen loosen varied with nitrogen intake, being 5.45+0.79, 6.36+0.70, 6.65+0.73 and 7.1O+0.B7mg N/kg/day at protein intakes of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 protein/kg/day, respectively. Obligatory nitrogen loss in sweat extrapolated from linear, regression analysis of nitrogen intake versus sweat nitrogen loss was 4.20 mg N/kg/day. When the subjects were fed a single level of protein (0.6 g/kg/day) for forty days, the mean Bweat nitrogen loss of the women was 9.45+0.44 mg/kg/day. Thus the recommended allowance for sweat nitrogen losses (3-4 mg N/kg/day) in estimating protein requirement by the 1985 FAO/WHO/UNU expert report is an underestimation under conditions prevailing in tropical countries.