THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN NUTRITION . i j Third of an occasional series published by The McCarrison Society THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN NUTRITION J '■ J ) , ~ v 'i x;' ’ "'< GENERAL EDITOR: GEOFFREY CANNON Titles already published: Surgeon Captain T L Cleave Dr Hugh Trowell V , . ■ r ' ■< • > / ’ ’ S ) A ' * *■ ■ r . * . •" ' , J l / . ■ Titles planned: Sir Robert McCarrison Lord Boyd Orr ^ '• /r ‘ - y ./* .s. '■ v ’ . ) ' ^ / f l . : •- ^ . , - t/ 4 ' ' , V „ -,s ' ' ' r' /• \ , ; % i . '■ i i ■ ' The McCarrison Society 25 Tamar Way, Woose Hill, Wokingham, Berkshire RG11 9UB This paper has been produced with the support oF the Puckham Trust and oF EFamol pic Price £5 THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN NUTRITION Dr Hugh Macdonald Sinclair DM DSc FRCP (1910- ) edited by Mary Gale and Brian Lloyd THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN NUTRITION Introduction i j • f. Dr Hugh Sinclair is the one modem British nutritional scientist who can rightly be called a genius. The science oF human nutrition is now well understood to be vital to the protection oF public health. IF this had been so in the 1950s and 1960s, Dr Sinclair would now be universally known as a biological scientist equal in stature with Nobel laureates such as Sir Howard Florey and Sir Charles Sherrington. Here is one tribute, From Dr Alec Forbes in his 'The Bristol Diet'. 'My interest in nutrition began in 1937 when I first went up to Magdalen College, OxFord, and Found that Dr Hugh Sinclair was my tutor. Hugh is probably the most original, possibly the greatest, living dietetic scientist. In addition to pointing my interests in this direction, he taught me that we should never take anything for granted, and to be open to every alternative explanation for a given set oF facts.' His central achievement is summarised by Caroline Walker. In 'The Good Fight'. 'In 1956 Dr Hugh Sinclair proposed that degenerative diseases which are common in westernised countries are caused by lack oF essential fats. Much scientiFic evidence has now been accumulated to support his theory: our food contains only small amounts oF essential fats compared with that oF traditional hunters and gatherers, and with pastoralists and agriculturalists who do not have access to modem methods oF animal husbandry and food processing. And we eat abnormally large quantities oF non-essential saturated Fats which harm the basic structure oF cellular material, and hence harm our essential organs'. Thanks above all to Dr Sinclair, the vital importance of essential Fats in the development oF human intelligence, and as protection against many diseases notably oF the nervous and - 2 - HUGH SINCLAIR cardiovascular systems, is becoming well understood. And against the grain oF modem thinking, Dr Sinclair has always seen Food, and health, as a whole. He quotes Sir Robert McCarrison, whose library he inherited: The greatest single Factor in the acquisition and maintenance oF good health, is perfectly constituted Food'. As a man and as a scientist, Hugh Sinclair's spectacular knowledge, penetrating wit, Fierce loyalty, astonishing vision, deep and wide culture, wit and style as a writer and lecturer, and great kindness to colleagues and friends, altogether made him later in his liFe the inheritor oF the truly great British scientific tradition. This small tribute has been edited by Dr Brian Lloyd and Dr Mary Gale, two colleagues oF Dr Sinclair. It is published by the McCarrison Society, the one British proFessional association committed to the promotion oF good health and prevention oF disease by sound nutrition. Geoffrey Cannon • v ■'» ) ^ . r i THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN NUTRITION A W -t v, -."i,,-. , '' ' • v - - - 1 /r/' >- - . ; \ ' • , -'I' 4l V- - " »•••••• • ' ' ' < " ' ’"*■)S' } ■ < . V • . A” 5»' <bt? ’ -u A n V ; ' -■ - ' 1 • ;'v . A \ ' .'X 'V '<-1 f A~/' . * <A F - A ' V ■ . ' , • r ’ : A . / j Vi •' . : n ,1 A -A V ' ■ ^ ( V ■’ • '-/■ '• A <> ' Al *’ > ’" U y ’ ' 1 A '<• P ' ■ A *• 1 A; - , .> . ’ A v ;: ;,7 " A A'. a - '■ A , ' • • • A A A A . - ~ ' •" ■' A ' '■ - i - 1 ■ ■ <■') 1/ \ . 1 •' v ; ' • <■>, |V . 1 * '/ f ’ v- ■ ■ ■ / ■ A a ■ 1 :i ' y ■ ( vF- /V J 'I F •; ; % ' v j i " ) J . 4 ■■' > . r .’e, < ' / • w r j ■ fv': ' ' > '. ( 4v A'.r ^ y - \ t. /■; '. 7 - < , ■/ ' j i s /' ■ ; - < a . ' A . ( V _ t ' ■ • - T ' A - 7 * : . , • { v ,'> *' s ' S a ■» ' % ’ ^ - > ' ; > • V - ■ ■ y A > ' 1 -j y V y ( it,:,'.. \ 'i . ■ - 7 .' I , r jJ M l -•; A t , , \ “• .. •" n '• A , «*<< : ■ v ■ ' ' - ■ ■ • " ■ - . " ’A ■r. V i •* "• - r. F. V' s ; ■>St . * >v : ' ' a > A • mi i-VHv. ; - . ■ V s • < ■ \ ■ • . • > 1 A ' ^ V- *T -4- ■j - -/ V c , - ..y '■ c' ■ ■ ' : ' • -• . < ^ M, F-' ‘ ;; r i ; ' A " r , ‘ i i i\ HUGH SINCLAIR Contents /, r From Winchester to Sutton Courtenay; days as a student Dr Maurice Partridge 7-11 Good medicine at Magdalen; Oxford tutor Professor Andr6 McLean 12-13 A reserved occupation; the Oxford Nutrition Survey Angela Lousley 14-15 Under the influence; colleague and friend Professor V Ramalingaswami 16-19 The proper study of mankind; scientist and visionary Dr David Honobin 20-25 ‘ i , ■ , ( * ■ ' , / •( O / Nourishing a nation; the war against malnutrition in Europe Dr Brian Lloyd 26-40 Fish for lunch ...; the International Nutrition Foundation Dr Mary Gale 1 41-42 The apothecary's art; medical historian Sir Gordon Wolstenholme 43-45 Diseases of civilisation; the role of essential fats Dr Hugh Sinclair 46-59 Life and work of Hugh Sinclair Dr Brian Lloyd 60-64 - 5 - HUGH SINCLAIR From Winchester to Sutton Courtenay by Maurice Partridge 'Oh, so they've asked you to write my obituary/ he said, the lamplight glinting on his bald pate. 'I should suppose that'll be the first thing you've published for a long time.' The soFtness of the voice still coZens one, despite experience, into expecting the utterances will be soft. They are often outrageous. His life has been a series oF outrages which, viewed From another aspect, might also be called records. The first oF these was to be bom in in Duddington House, Edinburgh, the mansion oF a Duke where no one had ever been bom beFore.There has been something lordly about Hugh Sinclair every since. It would be Facile rather than Freudian to suggest that a contempt for authority sprang From His Grace's immediate and critical inspection oF this uninvited guest. It was reinForced later, however, when a sharp retaliation on a sadistic schoolmaster resulted in near expulsion. There Followed Winchester. He identified himselF with the establishment suFFiciently to be in both the Classics and Science sixths and, despite some opposition, to become a school prefect. He deviated From its traditions by combining a passion For experimental physics with an interest in the psychology oF the - 7 - THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN NUTRITION authorities. This led to his first large-scale scientiFic experiment. A detailed mastery and adaptation oF the wiring system enabled any one class room to be plunged into darkness at will. A study oF the authoritarian reactions produced a significant contribution to behaviourism.1 Ultimately, one such reaction, in a study, produced a significant change in Sinclair, who decided to change to classics since experimental science was discouraged. Then came Oriel, characteristically not New College, and, after a glance at the Senior Common Room, a reversion to science. The behaviouristic studies continued. One such was designed to estimate how Far a seated don (and impending bishop) might rise vertically in response to auditory stimuli. It was Found that a linear curve resulted as the stimuli increased in intensity and propinquity. The climax oF the experiment was scientifically disappointing in that the effect, produced by the discharge oF a firearm immediately behind the unsuspecting subject's head, exceeded the limitations oF the recording apparatus owing to its speed and extent. Most observers, grouped in the quadrangle below, estimated the vertical distance traversed at about three feet, allowing for the error due to parallax.' Meanwhile, an academic career oF distinction was unFolding. A mass oF knowledge, its interest or dullness a matter oF indifFerence, was eFfortlessly absorbed. A first in physiology inevitably followed. It was not oF consequence that the biochemical experiment in Finals — conducted on an aFternoon when the ProFessor got stuck in a lift between floors while an escaped experimental goat fell through the glass rooF oF the laboratory — produced a (correct) curve that resulted From an inspired guess rather than from the (incorrect) actual results; it was the inspiration and knowledge that led to the guess that mattered. 'Ask Hugh,' Floundering colleagues would say, and Hugh would tell them. EfFortless though they seemed, these studies caused restrictions. - 8 - HUGH SINCLAIR Long, lingering days on the cricket-field conflicted with 'aFternoon labs', but soccer was pursued with vigour and some distinction. There was then some demonstrating, the Senior Demyship at Magdalen, and some prizes, beFore the progress to University College Hospital which, despite its then dreary quarters and Female students, was in its golden age with six FRSs on the staFF. More prizes Followed but, more importantly, Sinclair became first a pupil and later an intimate oF such men as WilFred Trotter, T R Elliott and Sir Thomas Lewis, as aFterwards oF Charles Sherrington. It seemed quite natural that he should be elected to the Athenaeum fifteen years beFore his contemporaries. He also edited his hospital magazine. Elsewhere, I did the same and glancing idly one day at our competitors I came on a leading article that made my hair stand on end. It was really not a question oF bad taste; it was an attack launched on a plane that transcended questions oF taste altogether. I thought to myselF 'I've only ever met one person who could have written that/ and turned to the back knowing what editorial initials I would find.