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Helen Swift Mitchell (September 21, 1895 - December 12, 1984) was an American biochemist and nutritionist. She was the research director at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and taught courses in nutrition at Battle Creek College and University of Massachusetts and later became an exchange professor at Hokkaido University in Japan. During World War II, she was part of government committees that did research on nutrition and was critical of fad diets that came about during that time. She did research on and published works about the dietary conditions of rats, and later co-authored the textbook Nutrition in Health and Disease.

Early life and education

Helen Mitchell was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Walter L. and Minnie Mitchell (née Swift) in 1895.

Mitchell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1917. She continued her education at Yale University, earning a PhD in 1921. She studied under Lafayette Mendel, who continued to correspond with her later in her career. Mendel was unique in the early 20th Century, as he taught and mentored female doctoral students, many of whom became leaders in their fields. Mitchell's thesis was on 'the choice of adequate and inadequate diets by rats and mice'.

Career

In 1921 she became the research director at the Battle Creek Sanitarium and taught in John Harvey Kellogg's School of Dietetics. At Battle Creek College, Mitchell worked as a professor in nutrition and physiology from 1921-1935. During her time there, her research expertise was called upon by Wilfred Grenfell to conduct research on behalf of the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland and Labrador. Along with Margery and Catherine Vaughn, they conducted a year-long survey in 1929 of gardens and livestock to determine nutritional problems that coastal fishing towns were having. She found that many families were lacking minerals and vitamins from their overall calorie count.

Mithcell was research professor of nutrition at the University of Massachusetts from 1935-1941. She later became the Head of the Department of Food and Nutrition and the Dean of the School of Home Economics (1947-1960).

War years

In 1940, the National Research Council, wanting to predict nutritional needs for the military and civilians set up the Food and Nutrition Committee. Mitchell was a part of this committee from 1940-1945 and worked on figuring out the recommended daily or dietary allowance. She was one of three women, along with Lydia Roberts and Hazel Stiebeling, who overnight came up with an preliminary standard for wartime diets. During World War II, she was principal nutritionist for the Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services (1941-1943) and chief nutritionist for the State Department Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation (1943-1944).

Paul V. McNutt from the Federal Emergency Management Administration supervised Mitchell's duty of elevate nutrition throughout the U.S. by compiling state resources.

Japan

In 1960 she also worked as an exchange professor for Hokkaido University in Japan and conducted research on nutrition of Japanese orphanage children after World War II. Working with Setsuko Santo, they determined in their first survey in 1960 that the children's stature was well below that of the national Hokkaido average based on nutritional disadvantages like lacking protein and vitamin A. In 1965 another survey of these same orphanages was conducted and found that the children's stature had increased due to increased nutritional budget. However, they were still under the Hokkaido national average.

Fad diets

In the early 1900's, Harvey Kellogg, a mentor to Mitchell, was a well know faddist who believed in the vegetarian diet at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. He prescribed his patients individualized diets to help cure their ailments and also experimented with meat substitutes. Helen Mitchell was publicly critical of fad diets, calling out the unscientific nature of them. She was particularly critical of the Dr. Hey diet which said that acidic and alkaline foods could not be digested together, she considered these claims irrational and believed they discredited the field of nutrition. Mitchell thought that fad diets undermine the legitimate contributions to the field of nutrition by scientists.

Publications

• Studies in Nutrition: The Choice Between Adequate and Inadequate Diet, as Made by Rats and Mice (with Lafayette Mendel, 1921)
• Nutrition in Health and Disease (with Leena Cooper, Edith Barber, 1928)
• Vitamin C Content of Japan Green Tea (1929)
• Nutrition Survey in Labrador and Northern Newfoundland (1930)
• Cataract in Rats Fed on High Lactose Rations (with Warren M. Dodge, 1935)
• Facts, Fads and Frauds in Nutrition (with Gladys Mae Cook, 1937)
• The vitamin C status of college women as determined by urinary excretion (with O.A. Merreiam; E.L. Batchelder, 1938)
• Food Fads, Facts, and Fancies (1939)
• What Educators Should Know About the National Nutrition Program (1941)
• What the Consumer Should Know about Fortified Foods (1941)
• Don't Be Fooled by Fads (1959)
• A Study of Children in Hokkaido Orphanages Heights, Weights and Dietary Patterns (with Setsuko Santo, 1963)
• Recommended and Non-recommended Nutrition Books for Lay Readers (1964)
• Nutrition in Nursing (with Henderika J. Rynbergen; Marjorie V. Dibble; Linnea Anderson, 1968)

References

1. Kathleen Marie Scott. “Recipe for citizenship: Professionalization and power in World War I dietetics.” College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences
2. ^ "Helen S. Mitchell." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2008. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000069288/LitRC?u=s1185784&sid=LitRC&xid=a14cbbd1. Accessed 25 October 2020.
3. ^ "Helen S. Mitchell." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2008. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000069288/LitRC?u=s1185784&sid=LitRC&xid=a14cbbd1. Accessed 25 October 2020.
4. ^ Kathleen Marie Scott. “Recipe for citizenship: Professionalization and power in World War I dietetics.” College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences
5. Rossiter, M. W. (1994). Mendel the mentor. Journal of Chemical Education, 71(3), 215. Retrieved from http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/docview/212011181?accountid=13265
6. "Helen S. Mitchell Dies; Nutritionist and Writer". The New York Times.
7. ^ Kathleen Marie Scott. “Recipe for citizenship: Professionalization and power in World War I dietetics.” College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences
8. Ogilvie, Marilyn; Harvey, Joy (2003-12-16). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-96343-9.
9. ^ Harper, Alfred E. (2003-11-01). "Contributions of Women Scientists in the U.S. to the Development of Recommended Dietary Allowances". The Journal of Nutrition. 133 (11): 3698–3702. doi:10.1093/jn/133.11.3698. ISSN 0022-3166.
10. ^ Wood, Gregory, and Jose Lam. “Restoring and Retelling the Story of Grenfell Gardens.” MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY HARRIS CENTRE APPLIED RESEARCH FUND, 31 Jan. 2019, www.mun.ca/harriscentre/reports/arf/2018/Final_Report_SNCC_ARF__Wood.pdf.
11. "LABRADOR—A LESSON IN PRACTICAL NUTRITION". Journal of the American Medical Association. 95 (9): 665–666. 1930-08-30. doi:10.1001/jama.1930.02720090027012. ISSN 0002-9955.
12. "History | School of Public Health & Health Sciences". www.umass.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
13. "Helen S. Mitchell, ca. 1935". credo.library.umass.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
14. ^ Green, Judy; Laduke, Jeanne; Rossiter, Margaret W. (1997). "Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action 1940-1972". Academe. 83 (3): 89. doi:10.2307/40251105. ISSN 0190-2946.
15. ^ Harper, Alfred E. (2003-11-01). "Contributions of Women Scientists in the U.S. to the Development of Recommended Dietary Allowances". The Journal of Nutrition. 133 (11): 3698–3702. doi:10.1093/jn/133.11.3698. ISSN 0022-3166.
16. ^ Ralston, Penny A (2019-09-26). "History of Human Nutrition Research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: People, Events and Accomplishments". The Journal of Nutrition. 149 (12): 2267–2269. doi:10.1093/jn/nxz173. ISSN 0022-3166.
17. "Helen S. Mitchell." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2008. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000069288/LitRC?u=s1185784&sid=LitRC&xid=a14cbbd1. Accessed 25 October 2020.
18. Kathleen Marie Scott. “Recipe for citizenship: Professionalization and power in World War I dietetics.” College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences
19. "Helen S. Mitchell, ca. 1935". credo.library.umass.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
20. "Helen S. Mitchell Dies; Nutritionist and Writer". The New York Times.
21. "Helen S. Mitchell." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2008. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000069288/LitRC?u=s1185784&sid=LitRC&xid=a14cbbd1. Accessed 25 October 2020.
22. ^ Santo, Setsuko (September 1968). "Nutritional Status of Children in Hokkaido Orphanages : Comparison of 1965 and 1960 Data". Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University. 56 (1): 31–44. ISSN 0018-344X.
23. ^ Levenstein, Harvey A. (1988). Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 92–93.
24. Mansky, Jackie. "We're Entering a New Age of Meatless Meat Today. But We've Been Here Before". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
25. ^ Ralston, Penny A (2019-09-26). "History of Human Nutrition Research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: People, Events and Accomplishments". The Journal of Nutrition. 149 (12): 2267–2269. doi:10.1093/jn/nxz173. ISSN 0022-3166.
26. Mitchell, Helen S.; Mendel, Lafayette B. (1921-12-01). "Studies in nutrition". American Journal of Physiology-Legacy Content. 58 (2): 211–225. doi:10.1152/ajplegacy.1921.58.2.211. ISSN 0002-9513.
27. Mitchell, Lenna F. Cooper, Edith M. Barber, Helen S. (1943). Nutrition in Health and Disease.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
28. Mitchell, Helen S. (1929). "Vitamin C Content of Japan Green Tea". Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 5: 28–31.
29. "Typed Manuscript. Mitchell, Helen S. "Food Problems of the Labrador Fisher Folk." Notation: "submitted for pub. in Forecast, Jan. 1930" Typed Manuscript. Mitchell, Helen S. "A Call From the Labrador." Notation: "June 1930 submitted for publicat, 1930 - 1930 | Collection Guides". collections.library.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
30. Mitchell, Helen S.; Dodge, Warren M. (1935-01-01). "Cataract in Rats Fed on High Lactose RationsTwo Figures". The Journal of Nutrition. 9 (1): 37–49. doi:10.1093/jn/9.1.37. ISSN 0022-3166.
31. Mitchell, Helen Swift (1937). Facts, fads and frauds in nutrition/. Amherst, Mass. :.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
32. Mitchell, Helen S. (1938). "The vitamin C status of college women as determined by urinary excretion". Journal of Home Economics. 30: 645–650.
33. Agriculture, United States Department of (1939). Food and Life. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
34. Mitchell, Helen Swift (1941). What Educators Should Know about the National Nutrition Program.
35. Mitchell, Helen S. (1941-06-01). "What the Consumer Should Know about Fortified Foods". Industrial & Engineering Chemistry. 33 (6): 716–717. doi:10.1021/ie50378a006. ISSN 0019-7866.
36. Mitchell, Helen (1959). "Don't Be Fooled by Fads". Yearbook of Agriculture: 660–668.
37. Mitchell, Helen Swift. Recommended and Non-recommended Nutrition Books for Lay Readers. United States, Indiana State Nutrition Council, 1964.
38. Nutrition in nursing [by] Linnea Anderson [et al.]. Anderson, Linnea. Philadelphia,: Lippincott. 1972. ISBN 0-397-54122-8. OCLC 324165.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

• American nutritionists