The concept of metabolism, the transfer of food and oxygen to heat and water in the body, creating energy, was discovered in 1770 by Antoine Lavoisier, the “Father of Nutrition and Chemistry”. And at the beginning of the 19th century, the elements of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, the main components of food, were isolated. As a student of nutritional science, when asked this question, I realized that I knew very little about the founders of nutrition. With a little research, I found an article on the “Father of Nutrition and Chemistry, Antoine Lavoisier.
Digging deeper into different sources, I came to realize that I was an incredibly conscious individual. Lavosier was born in 1743, which gives a great perspective on why his ideas were so impressive. At that time, scientists recognized that oxygen was needed for fire, respiration, etc., and resulted from this a product, which was called “phlogiston”, which makes this the phlogiston theory. While this was of course a good idea, Lavoisier explored it further and found that weight changes also occurred throughout these reactions, which Phlogiston's theory did not take into account.
With the help of some individuals along the way, as well as their great inheritance, he produced the term oxygen and the theory of combustion. In addition, and more applicable to my specialty, Lavoisier questioned the processes to which food is subjected once consumed, finally determining that his law of combustion also applies here. While this may seem intuitive, it was important at the time to find the purpose of the meal and how the weight changes because of it.
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