© Steinkopff Verlag 2001 Summary In the 17th century

the notion of nutrition and diet changed in northern European countries. First chemical experi-ments fostered the idea that salts resulted from a union of acids and bases. Digestion was no more re-garded as a process of cooking but a succession of fermentations con-trolled by a balanced production of acids and alkali. Life seemed to de-pend on the equilibrium of acids and alkalis. In the 19th century food was sys-tematically analysed for the content of energy and macronutrients and first scientifically based nutritiona