Mikkel Hindhede (1862–1945): A pioneering nutritionist

Abstract

The 150th anniversary of the birth of the Danish nutritionist Mikkel Hindhede (1862–1945) fell on 13 February 2012. He was brought up in a farming family and despite family traditions he chose an academic path and became a medical doctor in 1888 and he was ahead of his time and emphasized a healthy life style rather than polypharmacy. He was convinced that the Danish population ate far too much meat and investigated and debated this matter frequently. In 1910, the Danish government allocated Hindhede a laboratory to study human nutrition where he carried out several nutritional experiments on humans. Even though his research contradicted previous theories and met opposition, he had great societal influence. Hindhede’s work was the reason that Denmark focused on feeding the Danish population with harvest products and therefore had to slaughter herds of cattle and pork during the food crisis of the First World War (1914–1918). According to his calculations, this may have prevented 6300 deaths in the war. Moreover, Hindhede’s work later influenced both national and international nutrition policies.