Dietary protein accelerates blood coagulability, while dietary carbohydrate and minerals retard it to the extent of producing manifestations of bleeding in the course of illness or surgical intervention. The question arises whether the gross dietary constituents alter the clotting mechanism of the blood or whether associated vitamins induce these changes. Consistent clinical observation has led to the conclusion that the clotting time is not a definite criterion of blood clotting function, and so we1 have developed methods for the determination of the clotting constituents as a basis for evaluating the clotting status of the blood under varying conditions. The rôle of vitamins in the synthesis and maintenance of clotting components in the blood has been determined by a systemic study of the effect of specific vitamin deficiency diseases in rats on the blood clotting function measured quantitatively.
Four groups of rats of the same stock were maintained on dietary