Cecile Hoover Edwards

Cecile Hoover Edwards (October 26, 1926 – September 17, 2005) was an American nutritional researcher whose career focused on improving the nutrition and well-being of disadvantaged people. Her scientific focus was on finding low-cost foods with an optimal amino acid composition, with a special interest in methionine metabolism. She was also a university administrator, serving as dean of several schools within Howard University between 1974 and 1990.

She was cited by the National Council of Negro Women for outstanding contributions to science. She also received three citations from the Illinois House of Representatives for devotion to the cause of eliminating poverty. She was honored by the State of Illinois on April 5, 1984, with the declaration of that day as "Dr. Cecile Hoover Edwards Day."

She graduated from high school at age 15 and went to Tuskegee Institute, where she graduated in 1946 with a bachelor's degree in nutritional chemistry. She continued at Tuskegee, doing research on the animal source of protein for which received a master's degree in organic chemistry in 1947, before her twenty-first birthday.

Academic career Edwards became an assistant professor of Foods and Nutrition at Tuskegee from 1950 to 1952, and was promoted to Head of Department from 1952 to 1956.

Research

Low-cost dietary supplements Much of Edwards' career focused on the eating habits of pregnant African-American women.

Another key point of Edward's focus was on the amino acid composition of foods, especially vegetables, with the goal of finding low-cost foods that were optimal for protein production. Based on a study performed in India, where school children who consumed dietary supplements of the aforementioned nature had favorable gains in height, weight and hemoglobin, Edwards oversaw a similar experiment in Alabama. School children received low-cost dietary supplements within their school lunches, and over a six-month period, their heights, weights and scholastic scores were recorded. In order to calculate the nutritive value of the meals the children were eating, nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin D were measured. Children who received dietary supplements showed a considerable increase in the majority of these nutrients, and also received higher academic evaluations from their teachers; they were more alert and paid better attention, for example.

Methionine and other proteins She had a particular interest in the metabolism of the amino acid methionine, and starting in the 1950s, led an 18-year study for the National Institutes of Health on this topic.

In the late 1980s Edwards studied historical dietary patterns in the South, identifying inexpensive traditional dishes that were sources of protein, and developing nutrition plans reducing the amount of fat in African-American cuisine.

Edwards also partook in a study that assessed the extent to which the body responds to lacking amounts of necessary proteins via intake. The results supported the conclusion that the body compensates for how much protein is added; for example, when the minimal protein intake was met, the body responded by conserving methionine catabolism. And additionally, when certain amino acids were lacking, they were synthesized as well as reused, in lieu of excretion. Edwards concluded overall that around 46 grams of protein a day are required in the continued maintenance of the adult male. She also made note that wheat-based diets do provide adequate dietary supplementation, which is an important conclusion given that the geography of various places in the world cause those places to be heavily wheat-based.

Edwards opposed hereditarian positions in the nature and nurture debate such as those of Arthur Jensen which credited genes as the dominant factor in intelligence; she concluded that social and environmental factors were at least as responsible as heredity in influencing intelligence.

Social factors in health In a review Edwards published in 1995, she introduced a concept of population approach, which she believed was how the medical system should treat patients, by viewing and taking into account their social, economic and cultural environments. Moreover, she looked specifically into hypertension within the Black American demographic, and named weight control, reduced sodium chloride intake and physical activities as ways of prevention. At the same time, she cited social factors as possible causes for the higher hypertension rates among Black Americans than among White Americans. For example, Edwards noted that generally and comparatively, Black Americans were more likely to be poor and more likely to live farther from medical treatment. Additionally, she stated that Black Americans suffered from greater psychosocial stress and other social strains due to racism, and that these factors and their correlation towards hypertension required further research.

Further work Edwards was a nutritional consultant and was also a member of numerous government committees and panels, including those convened by the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health.